Pac-10 Power Rankings

1. UCLA (28-3, 16-2 Pac-10):

Well, the Bruins took home another regular season Pac-10 title, but they got a lot of help from the guys in stripes along the way. The only way they can take home the national championship is if they get Pac-10 refs in every game they play for the duration of the tournament.

1. Stanford (24-6, 13-5 Pac-10):

Probably not the finish that the Cardinal anticipated, but it’s hard to blame them for being down against USC. They got flat-out robbed in their loss to UCLA, but they’re still one of the more dangerous teams in the nation right now.

1. USC (20-10, 11-7 Pac-10):

That was as strong of a finish as Trojan fans could have asked for, as they picked up a sweep to secure an NCAA tournament bid. Plus, O.J. Mayo said he plans on returning next year. We’ll see about that.

1. Washington State (23-7, 11-7 Pac-10):

Saturday’s win over Washington proved yet again that the Cougars know how to finish games. But it’s a little worrisome that they had such a close call against Washington. This doesn’t look like a team that can play deep into March.

1. Oregon (18-12, 9-9 Pac-10):

The Ducks never really made a run this season, but won enough games to stay afloat. And now that the season’s winding down, it looks like they have a shot to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. A win or two at the Pac-10 tournament this week wouldn’t hurt, either.

1. Arizona (18-13, 8-10 Pac-10):

It’s kind of hard to figure out why everyone seems to think that the Wildcats are a sure thing to make the tournament. But if it happens, they would become the first team with a sub-.500 conference record to ever be selected out of the Pac-10.

1. Arizona State (19-11, 9-9 Pac-10):

Even though the Sun Devils have a better record than both Oregon and Arizona, they seem to be the Pac-10 team most squarely on the bubble. If too many mid-majors pull off upsets in their respective conference tournaments, ASU could get bumped.

1. Washington (16-15, 7-11 Pac-10):

It would have been nice for the Huskies to finish the regular season with a win against WSU, but it’s pretty obvious that this team just hasn’t quite figured things out yet. Still, one would think that with a record above .500, they’re probably likely candidates for at least some sort of postseason consideration. CBI, anyone?

1. California (15-4, 6-12 Pac-10):

It was an interesting season for the Golden Bears, who went 2-7 at home in conference play but managed to win four games on the road. They would have won five if not for some awful officiating in Pauley Pavilion last weekend. On the plus side, Ryan Anderson is still good.

1. Oregon State (6-24, 0-18 Pac-10):

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s the worst team in Pac-10 history. OSU proved wrong all of the doubters who didn’t think the team could go an entire conference season without winning a game. This is truly a feat for the ages.