It’s finally here. Gameday. Enough guessing and predicting and preseason-ing. Let’s get some real answers. Once and for all, its time for our Pac-12 experts to put their picks on the line and defend their choice for the conference champion. We asked our panel of experts:
Who is your pick to win the regular season title and why? And is that team that team you expect to be the last Pac-12 team standing in March?
Bennet Hayes: Cal’s upside is tantalizing, but I still don’t trust Cuonzo Martin enough to maximize all that talent. Arizona is my pick to finish second in the conference, but the roster overhaul scares me a little, even though the new crop of Wildcats is a talented bunch. So with all that in mind, I like Utah’s consistency to carry the Utes to the regular season crown. They lost just once at home all of last season (to Arizona) and all but one of their road defeats (at Washington) came to a team that won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament. What’s more, their lone match-up with Arizona comes in Salt Lake City. Larry Krystkowiak has also seemed to figure things out a little more each season; I trust him to get the most out of a disciplined group of players. But when it comes to the postseason, I’m swapping one and two. Recent Elite Eight exits aside, Sean Miller has proven himself a capable NCAA Tournament coach at both Xavier and Arizona. There’s still a lot of talent in Tucson, and reduced expectations might actually prove beneficial come March.
Adam Butler: I’m picking Arizona to win this conference (and could make arguments for Oregon and Utah for similar reasons to the Wildcats). In this case, my greatest argument wears a suit. Sean Miller is Arizona’s coach and he has enough talent to win this thing. The first starting lineup he rolled out (an exhibition against CSU-Chico) included a fourth-year junior, three seniors (including a four-year starter) and a fifth-year senior. I’m not sure you could find a more “experienced” lineup in the country. For a team that lost three players to NBA rosters and Brandon Ashley, that’s the sort of leadership (at least in years) he’ll need.
Andrew Murawa: A couple significant injuries to major contributors has me a little skittish already, but I’ve been over this conference back and forth since the end of the summer and I keep landing on Oregon as the regular season champion. First, Dana Altman is clearly the best coach in the conference, as last year’s undisputed (ahem) Coach of the Year award goes to show. Time and time again he’s shown his ability to seamlessly fold in disparate talent on his way towards overachieving compared to his roster. And this roster may be his best yet. Even with injuries to point guard Dylan Ennis and center Jordan Bell, the Ducks still have loads of talent and even some depth in both the front- and backcourts. If you follow the Pac, you probably already know the returnees, but freshman Tyler Dorsey and JuCo transfer Chris Boucher may be the two biggest reasons for excitement. Provided the two injuries to Bell and Ennis don’t linger, I see the Ducks as the most talented team in the conference with a terrific coach to boot. But, come March, an even more talented roster — namely, the one in Berkeley — may win out. It may takes a few months for Martin to dial it in for his Bears, but if he does, watch out.
Mike Lemaire: The popular and safe pick to win the conference is Arizona. They did it last year. They return a deep and talented roster. And the conference’s best coach (with apologies to the folks in Salt Lake City and Eugene) resides in Tucson as well. If stud freshman Ray Smith was healthy and playing this season, you might be able to convince me that the Wildcats were shoo-ins for the regular season crown. But looking at the conference from top to bottom, there is only one team with three potential lottery picks — California. Sure there are questions about whether all that talent can gel and about depth and about who will bring the ball up. But we saw the difference elite talent — no matter how experienced — can make during Duke’s championship run last season, and most people seem to think that Jaylen Brown is the best player in the conference already and that Tyrone Wallace and Ivan Rabb aren’t far behind. Give that kind of loaded roster over experience and depth any day of the week.