Week 16 ATQ Pac-12 Basketball Power Rankings. Ducks closing in on #1

1. Arizona (22-5) (10-4)

For the first time in a while, the Wildcats put on a truly dominating display with their 38 point win over rival Arizona State. Allonzo Trier’s 20 points and eight rebounds were huge in the blowout victory. Next up is a road trip to the mountain schools with the Top-25 matchup coming Saturday at Utah.

2. Oregon (21-6) (10-4)

The ten point victory over the rival Beavers was just the remedy needed after the tough road trip the week before. It was nice to see freshman Tyler Dorsey break out of his slump in the victory. Home games against the Washington schools provide a great opportunity to restart a winning streak.

3. Utah (21-7) (10-5)

After two more wins this week, the Utes are now up to four straight wins and have jumped their way back into the Top-25 polls. Yet another dominating week for Jakob Poeltl as he averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds.

4. California (19-8) (9-5)

The Golden Bears are my pick for dangerous sleeper team come the NCAA tournament. Now winners of five straight, California is peaking at the right time. Freshman Jaylen Brown was huge on the road with his 23 points to knock off Washington.

5. USC (19-8) (8-6)

The week started off well for the Trojans with the seven point win over Colorado but ended miserably with the 11 point loss to Utah. The offense currently just isn’t clicking the way it was early in the season. Tough end to the season as games against California and Oregon remain.

6. Washington (16-11) (8-7)

The Huskies almost pulled off the home sweep against the Bay Area schools but California did just enough to steal a three point victory. Credit to Washington for defeating Stanford to keep themselves planted on the bubble.

7. Colorado (19-9) (8-7)

Rough week for the Buffaloes with back-to-back losses at USC by 7 and at UCLA by a 24 point shellacking. Josh Scott averaging just 13 points in the two games was clearly a major factor in the losses. Two of the three remaining games come against ranked teams.

8. UCLA (15-12) (6-8)

The Bruins are making one last push to be considered a 2016 NCAA Tournament team. They started off the week with a narrow two point defeat to Utah and responded by knocking off Colorado by 24. Impressive week seeing that Bryce Alford only averaged 12 points, 6 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game.

9. Oregon State (15-10) (6-8)

The Beavers better hope that the tournament committee is looking at the ten point margin of the Civil War and didn’t actually watch the game. Oregon State was dominated from start to finish in that one. Tough ending to the season with remaining games against Washington, USC and UCLA.

10. Stanford (13-12) (6-8)

Not a terrible week on the road for the Cardinal as they knocked off Washington State by 16 but couldn’t quite hang with Washington, falling by 11. At the very least, the week keeps the Cardinal above .500 for the overall season. Still some work to do if they want to reach .500 in conference play before the tournament.

11. Arizona State (14-13) (4-10)

It’s never a good thing to lose to your rival, but it’s especially bad when you lose to your rival by 38. The Sun Devils got absolutely blasted and with a road game tomorrow night in Utah, they’re in the midst of a rough stretch.

12.  Washington State (9-18) (1-14)

The poor Cougars just keep on losing as they now make it 13 straight losses. With three straight road games at Oregon, Oregon State and Washington it’s very feasible the Cougars end the season with 16 straight losses.

Now, for a look at the big games in the week ahead:

Thur. Feb. 25th: UCLA at California

Sat. Feb. 27th: Arizona at Utah

Sun. Feb. 28th: Washington at Oregon