Well, the non-conference portion of the schedule is over, and we're about to head into league play. Time to look at how the conference stacks up. The table below averages the national rankings for three Power rankings, Ken Pomeroy (POM), the Jeff Sagarin "Predictor" (SAG), and ESPN's Basketball Power Index (BPI). I've also included the live-RPI from rpiforecast.com in parens.
UPDATED Rankings as of 12/26/17
Team_______Average_Power_Rankings
Team_(RPI)____POM__SAG__BPI___AVG
UA____(21)_____14___14___13____14
ASU____(4)_____20___19___17____19
USC___(35)_____38___38___46____41
UO____(93)_____46___40___52____46
UCLA__(58)_____52___49___70____57
UTAH__(60)_____59___59___73____64
CU___(106)____117___98__138___118
STAN_(199)____115__108__150___124
UW____(68)____131__101__153___128
OSU__(202)____137__143__170___150
WSU__(151)____166__149__208___174
CAL__(185)____178__168__244___197
Team_(RPI)_Avg_Power_Rankings_SOS
Team_(SOS)____POM__SAG__BPI___AVG
UA____(21)_____72___44___42____53
USC___(15)_____61___55___86____67
UCLA__(82)____104___74___44____74
ASU___(51)____163__128___96___129
STAN__(94)____133__142__143___139
UTAH_(108)____192__186__154___177
CU___(143)____213__214__200___209
UW____(99)____256__238__145___213
CAL__(121)____255__231__225___237
WSU__(222)____254__230__232___239
UO___(165)____287__274__284___282
OSU__(283)____340__335__343___339
Some thoughts: The biggest thing that stands out to me is how poorly the Conference performed in the non-con overall. I believe the league has no more games outside of the conference (what ever happened to mid-season matchups the week you play your rival?). Right now, Lunardi has only 4 teams in the dance (ASU, UA, USC and UCLA), and USC is a 10-seed and UCLA is a play-in.
The big problem is that there aren't many chances for good wins left (the Ariona's and SoCal's only play each other once this year), and there are going to be lots of opportunities for "Bad" losses. I can't remember having 4 teams with RPI's in the 150+ range (with 3 teams being 185+). And the thing is, WSU (151), Cal (185), Stanfurd (199) and OSU (202) are going to win some games this year, hanging "Bad" losses on some of the contenders.
The Arizona schools look like the teams to beat, although my take on ASU is similar to what others have said in different threads: They deserve a lot credit for their performance to date, but I am not convinced they are clearly the class of the league, and I am not ready to hand them the title just yet. I agree more with the Power rankings that they are a back-end-of-the-Top-25 type team, as opposed to their gaudy RPI and AP-poll Top-5 rankings.
The next group (USC, UO, UCLA, Utah) are all solid teams, and capable of beating good teams, but all have their flaws as well. Props to Utah, as they, like ASU, are one of the few teams that have probably surpassed my pre-season expectations for them.
Stanfurd and OSU are probably the biggest disappointments so far for me. I thought OSU might bounce back this year, with Tres Tinkle back, and the Thompson brothers. But they played a terrible schedule, and did not perform well against it. The 'Furd played a respectable schedule, but only went 6-7. I think all of the bottom 6 teams (CU, Stanfurd, UW, OSU, WSU and Cal) will make life difficult for the contenders, and pull some upsets, but they'll all be really inconsistent from night to night.
UPDATED Rankings as of 12/26/17
Team_______Average_Power_Rankings
Team_(RPI)____POM__SAG__BPI___AVG
UA____(21)_____14___14___13____14
ASU____(4)_____20___19___17____19
USC___(35)_____38___38___46____41
UO____(93)_____46___40___52____46
UCLA__(58)_____52___49___70____57
UTAH__(60)_____59___59___73____64
CU___(106)____117___98__138___118
STAN_(199)____115__108__150___124
UW____(68)____131__101__153___128
OSU__(202)____137__143__170___150
WSU__(151)____166__149__208___174
CAL__(185)____178__168__244___197
Team_(RPI)_Avg_Power_Rankings_SOS
Team_(SOS)____POM__SAG__BPI___AVG
UA____(21)_____72___44___42____53
USC___(15)_____61___55___86____67
UCLA__(82)____104___74___44____74
ASU___(51)____163__128___96___129
STAN__(94)____133__142__143___139
UTAH_(108)____192__186__154___177
CU___(143)____213__214__200___209
UW____(99)____256__238__145___213
CAL__(121)____255__231__225___237
WSU__(222)____254__230__232___239
UO___(165)____287__274__284___282
OSU__(283)____340__335__343___339
Some thoughts: The biggest thing that stands out to me is how poorly the Conference performed in the non-con overall. I believe the league has no more games outside of the conference (what ever happened to mid-season matchups the week you play your rival?). Right now, Lunardi has only 4 teams in the dance (ASU, UA, USC and UCLA), and USC is a 10-seed and UCLA is a play-in.
The big problem is that there aren't many chances for good wins left (the Ariona's and SoCal's only play each other once this year), and there are going to be lots of opportunities for "Bad" losses. I can't remember having 4 teams with RPI's in the 150+ range (with 3 teams being 185+). And the thing is, WSU (151), Cal (185), Stanfurd (199) and OSU (202) are going to win some games this year, hanging "Bad" losses on some of the contenders.
The Arizona schools look like the teams to beat, although my take on ASU is similar to what others have said in different threads: They deserve a lot credit for their performance to date, but I am not convinced they are clearly the class of the league, and I am not ready to hand them the title just yet. I agree more with the Power rankings that they are a back-end-of-the-Top-25 type team, as opposed to their gaudy RPI and AP-poll Top-5 rankings.
The next group (USC, UO, UCLA, Utah) are all solid teams, and capable of beating good teams, but all have their flaws as well. Props to Utah, as they, like ASU, are one of the few teams that have probably surpassed my pre-season expectations for them.
Stanfurd and OSU are probably the biggest disappointments so far for me. I thought OSU might bounce back this year, with Tres Tinkle back, and the Thompson brothers. But they played a terrible schedule, and did not perform well against it. The 'Furd played a respectable schedule, but only went 6-7. I think all of the bottom 6 teams (CU, Stanfurd, UW, OSU, WSU and Cal) will make life difficult for the contenders, and pull some upsets, but they'll all be really inconsistent from night to night.
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