While the Power Rankings are getting harder and harder to build, the Dunk Contest (and even parts of the skills competition) were chalk full of Pac-12 representation. And its less about who won the subjective award, but more about ohmahgawd what’d he just do moments. There was plenty of it (and Oregon got swept in the Bay).
Alas, we find ourselves with co-leaders heading into the homestretch and I find myself in sub-zero temperatures in Boston, MA. I watched a lot of movies over the long weekend.
Power:
1. Arizona
WARNING: The following is an image of a human being who had leapt from the ground, propelled by only the strength of his own devices. For contextual reference, the orange, cylinder his eyes are fixated upon stand 10-feet (3.05 meters) above the ground he took off from:
In unrelated news, the Wildcats swept the LA schools at home and find themselves tied atop the conference.
2. Oregon
In conference play, Stanford is shooting below 30% from three point range. That’s the worst in the conference. Considering that it is their average, one would assume that output on a given night. Not Saturday night. With the Ducks in town the Cardinal made 9 of 13 (69%) and handed the Ducks their second consecutive loss (because, yanno, Cal has NBA talent and just might be figuring out how to use it). Long story short? 1.19 points per Bay Area weekend possession isn’t going to cut it defensively. Furthermore, Oregon plays three consecutive home games before the conference’s final weekend. Things are still looking pretty damn good for Dana’s team.
3. Utah
If you can get past the soaring LaVine, you’ll see Andre Miller!
You might also have missed what Utah did to poor Washington State, an 88-47 destruction. Woof.
4. California
Since Ty Wallace’s injury (and now return), Sam Singer has a 1.3 assist-to-FGA ratio. In those seven games that’s 37 assists (5.3 per game). I’m not sure this ratio has ever really been looked at before but the point I’m making is that when you have a team with two NBA players and two wings shooting 37%-or-better (Jordan Matthews shoots 45% from distance) then you let the guy willing to not have the ball get it to them in successful places.
But if we’re showing dunks, we can’t not link:
5. Colorado
You’re going to hear it on every broadcast discussing this year’s NCAA tournament: This is a weird year in CBB. But that doesn’t make winning any less valuable. It possibly devalues the idea of a “quality win” but so long as you fill the left column, you’re doing something right. That’s what Colorado did this weekend – they just won – beating the Washingtons at home by a combined 2 points. The Cougars took the Buffs to overtime for their nearest taste of victory since actually winning a game in early January (against UCLA).
6. USC
I hate dropping them this far in the rankings because this is easily one of the three best teams in the Conference. That said, they lost to one of the three worst and that’s not what three bests do.
7. OSU
At 6-7 with 5 games to play, the Beavers have a fighters chance at a 9-9 conference record. That would be their best conference record since 1993 when only GP2 was alive.
8. Washington
Spencer notes Washington’s impending death in the podcast on a number of occasions. He often seems convinced of it and this weekend seemed to be a step towards answering the when question. The Dawgs are a fine squad but the college basketball season is a marathon and not a sprint (which is not an analogy for their style of play). They’ve now dropped three straight and five of seven.
9. UCLA
10. Stanford
As noted above, the Cardinal had their finest shooting performance of the season Saturday against Oregon.
11. ASU
The Devils are 4-9 and a local columnist thinks the season has a chance to be “special.”
12. WSU
Here is a great breakdown of Washington State’s season-to-date by the ever thoughtful Jeff Nusser of CougCenter.
And here is a GIF that describes almost getting that win at Colorado…but not:
Buffs win 2 without Josh Scott!
Can’t wait till he gets back
Go Buffs!
Few thoughts and observations…
Is the Pac-12 overrated? It’s deeper than it’s been, but yes.
My eyes tell me that Oregon State and Colorado – despite their glossy RPI ranks – are marginal NCAA tournament teams. UCLA and Washington have a lot of work to do to make the at large field. So we are really talking about four legit teams – Arizona, Utah, SC, Cal. In comparison to other power conferences top four these teams have second week ability but none look like Final Four teams. I’m not sure how good teams from the Big East, American, A-10 or SEC really are. Seriously, do you have any faith in Villanova or Xavier getting to the Final Four? Is anyone scared of Dayton or St. Joe’s? No and no.
I like the way Arizona has played since getting back Trier. I like UCLA with Bolden starting at the four and Parker off the bench. I would not be shocked to see the Bruins sweep the mountain schools at home, split the Bay trip and make the final weekend (against UO and OSU) at Pauley interesting.
Washington feels like they are a year away – they have some big wins ahead of them, so perhaps the future is now.
Washington, SC, UCLA and Arizona look like monsters next year.
I meant to include Oregon in the group of legitimate squads….
Can’t forget Oregon but I also feel like they’re the most consistent squad amongst the group (of course that loss at Stanford doesn’t do anything to help that assertion).
I agree with you on all points. Bolden’s showing in Tucson was really impressive. Very skilled and very big. I’m excited to watch him and Bennie Boatright go out it next year with another year under their respective belts.
Speaking of next year, UW is absolutely a year away but consider a few of these rosters in one season: UW, USC, Oregon, UCLA, ASU (mean it), and of course Miller is going to have new talent once again.
Alas, it’s still the 2016 season and the Pac is deep but not great. Is that consistent with the rest of the nation? Probably. However, I have a great idea: what if we comprise a tournament with 32 automatic entrants, 36 arbitrarily selected entrants based on perceived quality, and then see who the last one standing is!?