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

1. Arizona, 7-0 (-): Another week, another spotless slate for Arizona. The easier game of the week actually proved to be a road victory at Clemson on Saturday night. The Tigers hung tough for most of the night, but the Wildcats rode a 25-7 run that stretched from around the 11-minute mark in the second half to just under the two-minute point to put down any hopes of an upset. The Wildcats weren’t able to do the same four nights earlier in Tucson against a tough Southern Miss team, as the Golden Eagles hung around and hung around until UA sealed it with some free throws in the closing minutes. Turnovers again plagued Mark Lyons and the rest of the Wildcats in general, as USM forced an astounding 27 miscues in the near-shocker at McKale. Regardless, Arizona is the only team still perfect in the Pac-12, making them the unanimous pick up at the top. Despite their problem with turnovers, I’ve bought into Sean Miller’s club after a full month of play. For the ones that still haven’t, games against Florida, and possibly Miami (FL) and San Diego State in the coming weeks, will give us a good gauge of just how dangerous this team is. Up Next: 12/15 vs. Florida.
2. Oregon, 8-1 (-): Oregon’s only game of the week was an absolute massacre, a 87-35 thrashing of Idaho State in Eugene. Freshman guard Damyean Dotson continued his strong play for the Ducks, leading all scorers with 12 points in just 16 minutes of action. Up Next: 12/15 vs. Nebraska.
   

   Damyean Dotson Is Averaging 11.3 PPG In His Inaugural Season With The Ducks (credit: NW Sports Beat)

3. California, 6-2 (^1): Despite dropping its only game of the week, California rises a spot in this week’s rankings. That’s mostly thanks to a strong, albeit frustrating, showing on Sunday afternoon against UNLV, but it also helped the Bears that the teams around them either faced poor competition or got blown out last week. The Golden Bears need to break this current losing streak on Saturday against yet another tough opponent. Up Next: 12/15 vs. Creighton.
4. Oregon State, 5-2 (^2): I’m still not completely sold on this Oregon State team, but it appears that the fact its two losses have come by a combined nine points, both against teams that will likely be dancing come March, has had an effect on the rest of the panel. The Beavers took the week off for finals before hosting an awful Grambling State team on Saturday afternoon. The result was an 85-54 win, a margin that would have been much bigger if not for a 24-4 Tiger run late in the second half. Junior guard Roberto Nelson led the way for OSU, going 5-of-6 from three-point land en route to a 26-point performance. Up Next: 12/12 @ Portland State. Read the rest of this entry »

Chris Johnson is an RTC columnist. He can be reached @ChrisDJohnsonn.

Tonight’s Lede. Final Exams: UGH. The recent frenzy of quality match-ups between nationally-relevant programs far and wide, Power Six to low major, blinded me from the annual scheduling lull that accompanies final exams. Starting Monday, the number of quality games over the next week will diminish as student-athletes hit the books in advance of the the winter holiday. Games will bore. Viewing intrigue will plummet. You’ll get nights like Thursday – with maybe one or two, if that, interesting fixtures, and a large dose of filler comprising the rest of a given night’s slate. For anyone who enjoys watching college basketball, it is not a fun time. What follows is my humble attempt to spin the oncoming dry period into a positive. The dip in activity serves as reminder of one of the few moments where class work takes precedence over sport and spectacle, where student-athletes implement the primacy of the word “student” before “athlete” in a tangible way that goes deeper than the NCAA’s willful definitional standard, where it reflects beyond a mere byword for amateurism. As much as I love watching and writing about the sport’s best teams, it’s rare we see the national TV tycoons and broadcast conglomerates that lord over Division I’s revenue-producing sports rendered powerless against the common academic mission of its money-producing subjects. I’ll suffer through a few boring nights of hoops if it means maintaining at least some measure of scholastic purpose in this whole college athletics thing. 

Your Watercooler Moment. Let’s Not Get Ahead Of Ourselves: Creighton Owns Nebraska Hoops.

The Huskers are improving under Miles, but Creighton remains far and away the more capable team (Photo credit: AP Photo).

