Pacific Takes Pac-12 Basketball Power Rankings 11/19 - Movement up top

Cal and Stanford are both still undefeated, that’s it, just a little reminder. Let’s take a look at this week’s power rankings:

1. Oregon (Last Week, #2)

Snip-snap-snip-snap, the Ducks are back on top after a win over a ranked Memphis team that still had James Wiseman. Apparently lack of size is not as big an issue when you have a squad that can catch fire from behind the arc.

2. Arizona (Last Week, #1)

The Wildcats absolutely shredded a pretty good New Mexico State team by 30 points. However, they won’t see another challenging opponent to bump themselves back up over Oregon until December 7th when they take on Baylor, and then Gonzaga a week later.

3. Colorado (Last Week, #4)

Colorado, just like Arizona, took down a powerful mid-major. The Buffs charged through Big-West favorite UC Irvine thanks to McKinley Wright IV and Tyler Bey who had 16 points each.

4. Washington (Last Week, #3)

Washington could not recover from a shaky first half against Tennessee and dropped one down south in Toronto (Yes south, but barely. Also fun geography fact, nearly two-thirds of Canada’s population lives south of Seattle.) However, there is still no reason for Husky fans to panic, this is a fresh team that still needs time to figure out how to play together.

Gerry Angus-USA TODAY Sports

5. Utah (Last Week, #5)

Utah held their own in what many hoped would be the basketball version of a College Football Playoff Game against Minnesota. Two notes from what I learned watching this game, Timmy Allen is very good at basketball, and Both Gach is a very cool name.

6. USC (Last Week, #7)

The Men of Troy faced their toughest opponent so far this last week, and became the second Pac-12 team to win on the road against Nevada this year.

7. Oregon State (Last Week, #6)

I have had many fellow students at UCLA ask me “aren’t you biased towards UCLA when you do these power rankings?” to which I always respond with “No, I’m definitely more biased to Oregon State.” Which is why it pains me to drop the Beavers down out of the top half of the power rankings after a loss to Oklahoma. But I still highly recommend you watch Oregon State vs UC Santa Barbara Wednesday night, one of the key Gauchos is former Beaver Jaquori McLaughlin.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

8. ASU (Last Week, #8)

The Sun Devils are undefeated domestically after taking down Central Connecticut State and Rider University.

9. UCLA (Last Week, #9)

UCLA went 2-0 with wins over UNLV and Southern Utah, however the main takeaway is the offensive production of Chris Smith who averaged 18 points in these two games. I said it at the beginning of the year and I’ll say it again, the Bruins ceiling will be dictated by Smith’s offensive production.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

10. Cal (Last Week, #10)

It wasn’t a good week for UNLV, before heading down to Westwood they lost in overtime at Berkeley. Meanwhile, Cal had a solid week. Their 4-0 start means they already have half their win total from last year. Call me crazy, but if Cal can go .500 in conference play Mark Fox deserves some serious Pac-12 Coach of the Year buzz.

11. Stanford (Last Week, #11)

The Cardinal have been underdogs in the spread every game so far this season, yet here they are at 4-0 (4 PAC-12 UPSET ALERTS!). It’s been a relatively lax schedule, however still credit Stanford for taking care business.

12. Washington State (Last Week, #12)

Wazzou went 1-1 last week with a win over Idaho State and a loss at Santa Clara. CJ Elleby continues to dazzle, recording 7 steals in the Cougar’s win over ISU.