Before previewing Cal men’s basketball’s Pac-12 opener at Stanford on Thursday, I wanted to quickly provide a glance at how things are shaping out across the entire Pac-12. No games have been played yet in conference play, giving the bad teams a chance at a fresh start and the good teams a chance to show that what they accomplished in the non-conference was no fluke. I will address each team in order of how I would rank them going into Pac-12 play.
#1. Oregon Ducks (11-2): The Ducks are led by senior guard Payton Pritchard, who is averaging 18.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. Alongside Pritchard is three other double-digit scorers in junior guard Chris Duarte (12.3 points), senior guard Anthony Mathis ( 10.8 points), and sophomore guard Will Richardson (10.3 points).
The Ducks are ranked #4 in the AP Poll after wins over #13 Memphis (now #9), #13 Seton Hall (now unranked), and #5 Michigan (now #12). Their two losses were close games against #8 Gonzaga (now #1) and #6 North Carolina (now unranked).
As we head into Pac-12 play, the Ducks have to be the favorites to win the conference title. While there are some other good teams in the conference, they’re the only team that has serious Final Four potential. Oregon opens up Pac-12 play at Colorado, which should be a good early test for them.
#2. Colorado Buffaloes (11-2): Aside from back-to-back losses to #2 Kansas (now #3) and Northern Iowa, the Buffaloes have had a pretty dominating non-conference season notching wins over #13 Dayton (now #20) and Arizona State in the Pac-12 China Game. A sign of a good team is a team that not only beats the teams they should, but beats them in the way that they should. The Buffs have done that for the most part.
The Buffs are led by a trio of junior guards in McKinley Wright IV (12.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, & 1.3 steals), Tyler Bey (12.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, & 1.9 steals), and D’Shawn Schwartz (11.4 points). Collectively, they have the Buffs playing really good basketball. When you have three upperclassmen leading the charge, you know you have the experience and maturity to make some noise. If they can beat Oregon in their Pac-12 opener, we should see them crack the AP Top 25.
#3. Arizona Wildcats (10-3): While the Buffs are led by a trio of juniors, the Wildcats are led by a trio of freshmen in forward Zeke Nnaji (16.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, & 1.2 blocks), guard Nico Mannion (14.6 points, 6.2 assists, and 1.2 steals), and guard Josh Green (13.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, & 1.7 steals). Collectively, these freshmen have risen to the occasion and backed up the pre-season hype with their stellar play.
The Wildcats are ranked #25 in the AP Poll despite not having any wins over a ranked team, so there’s still some questions about how good they are. Especially after their loss to Saint John’s at the Al Attles Classic. That said, the talent to be a ranked team is definitely there. It’ll be interesting to see how this Wildcats team develops over the course of the season and if they give the Ducks a real run for the Pac-12 regular season title. Arizona opens up Pac-12 play at home against Arizona State.
#4. Stanford Cardinal (11-2): The Cardinal are led by junior forward Oscar da Silva (17.7 points & 5.8 rebounds) and freshman point guard Tyrell Terry (15.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, & 2.0 steals per game), who both have been excellent this season. The Cardinal have done a good job of beating the teams they should be beating and haven’t really stubbed their toe yet.
Stanford has a one point loss to now #11 ranked Butler at a neutral site and a 16 point loss at home to now #3 ranked Kansas. When talking about sleeper teams to take the Pac-12, Stanford definitely deserves to be mentioned. Stanford opens up Pac-12 play at home against Cal.
#5. USC Trojans (11-2): The Trojans are led by freshman forward Onyeka Okongwu (17.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals, & 3.2 blocks), senior forward Nick Rakocevic (12.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, & 1.9 steals), and senior guard Jonah Mathews(12.4 points & 1.1 steals). Okongwu is battling out Zeke Nnaji and Isaiah Stewart (Washington) for Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors, putting up monster numbers. Especially with all those blocks.
The Trojans have the talent to make some noise in the Pac-12 this year. They have a nice blend of veteran leadership and young talent. It’ll be interesting to see how good the Trojans will do in Pac-12 play. They open things up at Washington State.
#6. Utah Runnin’ Utes (9-3): The Runnin’ Utes have a couple of good wins over #6 Kentucky (now ranked #17) and BYU. Both games were played at a neutral site. At the same time, they also have a couple of disappointing losses to Coastal Carolina and Tulane. So it’s been an up and down season for the Utes in the non-conference.
Sophomore forward Timmy Allen really carries the load for the Utes, averaging 21.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Part of their problem seems to be lacking a good #2 scoring option to take the pressure off of him. If sophomore guard Both Gach (11.6 points) and freshman guard Rylan Jones (11.1 points, 5.0 assists, & 1.2 steals) can pick things up a bit on the scoring end, that would make the Utes a more dangerous and possible NCAA Tournament team. The Utes open things up at home against Oregon State.
