Scoop Dreams columnist Eli Smukler checks in with this week’s Pac-10 men’s basketball Power Rankings (you can find last week’s rankings here):
1. No. 10 Arizona (23-4, 12-2 Pac-10)
The spoils of Arizona’s thrilling 87-86 victory over Washington are great. It marks the Wildcats’ eighth straight win, improves their NCAA Tournament résumé and puts them in a comfortable position to snag the Pac-10 title. The crown is clinched if Arizona sweeps the L.A. schools on the road this week, as they did at home last month.
2. Washington (19-8, 10-5)
The loss in Tucson, Ariz., hurts and it means the Huskies’ most likely won’t get the regular season title they were the original favorites to win, but all is not lost for Lorenzo Romar’s team. Washington gets to return to Seattle for the rest of its schedule where it is a perfect 13-0 this year. Winning out would mean a No. 2 seed in the Pac-10 Tournament and a lock to continue into March.
3. UCLA (19-8, 10-4)
The Bruins’ six-game win streak came to a dramatic end in Berkeley on Sunday as UCLA lost to Cal in overtime. With games still left against the Pac-10’s other two NCAA Tourney probables (Arizona at home and Washington on the road), a conference title is now a long shot, but UCLA would still get major points with the NCAA selection committee for a win against either.
4. Oregon (14-12, 7-7)
The Ducks demolished their only opponent last week, the rival Beavers, 82-63 in Eugene, Ore., with the help of 26 points from senior guard Jay-R Strowbridge. Oregon has won four of five in its new home arena and will stay there this week to face Cal and struggling Stanford. Though they started the Pac-10 season 0-4, the Ducks could very easily end up with the conference tournament’s No. 4 seed.
5. USC (15-12, 7-7)
USC finally swept a two-game Pac-10 series and doubled its number of road wins with a fell swoop of the Bay Area schools, a feat the Trojans hadn’t accomplished since 1992. Coach Kevin O’Neill got two double-doubles out of his talented junior big man Nikola Vucevic and a scoring lift from 5-foot-7-inch guard Maurice Jones coming off the bench. Pac-10 leader Arizona now looms.
6. California (14-13, 7-8)
Golden Bear guard Jorge Gutierrez’s dazzling 34-point performance against UCLA gave Cal the overtime victory on Sunday night. The win was huge for a Bears team previously on a four-game losing streak. Cal now heads to Oregon to try and duplicate their home sweep over the Ducks and Beavers from last month.
7. Washington State (17-10, 7-8)
The Cougars can forget about any outside shot of an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. A nine-point loss at Arizona was respectable, but then Washington State committed the mortal sin of losing to cellar-dwelling Arizona State. The Cougars have a week to repent before heading to Seattle where the rival Huskies will certainly be hungry to avenge WSU’s upset from earlier in the season.
8. Stanford (13-13, 6-9)
Stanford was almost the team that surprised UCLA this week, but even with ace Jermey Green scoring 27 points, the Cardinal could not pull off the upset at Maples Pavilion. Then, on Saturday night, Green shot just 3-for-13 against USC and his team went down by an even bigger margin. Now, Stanford seems destined for one of the Pac-10 Tournament’s unwelcome play-in games.
9. Oregon State (9-16, 4-10)
The struggles continue for Craig Robinson and woeful Oregon State who has lost 10 of 12. The worst-shooting team in the Pac-10 was four-for-21 on 3-pointers in its Civil War loss to Oregon this week. Stanford and Cal now visit Corvallis, bringing with them memories of 14-point and 28-point deficits in their respective wins over OSU last month.
10. Arizona State (10-16, 2-12)
Could it be? Yes. Finally, a win for Herb Sendek and his crew, the first in the Sun Devils’ last 10 tries. The victory came despite the absence of injured team leaders Ty Abbot and Rihards Kuksiks. Instead, ASU freshman Chanse Creekmur stepped up to score 18 points in his starting debut to help oust Washington State, 71-69, in Tempe, Ariz.