Best of the West MBB power rankings: There’s a new No. 1 (hello, UCLA) after Gonzaga falls and ASU slips
The Best of the West offers fans a candid assessment of the top teams in the western third of the country — a collection that includes the Mountain West and the former Pac-12 schools now scattered across the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and West Coast Conference.
1. UCLA (10-1/2-0 Big Ten)
Last week: 4
Results: beat Arizona 57-54 and Prairie View 111-75
NET ranking: 14
Next up: vs. North Carolina (Saturday)
Comment: Sweeping Washington, Oregon and Arizona in back-to-back-to-back fashion makes the Bruins the clear frontrunner in the Pac — err, never mind.
2. Gonzaga (7-3)
Last week: 1
Results: lost to UConn 77-71
NET ranking: 4
Next up: vs. Nicholls State (Wednesday)
Comment: Why would a three-loss team have the No. 4 NET ranking? Because 70 percent of the games count as Quad I or II results. The Zags’ strength-of-schedule component is stupendous.
3. San Diego State (7-2/1-0 Mountain West)
Last week: 3
Results: beat Cal Baptist 81-75
NET ranking: 56
Next up: vs. Cal (Saturday)
Comment: Hard to call any ACC opponent a tune-up. But with Utah State and Boise State looming for the Aztecs after Christmas, the neutral site affair (in San Jose) against Cal is exactly that.
4. Arizona State (8-2)
Last week: 2
Results: lost to Florida 83-66
NET ranking: 50
Next up: vs. UMass (Saturday)
Comment: “Next year, I’m not scheduling an 11-day break in early December. That’s too much time off,” Bobby Hurley might have thought to himself as the Sun Devils got run off the court by Florida.
5. Oregon (10-1/1-1 Big Ten)
Last week: 5
Results: beat Stephen F. Austin 79-61
NET ranking: 17
Next up: vs. Stanford (Saturday)
Comment: Don’t look now, but that early-season escape in Corvallis counts as a Quad I result for the Ducks and is helping to prop up their resume.
6. Saint Mary’s (9-2)
Last week: 6
Results: lost to Boise State 67-65 (OT)
NET ranking: 45
Next up: vs. Merrimack (Thursday)
Comment: If you’re wondering, Merrimack College is a member of the MAAC (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) and based in North Andover, Mass. The Warriors lost at Stanford by six points on Tuesday night, so SMC should be careful.
7. Colorado (8-2)
Last week: 8
Results: beat South Dakota 81-70
NET ranking: 72
Next up: vs. Bellarmine (Saturday)
Comment: That early-season victory over UConn looked great in the moment, lost luster in the days immediately following, but now has the expected heft after the Huskies beat Baylor, Texas and Gonzaga in succession.
8. Utah State (10-1/1-0 Mountain West)
Last week: 7
Results: beat South Florida 88-67, lost to UC San Diego 75-73
NET ranking: 39
Next up: at Saint Mary’s (Sunday)
Comment: The Aggies dropped 39 spots in the NET rankings after that fairly stunning home loss to UCSD. With the Gaels and Aztecs up next, they had best forget and move on.
9. Washington State (9-2)
Last week: 9
Results: beat Missouri State 91-78
NET ranking: 69
Next up: at Washington (Wednesday)
Comment: The Cougars are 2.5-point underdogs in Seattle. From what we have seen, the Hotline would gladly accept the points (if we engaged in such activities, of course).
10. Arizona (4-5)
Last week: 10
Results: lost to UCLA 57-54
NET ranking: 49
Next up: vs. Samford (Wednesday)
Comment: The meltdown against UCLA, in which the Wildcats blew a 13-point lead and didn’t make a field goal for the final nine minutes, reminded us of the Princeton debacle, albeit with lesser stakes and fewer eyeballs watching.
Also considered: New Mexico, Nevada, Boise State, Brigham Young, Oregon State, Cal, San Francisco, Stanford, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, USC and Utah.