#7. Oregon State Beavers (11-2): Senior forward Tres Tinkle (20.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, & 2.0 steals), junior guard Ethan Thompson (15.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, & 1.3 steals), and senior center Kylor Kelley (11.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 4.3 blocks) pace the Beavers, having them off to a strong start in the non-conference.
The Beavers’ best performance might be their 20 point victory at Wyoming, given how tough it is to win up there. At the same time, that also shows how weak their schedule has been since Wyoming isn’t very good this year. They did lose to Oklahoma and Texas A&M, failing to pick up a real signature win in the non-conference. Fortunately for them, the start of Pac-12 play means they can start picking up some signature wins. Pending on how things shake out, we could see the Beavers sneak into the NCAA Tournament. They’ll open things up at Utah.
#8. Washington Huskies (10-3): The Huskies have a pair of really good freshmen in forward Isaiah Stewart (19.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, & 1.6 blocks) and forward Jaden McDaniels (14.3 points & 5.6 rebounds). Junior guard Nahziah Carter(13.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, & 1.5 steals) and sophomore guard Quade Green (11.5 points & 5.4 assists) give the Huskies a really good backcourt to go along with their dynamic front court.
Given all their talent, the Huskies should be a ranked team, but having three losses, two of which were to non-ranked teams, keeps them out at the moment. However, their 83-76 loss to now #1 Gonzaga shows that they can compete with elite teams. UW fans shouldn’t read me picking them 8th as a dig. Teams 2-8 are pretty tight, so it’s very possible the Huskies end up getting a bye in the Pac-12 tournament. They’ll open things up vs. UCLA.
#9. Arizona State Sun Devils (9-4): The Sun Devils have had a similar non-conference season to Utah in that it’s been very up and down. They lost by three points to #7 Virginia (now ranked #19) and picked up wins at San Francisco and against Georgia at home. They’ve shown they can play really well. At the same time, they’ve shown they can really suck judging by their narrow win at Princeton and 40 point beat down loss to Saint Mary’s at a neutral site. It’s hard to know which Sun Devils team will show up.
The Sun Devils are led by a trio of juniors in guard Remy Martin (17.9 points & 2.1 steals), guard Alonzo Verge, Jr. (15.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, & 1.4 steals), and forward Romello White (11.6 points & 10.1 rebounds). The talent is definitely there, but for one reason or another they haven’t been able to put it all together. At least not yet. The Sun Devils are definitely dangerous and will look to turn the corner in the new year. They’ll tip things off at Arizona, which should be a very good test for them.
#10. Washington State Cougars (9-4): I picked the Cougars to finish 12th in the Pac-12’s preseason media poll, so color me surprised by their 9-4 start. After starting 3-4, they’ve rallied off six straight wins and enter Pac-12 play with a bit of momentum. Granted they’ve been beating powder puff teams in this streak, but if you’re them, you’ll take all the wins you can get.
The Cougars always have at least one really good player every year and this year their man is sophomore forward CJ Elleby, who is averaging 20.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game. With him on the floor, they’re a team you have to at least respect. Junior guard Isaac Bonton (13.0 points) is playing pretty well himself. So it’s not like Elleby has no help.
While the Cougars are expected to finish towards the bottom of the Pac-12, they have enough talent to maybe win a game or two that they shouldn’t. They’ll open things up vs. USC.
#11. UCLA (7-6): The Bruins got off to a solid 4-0 start and then all things kinda went downhill from there as they’ve won just three of their last nine games. Some of those losses were to quality teams like BYU and Michigan State, but other losses like the one to Cal State Fullerton are just embarrassing.
The Bruins have a pretty balanced scoring attack in junior guard Chris Smith (11.1 points), sophomore forward Cody Riley (10.6 points & 5.8 rebounds), sophomore forward Jalen Hill (9.9 points), and senior guard Prince Ali (9.6 points & 1.5 steals), so that’s something that they do have going for them. The Bruins are definitely one of those teams that should be glad to have conference play under way. They get a chance to have a fresh start. They’ll open things up at Washington.
#12. Cal (6-7): The Golden Bears got off to a strong 4-0 start in the non-conference before losing seven of their last nine games. The Bears are backsliding into conference play and heading in the wrong direction, suffering a bad loss at home to Harvard on Sunday, who was without their best player.
The major issue for Cal right now is they don’t really have a strong #2 option to go alongside sophomore guard Matt Bradley, who is averaging 17.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Grad transfer guard Kareem South (11.5 points) is their second best scorer, but as he was in his undergrad days at Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, he’s just not reliable enough on a nightly basis. He's very hot and cold.
Cal has their work cut out for them in Pac-12 play and will need to play a lot better than they’ve been lately if they are to win a couple of games. It’s shaping up to be a rough season in Berkeley, but maybe things will start to trend upwards for them in the new year. Their opening game is at rival Stanford.
