Here’s a look at the power rankings that Drew and I have compiled after the first week of games. Here we go!

1. California, 2-0: The preseason favorite Golden Bears rolled in their first two games of the season. On Friday night they faced an overmatched and undertalented UC Irvine team where Allen Crabbe led California with 24 points. Last night they faced George Washington in the regional round of the CBE Classic, thrashing the Colonials for an 81-54 victory. Up Next: 11.15 vs Austin Peay

Crabbe led all Golden bears with 24 points in Friday's win (credit: Jeff Gross)

2. Arizona, 3-0: After a loss and a closer-than-comfort win in its two exhibitions, all eyes were on Tucson this week to see how the Cats would perform in their first three games. They didn’t overwhelm any of their mid-major opponents by any means, but eight-, nine-, and ten-point victories over some reasonably solid competition earns them the second slot in our power poll. Up Next: 11.17 vs St. John’s in New York City

3. Washington, 2-0: The Huskies have won the first two games of the World Vision Classic and will go for the sweep tonight. Shooting guard C.J. Wilcox has led the team in both of its victories, going for 22 points against Georgia State and 19 points against Florida Atlantic. Combo guard Tony Wroten, Jr., as expected, has led the plethora of newcomers with 12.5 PPG. Up Next: 11.14 vs Portland

4. USC, 1-0: Despite only defeating a bad Cal State Northridge by seven points on Friday night, the Trojans come in at fourth in our power rankings. Three players, Aaron Fuller, Dewayne Dedmon, and Maurice Jones all led SC with 16 points a piece. Dedmon had the most impressive performance though, adding eight blocks and three rebounds to his stat line. Up Next: 11.14 vs Nebraska

5. Stanford, 1-0: The Cardinal gave Central Arkansas a rude awakening in their first game as a fully eligible Division I team, drilling the Bears 91-52. Aaron Bright led five Cardinal players in double figures with 16 points and four assists. Up Next: 11.14 vs Fresno State

T6. UCLA, 0-1: UCLA had a terrible loss to open up the season, a 69-58 defeat at the hands of Loyola Marymount at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. The Bruins looked inept on offense but the defense was even worse, letting LMU shoot 66.7% (10-15) from behind the arc. If the Bruins want to live up to the expectations that have been set for them, they need to improve that perimeter defense. Up Next: 11.15 vs Middle Tennessee Read the rest of this entry »

One round is complete in the ESPNU Pac-12 Logo Tourney, and Colorado, Arizona State, Washington, and Washington State have all advanced to the quarterfinals. They will meet the top four seeds who received byes for the first round. So, make sure to vote for your favorite and come back on Friday to see the semifinal matchups. Here we go!

#9 Colorado vs #1 Oregon State

Connor’s thoughts: I still don’t get what all the fuss with the Buffalo is about, but apparently I’m in the minority there. The Beaver is awesome for the little things: The gnawed off wood that says “ESPN” on it, the buck teeth, the little pool of water it’s in. ESPN really showed some creativity and effort there, so I’m taking the Beaver.

Drew’s thoughts: OSU is our number one seed, and while that’s a cool logo, the Buffalo looks a little more intimidating. Welcome to the Pac-12 Colorado…

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Beginning today and going thru Nov. 15, the RTC Pac-12 Microsite (that’s us!) will be holding a tournament to determine the best ESPNU Pac-12 logo. Beginning today you can vote for your favorite in a 12-team bracket style tournament. Drew and I have seeded them and placed them into the bracket. All you have to do is pick your favorite, or (here’s looking at you, Ute fans) vote for your favorite team regardless of how bad their logo is. Beginning tonight and going through Monday night, you can pick from the below matchups. Then come back on Wednesday to vote from a whole new set of matchups. Here we go!

#8 Oregon vs #9 Colorado

Connor’s thoughts: I flat-out just don’t like these logos. The Ducks’ only admirable quality is the green and yellow hat, and the only thing I like on the Colorado one is the steam coming out of its nose. I’m taking Oregon because the Buffalo has birds on top of it, and who even knows what’s up with that.

Drew’s thoughts: Tough first round matchup between logos that could cause the #1 overall seed trouble in the next round. I’ll take the Buffaloes here, but it’s a close call.

#5 Arizona State vs #12 Utah

Connor’s thoughts: There’s no contest here. The Sun Devil is awesome, from the burnt piece of wood to the pitchfork. The Ute is just plain awful. If they put some effort into it and made the official Utah redhawk, maybe it would look better. Maybe.

Drew’s Thoughts: The Utes have by far the worst logo. The only thing at all that indicates that it may belong to Utah are the feathers. One of the guys at BlockU came up with a better logo, and if that was the actual logo, Utah might have a chance. Or maybe not, because the ASU logo is pretty good.

The Pac-12 Basketball Media Day took place Friday in Los Angeles. Here is part one of our coverage, where we will take a look at the top three quotes from each of the six northern schools.  Tomorrow morning we’ll cover the southern schools.

Washington (full transcript available here)

• Coach Lorenzo Romar on the importance of playing schools like Duke and Marquette in nonconference play: “I think as we’ve seen over the last several years, our conference usually is evaluated based on our nonconference schedule in terms of a national perception. Sometimes an opinion is formed in the preseason, and then sometimes the nation doesn’t look back to see what teams are doing. So, again, we’re faced with it. There are a number of teams in our conference that have high profile, non-conference games. I think it’s important that we do well in those games.”
• Coach Romar on Seattle Pacific–Arizona: “My thoughts are that in an exhibition game, it’s a time to experiment. It’s a time to teach. It’s a time to learn. I am very fortunate. We’re fortunate that we didn’t have an exhibition game last night, trust me. The way I see it from a coach’s perspective is I’m sure they got a lot out of it. Seattle Pacific went in there and obviously gave them a great ballgame and challenged them. That they have some new players as well. Some young players. That gives them a perspective of what level you have to be at at this level. So a game like that can do a lot more good for a team than if they were to play someone and blow them out by 50 or 60 and give them a false sense of who they were.”

UW Fans Are Hyped About the Arrival of Local Hero Wroten

• Coach Romar on freshman point guard Tony Wroten, Jr.: “Tony Wroten, I can almost guarantee you, not a hundred percent, but I can — I’m willing to say that people will be surprised at Tony Wroten, and I’m not talking about the level of player he is, he’s an exceptional basketball player. But when they see how he will get on the floor and dive for a ball. How they can see that playing defense and things like that are really some of the intangible things that are important to him. When people see that, I think people have a different impression of what they thought he was going to be like. I think he’s been labeled somewhat of a show boat, show man, and that’s all he cares about. I think if you’re a Husky fan, people will be pleasantly surprised but that’s not totally him. He has fun. He enjoys the game. But at the same time, he’s a really tough competitor. So he’s done well.

Thoughts: Wroten, Jr., sounds even better than originally advertised, which is still pretty great. Definitely has the potential to be the next Isaiah Thomas or Brandon Roy for the Huskies.

Washington State (full transcript available here)

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