Each week the Pac-12 microsite will run down our weekly superlatives, which typically will include a Team, Player and Newcomer of the Week, along with our weekly Power Rankings.
Team of the Week: Stanford
Behind Chasson Randle and Anthony Brown, Stanford Earned Themselves A Big-Time Non-Conference Win. (Getty)
In a week with so much inexplicable carnage – Arizona, Washington, California, UCLA and Colorado all would like to have do-overs – the Cardinal are the conference’s saviors, earning the league’s best non-conference win of the season with a true road win at Texas in overtime last Tuesday. Coming on the heels of a tight loss at BYU, and with that ugly DePaul loss still lingering in the air, this game proved that this Cardinal team is capable of doing the kinds of things that last year’s Sweet Sixteen team did. Led by seniors Anthony Brown and Chasson Randle, Stanford battled the Longhorns and their crowd, fought back time and again from (at times self-inflicted) bad breaks and gave themselves and the conference an early Christmas present that should pay dividends the rest of the year.
Player of the Week: Chasson Randle, Stanford
After picking up a pair of fouls in the first half, Randle went to the pine for the final five minutes before the break. When he saw the floor again, he came back with a vengeance. He scored 14 points from that point forward, including seven points in the final seven minutes of the game. And it was his step-back jumper with 10 seconds left that put the Cardinal up three and forced the Longhorns into scramble mode on their final possession.
(Also receiving votes: Anthony Brown, Stanford)
Newcomer of the Week: Savon Goodman, Arizona State
Formerly of UNLV, Goodman has only been eligible at Arizona State for four games — but what a four games. Since playing just eight minutes in his first outing against Marquette, Goodman has averaged 18.7 points and 10.3 boards per game, bringing interior strength and energy to a largely perimeter-oriented Sun Devils squad. At just 6’6”, Goodman is not your traditional Pac-12 power forward, but his constant motor and attacking sensibility makes him an immediate positive. Athletically ready to play at this level, he is still a little raw. But with time and experience and as he lets the game come to him, he should be a major asset for a long time for the Sun Devils .
(Also receiving votes: Brekkot Chapman, Utah)
Power Rankings
Arizona loses one little trap game and all these hangers-on flee like rats off a sinking ship. Well, all but yours truly, that is. After being unanimous picks as the #1 team in the conference in each of our previous five polls, three of our four pollsters picked Utah as the best team in the conference this week. Elsewhere, Stanford made the biggest leap in our poll, jumping from #7 last week to #4 here. Meanwhile, Colorado continues its free fall after a disastrous week in Hawaii, dropping all the way down to the 11th spot. Really, did anybody see the Buffaloes as a team that would have any chance of being called the second-worst team in the conference this season? And for that matter, three-quarters of our pollsters picked Oregon State as the eighth-best team in the conference or better. College basketball never fails to surprise.