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Things are about to get more and more interesting on the hardwood in the Pac-12.
The calendar has flipped to 2017, and conference play is now officially underway, which means teams will jostle one another for a top spot in league standings in hopes of participating in postseason play.
With that said, Connor Pelton and I take a look at how the Pac-12 currently shapes out.
Pac-12 Basketball Power Rankings: January 9
| Rank | Pelton's Picks | Jones' Picks |
|---|---|---|
| Rank | Pelton's Picks | Jones' Picks |
| 1 | UCLA | Oregon (+1) |
| 2 | Arizona (+1) | UCLA (-1) |
| 3 | Oregon (+1) | Arizona |
| 4 | USC (-2) | USC |
| 5 | Utah (+1) | California (+1) |
| 6 | California (+2) | Utah (-1) |
| 7 | Colorado (-2) | Colorado |
| 8 | Washington (+1) | Washington |
| 9 | Arizona State (+1) | Arizona State |
| 10 | Stanford (-3) | Stanford |
| 11 | Washington State | Washington State |
| 12 | Oregon State | Oregon State |
The Skinny
A new No. 1 appears for the first time in a while on one side of the rankings after Oregon defeated UCLA in Eugene during the closing days of 2016.
Each of our top four groupings include Arizona, Oregon, UCLA and USC, so not much argument as to who the leaders of the conference currently are.
In fact, there’s a considerable amount of agreement, as from the seventh spot on, Pelton and I are simpatico. This includes Arizona State, which comes in at No. 9 in each of our columns.