The revenue-producing sports’ dichotomy in Nebraska is self-evident. The Cornhuskers handle the football side of things, while Creighton dominates all major headlines on the court. New Nebraska coach Tim Miles accepted his post earlier this year with designs on changing that perception, or at least narrowing the gap. Generating hoops interest on a football-dominated campus like Nebraska is not easy; Miles has a multi-year project on his hands. Still, the early part of the season provided green shoots of hope for the long-dormant program. The Huskers had won seven of eight to open the year, with respectable if noteworthy victories over Valpo and USC. There were noticeable improvements all over the floor. Miles was making headway on the recruiting trail. The arrow was pointing up. All of which – even in the wake of Creighton’s 22-point beatdown in Lincoln – hasn’t really changed all that much. In truth, Nebraska was never ready to handle a team as capable and offensively potent as Creighton. Thursday night’s humbling reminder of its little brother status doesn’t disabuse Nebraska of any of the progress it has made thus far. Nebraska is in good hands going forward with Miles at the helm. If you were looking for a quick-fix turnaround in Lincoln, well, sorry! The Huskers are headed in the right direction – they’re just not quite ready to challenge a national contender like Creighton.

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1. Entering this season, there hardly seemed a more unlikely candidate to be a Michigan State captain than Derrick Nix, who had a somewhat eventful offseason. The senior center, who had gradually slimmed down since he arrived on campus, was arrested on drug charges in early April and was suspended indefinitely. But the past is behind him and now he’s focusing on leading his team, something he admits has been harder than he anticipated while balancing it with his own personal performance. “It is hard,” Nix told Joe Rexrode of the Detroit Free Press. “I’m just trying to stay level-headed and stay positive.”
2. Patrick Chambers has changed the relationship between Penn State basketball and in-state recruits for the better, StateCollege.com‘s Ben Jones writes. For years, Philadelphia products were assumed to be heading to either Villanova or Temple, but Chambers — who played at Philadelphia University and was later an associate head coach under VU’s Jay Wright — has the right ties to the area to potentially bring some of those top players to State College. It’s no easy task but with the Big Ten’s further expansion east into the big Atlantic seaboard markets, Philadelphia recruits in particular may not be as hesitant to consider the league’s schools as another viable destination.
3. Nebraska coach Tim Miles secured a commitment this week from an international player who may be able to soon help the Cornhuskers on the local front. Miles shored up his fall recruiting class with New Zealand native Tai Webster — a four-star recruit, according to ESPN — who averaged 13.5 PPG in the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament while playing for his country’s national team. He will join Nick Fuller and Nathan Hawkins in the class. “I’m excited to have Tai join us,” Miles said, according to the Omaha World Herald. “He is an excellent player who will thrive in our style of play and has high-level international playing experience which will help him acclimate to basketball in the U.S.”
4. Sharing is caring for Minnesota, which has burst onto the national scene this fall with an impressive start to a season filled with promise. The Gophers have had a variety of leading scorers over their first 10 games of the year, a balance that could provide Minnesota with its first starting five to average in double figures since way back in the 1965-66 season. “This is definitely the most balanced team that we’ve had since I’ve been here,” senior Rodney Williams said. “You never know who it’s going to be on any given night.” It is that balance that could allow the Gophers to aspire to greater things even if forward Trevor Mbakwe never quite recaptures his dominance from before his injury.
5. There is something that’s worked at home for Iowa this season that has resulted in some dominating performances at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. But if coach Fran McCaffery has figured out that magic formula, he’s not quite ready to share it. McCaffery continues to keep his lineup under lock and key in the early going, tinkering with things in advance of the Big Ten season. It’s a good problem for a coach to have — to be able to mix and match to create match-up problems or to better fit your opponents — and the Hawkeyes have been able to utilize experience, youth, size and speed at different points this season.

Chris Johnson is an RTC Columnist. He can be reached @ChrisDJohnsonn. 

Tonight’s Lede. The Big Ten Reaffirms Status as Nation’s Best League. One of the prevailing truths surrounding the beginning of the 2012-13 college basketball season was the Big Ten’s unquestioned status as the nation’s best conference. However you measure conference strength –whether by top-to-bottom depth, high-end quality, or somewhere in between – the Big Ten’s No. 1 perch was not up for debate. The first five weeks of the season has done little to debunk that trope. If anything, the Big Ten’s proven stronger than once believed. The latest testament to the heartland conference’s incredible lineup came Monday night from an unlikely source. Perennial bottom-dweller Nebraska, energized by the arrival of head coach Tim Miles and a newfound commitment to upgraded facilities and financial support from school administrators, made easy work of USC in Lincoln. In a vacuum, that win won’t spawn any grand proclamations of NCAA Tournament potential or league contention. What it will do, on a night best described as a black hole of hoops intrigue, is make people stand up and take notice. It’s not only a statement for Nebraska’s improvements under Miles, but of the incredible depth of the best league in the country.

