Finally, after four longs weeks it seems that things have fallen into place within the Pac-12. The overhyped teams revealed themselves and the true beast of the Pac-12 stepped up and displayed their dominance. It is clear the top three in the league have shaken out in Arizona, Utah, and Stanford, and each team will most likely receive an NCAA Tournament bid. But, the Pac-12 might be a four bid conference and the last spot is still up for grabs. Oregon, Washington, Oregon State, and Colorado all have the chance to earn that fourth and final spot. Speaking of Colorado, I'd like to congratulate Jake Shapiro for getting recognized on ESPN2 by Mr. Walton himself for his ingenious invention of Bill Walton Bingo. After that aside, let's get to this week's Power Ranking before I go off about something else.

1. Arizona

Record: 18-2, 6-1 in the Pac-12

Last Week: 2-0 (89-82 at Stanford, 73-50 at California)

This Week: vs. Oregon, vs. Oregon State

Change: 0

Once again the Arizona Wildcats find themselves atop the Pac-12. It is now quite possible that Arizona could go undefeated for the remainder of the season, as they do not face a challenging opponent until they face Utah on February 28th. With their road win against Stanford, the Wildcats solidified their claim as the most dominant team in the Pac-12. In the game against the Cardinal, a second half push by the Wildcats set them up for the comeback win. Gabe York played a crucial roll off the bench, scoring 13 points. Stanley Johnson led Arizona with 19 points, and seven rebounds. Against California, Arizona simply dismantled the Golden Bears. The stifling Wildcat defense forced California to turn the ball over an astounding 19 times. They also out rebounded Cal and shot the ball well from the field. Stanley Johnson continued his campaign for freshman of the year as the highest overall scorer across both teams with 18 points, adding nine rebounds, and two steals as a bonus. It will take a lot to unseat this Arizona team, there may not be a team that has the talent to do so.

2. Utah

Record: 16-3, 6-1 in the Pac-12

Last Week: 2-0 (86-64 vs. Washington State, 77-56 vs. Washington

This Week: at UCLA, at USC

Change: 0

Utah had another solid week, despite being without their center Jakob Poeltl for one of their two games last week. Against Washington State, the Utes made a strong statement when they went on a 22-4 run to close out the first half in order to avoid the Cougars upset bid. From then on, Utah could not be stopped. Delon Wright delivered another dominant performance with 17 points, eight assists, and three steals. Brandon Taylor added 18 points, and seven assists as well. He hit several crucial shots from deep to bury WSU in their late first half run. Utah continued to roll versus Washington. The bench played a very important part in the win, adding 32 of their total 77 points, including a 19 point effort from Dakarai Tucker. Utah also had impressive shot selection which is reflected by their 53.8% from the field. From deep the Utes hit a staggering 11 three pointers to seal their win. While Utah is a legitimate team, they still have yet to get that win proving they are worthy of superstardom.

3. Stanford

Record: 14-5, 5-2 in the Pac-12

Last Week: 1-1 (82-89 vs. Arizona, 89-70 vs. ASU)

This Week: at Washington, at Washington State

Change: 0

Stanford made a big statement last week against Arizona. They gave the Wildcats a run for their money until the very end of the game. However, the Cardinal just couldn't pull off the upset. Still, they played an incredible game. Chasson Randle may be the best player in the Pac-12, if not at least in the top three. He scored 26 points, and added four assists in the loss to Arizona. He would not be contained by the normally dominant Arizona defense. He worked his way to the basket for the entire game to get high percentage looks. Anthony Brown did all he could as well to back up Randle's impressive performance. Brown added 18 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks as well. Sadly, the Cardinal's lack of depth coming off the bench prevented them from getting what most likely would have been their biggest win of the season. When Arizona was able to go to Gabe York, and Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Stanford did not have the talent to match the Wildcats' subs. In the ASU game, Stanford held off a surging first half by the Sun Devils and opened the game up in the second half, ultimately blowing them out by 19 points. Four of their five starters scored in double figures, as well. Stanford, as talented as their starters are, will always be held back by their lack depth on the bench.

