I decided to take a couple weeks off from the power ranks. I dont think enough changed week to week to warrant it. Nor did it seem to get much attention. Well here we are Apple Cup of Basketball week and our Dawgs are tied for first with 3 games to go. They have a real strong chance to win the regular season title at least as co-champ. And are all but assured of finishing in the top 4 which provides them a first round by in the Conference Tournament.

The last two weeks should be excellent in the PAC, as teams posture for one of the top 4 seeds. Washington has games against WSU, UCLA and USC. They need to finish strong, and I think they will. Cal travels to the Rocky Mountains where a split is possible. Then play at Stanford. Arizona should finish with 3 wins. CU host Cal and Stanford and then travels to Oregon. Oregon gets OSU, Utah and CU. For true Pac 10 Basketball fans this should be great theater, as one of the top 5 will not get a bye. And I predict a three way tie for third. I have no idea what the tiebreaker will be then.

I believe the PAC 12 will now get 3 teams in the tournament. The cream has certainly risen to the top. I expect those teams to be UW Cal and Arizona. Oregon and CU still have a chance but are probably more likely to be in the NIT, unless one runs the table which is possible. Now on to the rankings:

1. Washington 19-8 12-3 (winners of 8 out of 9 and 11 of 13) projected conference record 15-3

2. Cal 22-6 12-3 (ok they beat UW but that Jan 19, and they lost to WSU and Arizona at home since) 14-4

3. Arizona 19-9 10-5 (swept by Washington should win final 3 games easily) 13-5

4. CU 18-8 10-4 (surprise team has wins over UW, Oregon and Arizona - could add Cal to that list Sunday) 13-5

5. Oregon 19-8 10-5 (Blowout of UW but did lose to CU. Will get a chance to change on the final weekend) 13-5

6. UCLA 15-12 8-6 (never recovered from the Reeves Nelson experience) 10-8

7. Stanford 18-9 8-7 (great start, has lost 6 out of 9 and probably only one win left) 9-9

8. WSU 14-13 6-9 (some nice wins, but clearly not to level of the top teams) 7-11

9. OSU 15-12 5-10 (weak non-conference made this team look better than they were could Robinson and his brother in law lose their jobs in the same year?) 6-12

10. ASU 8-19 4-11 (not a good team and getting worse, but UTAH and USC are terrible) 5-13

11. Utah 5-21 2-12 (how did they beat ASU by 21? maybe they are better than ASU) 2-16

12 USC 6-21 1-13 (waiting for Matt Barkley to start playing again, actually I bet he could play on the basketball team too) 1-17