Here’s a look at the power rankings that Drew, Parker, Adam, and I have compiled after the seventh week of Pac-12 games (delta in parentheses):

1. Arizona, 12-0 (-): Technically, the undefeated Wildcats played in week seven, getting that thrilling, 68-67 win over San Diego State over in Honolulu. But due to my Christmas-inspired laziness, last week’s power rankings were delayed, and we already covered that stuff. The #3 Cats haven’t taken the floor since, giving them extra time to prepare for a visit from Colorado on Thursday. With that game in Tucson, and the Buffaloes starting off the season with a 1-2 mark on the road, the Wildcats should be able to shine on national television with their 13th victory of the year. Senior guard Mark Lyons led Arizona through non-conference play with 13.4 PPG. Up Next: 1/3 vs. Colorado.
2. Colorado, 10-2 (^1): After taking an eight-day break, Colorado returned to action without missing a beat, dispatching 7-6 Hartford, 80-52. Led by Josh Scott, the Buffs jumped out to a 26-6 lead and never looked back. Blowout wins are beginning to become a trend under head coach Tad Boyle, who has seen his team win half of its games this season by double digits. As we discussed above, the Buffaloes will venture into the McKale Center on Thursday night, and while they certainly are capable of pulling the upset, the last time they took on a top 10 team on the road, it didn’t go very well. Who can forget last month’s trip to Lawrence, where Kansas jumped out to a 27-8 lead en route to a 90-54 thrashing of CU. Getting a good start against the Wildcats will be key for an upset. Up Next: 1/3 @ Arizona.
   

   In Addition To Pulling Down 10 Rebounds, Josh Scott Led Colorado With 21 Points In A Win Over Hartford On Saturday. (credit: US Presswire)

3. Oregon, 11-2 (٧1): The Ducks and Buffaloes traded places this week, despite UO getting what is largely considered the better win over Nevada. The Wolf Pack were able to hang with Oregon for 30 minutes on New Year’s Eve before the Ducks went on a 14-6 run to lead by 16. Dana Altman‘s squad would cruise from there en route to a 56-43 win. Up Next: 1/6 @ Oregon State.
4. UCLA, 10-3 (^1): Forget Arizona over San Diego State, the conference’s marquee win in week seven came via UCLA, who outlasted Missouri in an overtime thriller, 97-94. In the extra period, Travis Wear drained a jumper to put the Bruins up three with 15 seconds remaining before grabbing the game’s final rebound to seal the upset. Up Next: 1/3 vs. California.
5. Arizona State, 11-2 (^3): It was a pretty simple week for Herb Sendek and the Sun Devils. After dominating Coppin State on Saturday, ASU sat back and watched three teams in front of them either drop games to lesser opponents or nearly escape them. As a result, they enter league play at number five in our power rankings. Up Next: 1/2 vs. Utah.
6. Stanford, 9-4 (^1): Stanford was the other team to take advantage of Oregon State and California’s misfortunes, jumping up one spot with a closer-than-expected victory over Lafayette. Stanford opens Pac-12 play with a trip to Los Angeles, where they’ll need a split to stay in the upper half of our rankings. Up Next: 1/3 @ USC.
7. Oregon State, 10-3 (٧3): Not playing a full 40 minutes finally cost Oregon State, who after leading by 19 on Saturday against Towson, eventually lost by one in overtime. The Beavers closed out the week with a nice 25-point victory over Texas-Pan American, but it’s going to take a while to repair their national reputation after that awful loss. Up Next: 1/6 vs. Oregon.
8. Washington State, 9-4 (^2): Despite all of their struggles, the Cougars finish non-conference play with nine wins thanks to a dominating 74-39 victory over Idaho State on Saturday. Brock Motum and Mike Ladd led all scorers with 17 points each in the win. Up Next: 1/5 vs. Washington.
9. California, 8-4 (٧3): How long will California continue to lose big games? After dropping contests to the likes of Wisconsin, UNLV, and Creighton earlier in the season, Harvard came into Haas Pavilion and knocked off the Golden Bears, 67-62. Up Next: 1/3 @ UCLA.
10. Utah, 8-4 (^1): After dropping that pre-Christmas heart-breaker against Cal State Northridge, Utah had a “get well” game against College of Idaho on Friday in Salt Lake City. The Utes ran the Yotes out of the Huntsman Center, jumping out to a 30-12 advantage before winning by 34. Up Next: 1/2 @ Arizona State.
11. Washington, 8-5 (٧2): The Huskies closed out a disappointing non-conference slate with a fitting result on Saturday. Connecticut added to its three-game winning streak by knocking off Washington by eight in the XL Center. Up Next: 1/5 @ Washington State.
12. USC, 5-8 (-): For as bad as the non-conference season was, the Trojans made their own light at the end of the tunnel on Sunday with a solid, overtime win against Dayton. The previously 9-3 Flyers came into Los Angeles expecting a fairly easy victory, but found themselves falling asleep as SC slowed the pace all afternoon. The final was 63-61, hopefully starting a bit of momentum for the Trojans as we enter league play. Up Next: 1/3 vs. Stanford.

—

As we transition into Pac-12 play, the panel also submitted their revised votes for how the final standings will stack up come March. The results are below.

1. Arizona
2. UCLA
3. Colorado
4. Oregon
5. California
6. Stanford
7. Oregon State
8. Arizona State
9. Washington State
10. Washington
11. USC
12. Utah

Connor Pelton (300 Posts)

I'm from Portland. College basketball and football is life.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013 at 2:31 pm by Connor Pelton and is filed under microsites, pac 12. Tagged: arizona, arizona state, california, colorado, dana altman, herb sendek, Josh Scott, mark lyons, oregon, oregon state, stanford, tad boyle, travis wear, ucla, utah. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.