Your Watercooler Moment. MCW Takes Syracuse To A Whole New Level.

Despite losing key pieces from last year’s one-seed team, Syracuse could be just as potent in 2012-13 with Carter-Williams controlling the offense (Photo credit: Getty Images).

Every year, I find myself glued to one player through the early months of the season. Last season, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist captured my undivided attention. He epitomized practically every natural quality I hold dear in the college game: hard work, toughness, leadership, a never-say-die attitude, the willingness to attack the rim with impunity, and in the same breath guard the opposing team’s best player on the defensive end. I can go on, but I’d like to think many of you can empathize with my MKG mancrush. Several candidates made strong cases for my personal fascination early this season – Yogi Ferrell handles the point guard position better than any freshman I’ve seen outside of the John Calipari dynasty line; Otto Porter is as versatile as they come; Marcus Smart just flat out knows how to play – but I’ve reached a verdict. It’s Michael Carter-Williams. On Monday, MCW nearly notched a triple-double in the Orange’s 84-48 win over Eastern Michigan, but my growing attraction to his game began long before his most recent spout of brilliance. MCW is far and away the biggest breakout star on the national scene. Forget his unparalleled vision and passing accuracy, his ability to guard different positions, his penchant for cutting in the land and crafty scoring touch. The biggest reason why MCW has gripped my attention is the massive rippling effect he has on his teammates. He makes everyone around him better, whether through setting up open looks or drawing defensive attention or providing timely defensive insurance. Typically, players with these kind of transcendent skills foist massive responsibilities upon themselves and end up forcing shots and frustrating their teammates. MCW does just the opposite. If you haven’t seen him this season, get to a TV set and DVR the next Syracuse game. MCW is a special player, and he probably won’t be around much longer, so observe while you can.

Tonight’s Quick Hits… 

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Wake Forest was embarrassed last night, losing by 16 to Nebraska in Winston-Salem — the same Nebraska that just eked out a home win over Tulane before getting blown out by Kent State (also at home). The game was close at the half with the Demon Deacons only trailing by four, but Nebraska came out blazing in the second half and scored on 19 of its first 23 possessions over a span of 15 minutes. In case you prefer advanced stats, Nebraska scored 40 points on those 23 possessions. That’s 1.74 points per possession, for those of you wondering.

Nebraska Manhandled Wake Forest at the Joel Last Night. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

When asked about the game, Jeff Bzdelik offered the Winston-Salem Journal‘s Dan Collins this jewel:

“I’ve tried everything. I’m not going to make any excuses. Tuesday is their toughest day academically. It starts at sun-up. I was aware of that, and I was trying to give them rest. I tried a different approach today, just giving them some rest. I don’t know.”

For those of you keeping score at home, Bzdelik’s team was embarrassed at home by a Big Ten basketball doormat because the players had a hard class day. It’s really hard to believe that Wake Forest was considered a national contender a few years ago. But Bzdelik isn’t making excuses. Well, other than blaming an abysmal home loss on academics and “rest.” Read the rest of this entry »