4. Oregon State

Record: 14-5, 5-2 in the Pac-12

Last Week: 2-0 (66-55 vs. UCLA, 59-55 vs. USC)

This Week: at Arizona State, at Arizona

Change: +2

The Beavers bounced back to a less than average week to take ahold of the number four spot in the Power Rankings. Gary Payton II had an incredible week to lead OSU to two important wins. Against UCLA, Payton had 18 points, seven boards, six assists, and five steals. There is no question that Payton II has emerged as one of the stars of the Pac-12 and is without a question pushing this Oregon State team to new heights. In USC game, Payton led the way once again as he helped his team grind out a tough win against the Trojans. The reason this game was so close was the fact that the Beavers had a very poor shooting night, only hitting 20 of their 51 shots taken. Oregon State's slow style of play has worked to their advantage this season, still like Stanford their shallow bench may come back to haunt them.

5. Oregon

Record: 14-6, 4-3 in the Pac-12

Last Week: 2-0 (75-67 vs. USC, 82-64 vs. UCLA)

This Week: at Arizona, at Arizona State

Change: +2

Oregon is on the up and up currently. With two solid wins last week, they seem to be finally pulling all of the pieces together. Rather than relying on Joseph Young for all of their offensive production, the Ducks are redistributing the wealth and now outplaying their opponents. Against USC, four players scored in double figures. Young still led all scorers with 19 points, but it is much improved from the previous imbalance of scoring earlier this season. The Ducks didn't very well, going 21-58, but made up for it on the free throw line, making 25 of their 31 attempts. In their next game, Oregon trounced the struggling Bruins and continued to improve their offense. Five Ducks scored in double figure and the team totaled 16 assists. They also shot an impressive 62.3% from the field. In both games, Oregon received critical help from their bench. As the season progresses, the quality of bench play will make or break every team's season.

6. Washington

Record: 14-5, 4-3 in the Pac-12

Last Week: 1-1 (52-50 at Colorado, 56-77 at Utah)

This Week: vs. Stanford, vs. California

Change: -1

Despite winning a game this week, the Huskies still dropped in the rankings. In their game against Colorado, they looked just awful. They repeatedly turned the ball over early on and struggling to produce anything on the offensive end. At the end of the first half, the Huskies managed to score only 19 points. Behind solid guard play from Andrew Andrews, and Nigel Williams-Goss, Washington managed to pull off the upset win thanks to a last second pull up jumper by Andrews. Even though they walked out of the Coors Event Center with a win, it was not a good one whatsoever. The Huskies didn't play much better against Utah. The Utes shut down Nigel Williams-Goss, so Washington was not able to find the needed offensive production to compete with Utah. Along with their lack of offense, they Huskies shot a dismal 6-16 from deep. To make matters worse, Washington just dismissed Robert Upshaw from their team, due to violation of team policies. Upshaw led the nation in block, and was the team's leading rebounder. Talk about making a bad week worse, the Huskies are in trouble.

7. Colorado

Record: 10-9, 3-4 in the Pac-12

Last Week: 1-1 (50-52 vs. Washington, 90-58 vs. Washington State)

This Week: at USC, at UCLA

Change: +2

The Buffs looked like two different teams against Washington and WSU. Versus the Huskies, the Buffs had absolutely no energy whatsoever. They played lazy, slow defense, which allowed Washington to come back and win the game. They had 12 turnovers, but only eight assists, they shot an embarrassing 19-60 overall and 5-19 from deep. It was probably one of CU's worst games on the season. The two bright spots were Jaron Hopkins, and Wesley Gordon singlehandedly managed to keep the Buffs in the game. Come the Washington State game, Colorado became a completely different team. They jumped on the Cougars early, and went on a huge 21-10 run to end the half. It was the awkward team of Eli Stalzer, Askia Booker, Dominique Collier, Dustin Thomas, and Wesley Gordon that sparked the massive run in the first half. The Buffs continued to push the ball in the second half and ended up winning by 32 points. Six players scored in double figures thanks to an incredible 25 assists overall. The Buffs also crushed WSU on the rebounds 44-28. Lastly, Gordon has become a man child under the basket. In the past two games he's collected 31 rebounds. The real question is that can the Buffs continue this momentum on the road this week?

8. Washington State

Record: 9-10, 3-4 in the Pac-12

Last Week: 0-2 (64-86 at Utah, 58-90 at Colorado)

This Week: vs. California, vs. Stanford

Change: -4

If you thought Washington had a bad week, then Washington State begs to differ. After hinting they might be a Pac-12 dark horse, they proved that all the was for just a trip in the jacket. The Cougars problems begun in the first half against Utah. With a little more than seven minutes left in the half, WSU trailed 23-24 and looked to pull off the upset of the season. Suddenly, they went brain neutral and let the Utes go on a 22-4 run to close out the half. Washington State was not able to mentally recover from that titanic led down for the rest of the week. At Colorado, they got blown out by 32 points to boot. They couldn't stop either team on defense and had no answer on the offensive end. They turned the ball over far to much, and struggled to shoot from the free throw line, making only 50% of their shots from the charity stripe. Thankfully, WSU has a chance to catch a foothold and rebound this week against an even worse Cal team.

