Fansided

Top 5 Conferences In College Basketball

By Bryce Olin

Dec 23, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Stanley Johnson (5) disputes a call towards his bench during a game against UNLV at Thomas and Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 23, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Stanley Johnson (5) disputes a call towards his bench during a game against UNLV at Thomas and Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 23, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes guard Delon Wright (55) dribbles the ball against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits during the first half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 23, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes guard Delon Wright (55) dribbles the ball against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits during the first half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Pac-12

Projected Tournament Teams: Arizona, Utah, Washington, California

The Pac-12 has been a major disappointment for the early part of the college basketball season.

Other than Washington, Arizona, and Utah, there has not been much to look forward to in the Pac-12.

Overall
Rk School W L W-L%
1 Washington 11 0 1.000
1 Arizona 12 1 .923
1 California 10 2 .833
1 Utah 9 2 .818
1 Oregon 9 3 .750
1 Oregon State 8 3 .727
1 Stanford 7 3 .700
1 UCLA 8 4 .667
1 Colorado 7 4 .636
1 Southern California 7 4 .636
1 Arizona State 7 5 .583
1 Washington State 5 6 .455

Provided by Sports-Reference.com/CBB: View Original Table
Generated 12/26/2014.

Colorado, UCLA, and Stanford have been very disappointing this season.

Colorado, one of the best and most talented teams in the Pac-12 is not playing like it this season and have lost four games already to inferior competition. With one of the weakest non-conference schedules in the conference, I thought the Buffaloes had a chance to enter conference play without a loss.

Looks like I just picked the wrong Pac-12 team, as Washington remains unbeaten this season and got a huge win last week over the Oklahoma Sooners.

UCLA has talent, but they’ve blown their chances to make noise this season. Gonzaga handled the Bruins with relative ease, and Kentucky pummeled UCLA with haymaker after haymaker and UCLA just took it. It’s been a rough start for Steve Alford’s team.

Stanford, on the other hand, started a little slow, but then picked a huge road win at Texas last week. It seems like the Cardinal are peaking at the right time, heading into conference play.

Arizona, Utah, Washington, and even California should be considered locks for the tournament as of now and if they continue to play like they have been.

Oregon, with leading scorer Joseph Young, also seem like they could make a push in the conference.

Anything can happen in the Pac-12, because no team is actually that much better than any of the other teams, except Arizona. Even the Wildcats are vulnerable, though, as was apparent in their loss to UNLV last week.

It’s going to be nuts in the Pac-12. There could be seven NCAA tournament teams, but I bet five will get in.

Next: Big East