1. We are two and a half weeks into the 2012-13 season and coach Kevin O’Neill’s USC squad is still searching for an identity. We heard all offseason long about how this Trojan team had more than enough depth, and how this was the year they got back on track and competed for another NCAA Tournament berth. However, as Evan Budrovich points out, the influx of available bodies has actually hurt SC early on, leaving it far short of its true potential. Budrovich lays out a plan that appears to be foolproof at the end of the article, stating that the Trojans should go big and implement little used freshman forward Strahinja Gavrilovic into the starting lineup instead of Byron Wesley. Gavrilovic’s ability to score consistently from any spot in the paint would help SC when it goes into one of its typical shooting slumps. Wesley would come off the bench and play in his most comfortable shooting guard role, and Renaldo Wooldridge would see increased minutes as a defensive stopper. Whatever O’Neill decides on, he needs to figure it out quickly before SC faces Nebraska, New Mexico, and Minnesota the next three times it takes the floor.
2. Staying in Los Angeles, Bruins Nation delves into some theories as to what is wrong with UCLA. As DCBruins points out, Ben Howland got his dream recruiting class, and team, this season – so the players are definitely not at fault. And even in the day and age where players transfer one game into the season, it’s not likely that the majority of the team has already “stopped playing” for Howland this quick into the year. Or maybe the quoted Bruin Report Online article is referring to fouling unnecessarily in the final 20 seconds (heyoooooo). Whether true or not, perception is reality, and the perception by most is that theory number four, stating that Howland flat-out can’t coach this group, is true right now.
3. Something will have to give on Friday night in Kansas City, where an Oregon State team struggling with perimeter defense meets a Kansas squad that has been less than spectacular at the one through three spots on the floor so far this season. Head coach Bill Self compared his player’s ball reversal skills to be worse than that of third and fourth graders playing YMCA ball after the Jayhawks defeated San Jose State on Monday. If those struggles continue against the Beavers at the Sprint Center, Oregon State has a chance to get a marquee win Friday evening.
4. I had been calling for it all throughout the offseason, and finally the media and opposing teams are catching on – California guard Justin Cobbs is legit. Cobbs has found his role with the Golden Bears and has settled into it perfectly, playing inside himself for a tidy average of 20 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 3.7 APG so far this season. Without a doubt, the mixture of Cobbs and junior Allen Crabbe combines to make the league’s top backcourt duo so far in 2012-13. Also included in Doug Haller’s column is his weekly power rankings, which are pretty close to the ones we released yesterday. Haller, however, has Arizona and Colorado flipped at the top, as he does with Oregon and California just after those two.
5. Washington received more bad news on Tuesday when it learned that senior guard Scott Suggs would miss Wednesday’s game against Saint Louis due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot. The Huskies were without Suggs’ services against Colorado State on Saturday, and as we all know, that didn’t turn out very well. This already offensively challenged Dawg squad will get all it can handle, and then some, against the Billikens tonight. SLU has gotten off to a slow, 3-2 start, but anyone that tuned in to see them dominate Texas A&M last week for a 21-point victory knows that they are for real.

One of the annual marquee non-conference events of the college basketball season arrives this week, and the Big Ten/ACC Challenge is as enticing as ever. With the Big Ten coming in as the presumed toughest conference in the country, it has the opportunity to shine against some of the nation’s most storied programs under a bright spotlight. It’ll be the first true test for some of the conference’s top squads and a chance for the Big Ten to show its substantial depth. The ACC won the first 10 challenges, but the Big Ten has won the last three. Here are a few predictions for the week’s match-ups:

Tuesday’s Games

IU Awaits North Carolina as the Headliner Game Tuesday (US Presswire)

• Iowa at Virginia Tech (7:15 PM, ESPNU): The Hawkeyes’ hot start was slowed this week by Wichita State, and things don’t get any easier when they travel to face undefeated Virginia Tech. But Fran McCaffery has an upstart group that can rebound the ball. The test will be in slowing the Hokies — expect a high-scoring ballgame. Iowa 88, Virginia Tech 82.
• Minnesota at Florida State (7:15 PM, ESPN2): The most popular sleeper pick in the conference has been as advertised, even without contributions from All-Big Ten senior Trevor Mbakwe. But the Gophers will need him Tuesday night against a Florida State team that traditionally excels inside. The ‘Noles can score (26th in the country, with 80.4 PPG) but aren’t as tough on the glass as usual (187th overall). That will be the deciding factor. Minnesota 77, Florida State 69.
• N.C. State at Michigan (7:30 PM, ESPN): What was billed as perhaps the most intriguing game of the Challenge took a bit of a hit when the Wolfpack was beaten soundly by Oklahoma State last week and then snuck by UNC-Asheville. Suffice it to say, Michigan’s freshmen are a bit further along the learning curve than N.C. State’s gifted newcomers. Michigan 79, N.C. State 70. Read the rest of this entry »