9. Arizona State

Record: 10-10, 2-5 in the Pac-12

Last Week: 1-1 (79-44 at California, 70-89 at Stanford)

This Week: vs. Oregon State, vs. Oregon

Change: +2

After weeks of dwelling at the bottom of the Pac-12, ASU managed to escape the basement and move their way into single digits in the Power Ranking. The Sun Devils picked up a surprising blowout win on the road against California. Despite lacking a solid performance from their starters, Kodi Justice and Chance Murray stepped up in a huge way coming off the bench. Together they combined for 33 of ASU's 79 points. The Sun Devils also shot very well, shooting 48.1% overall, and 10 crucial three's that helped them power past the Golden Bears. Against Stanford, Arizona State put up a good fight for most of the game. The bench one again backed up the starters, and they moved the ball very well as a whole. However, they were out rebounded by a -10 margin against the Cardinal. Plus, they were not able to contain the big three on Stanford. Lastly, the Sun Devils lost Kodi Justice to a broken foot in the Stanford game, so we will see how ASU responds without their important six man.

10. UCLA

Record: 11-9, 3-4 in the Pac-12

Last Week: 0-2 (55-66 at Oregon State, 64-82 at Oregon)

This Week: vs. Utah, vs. Colorado

Change: -2

Just like Washington State, it seemed that UCLA was making a come back. However after losing Tony Parker, the Bruins took a step back this week. Without one of their leading scorers, UCLA struggled against OSU and Oregon. Both games were very similar. Normal Powell, Bryce Alford, and Kevon Looney were the only main contributors to any sort of offensive production. Outside of that, the other players were non-factors. The Bruins struggled to stop any team defensively, even slow paced OSU was able to score 66 points on them. When Parker returns, so will the UCLA offense, but util then they will continue to struggle as long as they rely on only three players.

11. USC

Record: 9-10, 1-6 in the Pac-12

Last Week: 0-2 (67-75 at Oregon, 56-59 at Oregon State)

This Week: vs. Colorado, vs. Utah

Change: +1

USC managed to work their way out of the last spot in our rankings due to their solid efforts last week. Despite losing both games, the Trojans showed potential after giving both Oregon and Oregon State an attempt at pulling of an upset. Nikola Jovanovic seems to the most consistent player on the team, who's inside presence has helped improved their game quite a bit. They move the ball nicely too, reflected by their double digit assist totals in both games. Still, the team cannot turn the corner yet because they struggle to shoot. Against Oregon they shot 37.3% from the field and did no better against OSU, shooting 34.0%. If this team could improve their shot selection, they might be able to surprise a team or two that overlooks them. Nevertheless, last week did show a little bit of hope for Trojan fans.

12. California

Record: 11-9, 1-6 in the Pac-12

Last Week: 0-2 (44-79 vs. Arizona State, 50-73 vs. Arizona)

This Week: at Washington State, at Washington

Change: -2

The Golden Bears are absolutely terrible. What seemed to be a talented team in the non-conference part of the season has completely disappeared. Cal is simply awful, there is no other way to put it. They've lost eight out of their past nine games, and currently are riding a six game losing streak. California simply relies on Jordan Mathews, Tyrone Wallace, and David Kravish for any offensive output. Besides that, they are absolutely terrible. They had more than double the number of turnovers than they did assists this past week. The team needs a major overhaul or to come together or just something to put a stop to this awful display of underperforming. I think we may see the Golden Bears here for a long time.

All in all it was quite a week. But, it is finally nice to see the rankings starting to settle down, as team's true talents are revealed the more conference play goes on. The battle for the fourth NCAA Tournament bid between Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Colorado will be an interesting one. Personally, I see Oregon pulling together in the end, as they have made huge strides in a such a short period of time. The game of the week is no question Oregon State at Arizona, the beavers have a chance to show they are a legitimate threat this year and their last upset wasn't just a one time random act of luck. Here's to this week being better than the last.

Until next week Pac-12 fans,

-Trevor Simmons (@TRSimmons33, @CUBuffsBBall)