1. The news of the day in Big Ten land was the formal announcement that Maryland would be leaving the ACC and joining the conference for the start of the 2014-15 school year, and that Rutgers was expected to announce a similar move to the Big Ten from the Big East on Tuesday. Such realignment would have a profound impact on the state of basketball in the conference, with the Terrapins known as the perennial No. 3 team in the ACC (Rutgers is a Big East bottom-feeder). Michigan State coach Tom Izzo admitted he enjoys the tradition-rich Big Ten and worries about the increase in travel (New Jersey to Nebraska, anyone?) but says he’s pleased about the proactive approach Jim Delaney and the conference presidents/chancellors have taken during realignment. Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said the location of the two schools opens the conference to a new market and a new world of recruiting that can help not only those additional two schools, but also the universities already positioned in the Big Ten.
2. Here’s an unfamiliar and somewhat odd concept to come out of basketball camp in Lincoln: High expectations. That’s what coach Tim Miles has for center Andre Almeida, who certainly has a physically imposing presence in the post as he clocks in at 6’11”, 310 pounds. As for what Miles expects? “19 and 7,”he said, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. “Realistically, we need somebody to step up, so it might as well be him,” Miles said. “Why not? Seriously, why not? Because he hasn’t done it in the past, right? That’s why not. But why live that self-fulfilling prophecy? Let’s get him the dang ball where he deserves it and see what he can do with it.” Almeida averaged 5.2 PPG and 3.3 RPG last season as a junior, but his 19/7 against Nebraska-Omaha was exactly what Miles hopes to see out of the big man this season.
3. One of the most concerning aspects for Wisconsin in last week’s blowout loss at Florida was how the Badgers were handled on the defensive end, allowing the Gators to dictate the pace of the game nearly throughout. That was a point of emphasis in the Badgers’ bounce-back win against Cornell, as Wisconsin provided suffocating defense while holding Cornell to 26.2 percent shooting from the field and 13.3 percent from long range. The win not only helped put to bed the Florida loss, but also a previous Cornell upset. In the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, the Big Red shot 61.1 percent overall and 53.3 percent from three to end the Badgers’ season, 87-69.
4. The absence of true freshmen Peter Jurkin and Hanner Mosquera-Perea was noticeable in Indiana‘s win against Georgia on Monday night in Brooklyn as the Hoosiers found themselves in a bit of early foul trouble before rallying to avoid the upset. But Indiana may not be without the duo as long as originally expected — the NCAA suspended the two for nine games, meaning they wouldn’t be eligible until the December 15 game against Butler, but that suspension could be reduced on Tuesday, ESPN‘s Andy Katz first reported. The two were suspended right before the Hoosiers’ first regular-season game for receiving improper benefits as AAU players for Indiana Elite.
5. For a cupcake game — a 69-41 win over Texas Southern — there was a bit of drama in Michigan State‘s home opener, concerning both a big man who was on the floor and one who was not. Derrick Nix did not start after opening Michigan State’s first two games, and Matt Costello made his season debut in a bit of a lineup shakeup for Tom Izzo’s group. The freshman had four points and three rebounds in 11 minutes after returning from a tailbone bruise, while fellow big man Alex Gauna got the nod in favor of Nix. Izzo had hinted at the idea earlier in the month that he might like to switch up the starting lineup and a lesser opponent may have given him just the opportunity to do so. He likes to experiment with his rotation early on and whittle it down later into the year, but a deep frontcourt that also includes Adreian Payne and potentially Branden Dawson and Russell Byrd at the four gives Izzo and the Spartans a wealth of options down low.

It would be misleading and deceitful to imply that conference realignment is about anything other than money (though that hasn’t stopped conference commissioners and university presidents), or that basketball is at the forefront of presidents’ minds when moves are made. But regardless of the motives behind the seismic moves that have taken place across the college athletics landscape over the last handful of years, fans of all the involved schools and of all relevant sports must adjust to the changes. With the swiftly breaking news of Maryland and Rutgers set to join the Big Ten for the 2014-15 school year, here are a few of the basketball implications of the realignment and the likely 14-team Big Ten:

We can only hope Maryland joining the Big Ten will provide us with a few more classics like this game from the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

• Schedule Changes — With two more teams added to the mix, you can expect that the already-diluted conference basketball schedule will become even more so. As it stands now with 12 Big Ten teams, each school plays 18 conference games. That means each school plays four other conference schools only once, and seven teams twice. If the conference keeps an 18-game conference schedule, under the new 14-team format, each school would then play more fellow Big Ten schools only once and fewer teams twice. What that means: fewer rivalry games and marquee match-ups will be played on an even-keel home-and-home basis, also leaving room for an unbalanced conference schedule across the board. When that’s the case, regular season championships carry less value if teams don’t have a consistent conference slate from top to bottom.

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This is the second installment of our weekly Big Ten Power Rankings, which will publish each Friday. This week’s voters were Deepak Jayanti, Joey Nowak and Kevin Trahan of the Big Ten microsite.

Michigan’s talented freshmen class — Glenn Robinson III, Caris LeVert, Spike Albrecht, Nik Stauskas, Mitch McGary — has the Wolverines off to a hot start. (Photo credit: Michigan Athletics)