The Pac-12 saw six teams make the NCAA tournament last year, with Arizona making the Elite Eight. They’ll be back, and so will the rest of the conference. Every fan is optimistic to start the season, but not every team can live up to the hype. Pre-season is always filled with opinions, varying from each fan base. Who is going to outplay themselves? Which teams will crack under the pressure?
Overrated and Underrated in the Pac-12 this Pre-Season
Underrated: USC Trojans
USC got off to a pretty good start in Andy Enfield’s first season as head coach, going 9-4 in the non-conference season. Then the wolves of the Pac-12 came out. They finished 2-16 for a last place finish, but not all is bad in Southern California. Remember, this was Enfield’s first season, meaning he was coaching another coach’s players. Not his own. They did take a blow when Senior G Byron Wesley transferred to Gonzaga. Wesley scored 17 points per game last season, by far the highest total on the USC team. The good news: Senior G Pe’Shon Howard (10.8 PPG) came on strong at the end of last year, scoring 10+ points in half of the conference games despite getting a heavy amount of the attention. Plus, four stars PG Jordan McLaughlin and SG Elijah Stewart are going to be incoming freshman, including a couple three stars in SF Malik Marquetti and C Malik Price-Martin. Watch out for the Trojans to do some damage this year.
Overrated: California Golden Bears
Well, Mike Montgomery retired. Now that that is out of the way, California does not look to be a contender next year. Although I’ve seen them as high as 5th, I don’t feel they have to overall talent to compete in the Pac-12 this year. They graduated Justin Cobbs (15.6 PPG) and Richard Solomon (11.0 PPG) and are lacking quality recruits to replace them. Two star C Kingsley Okoroh and not ranked PG Brandon Chauca are not going to be able to come in and compete right away. They are returning senior F David Kravish and junior G Tyrone Wallace, who both averaged 11 points per game, and that’s about it. New head coach Cuonzo Martin, formerly of Tennessee, should help get them back on track, though.
Underrated: Utah Utes
Utah had a decent season last year, going 21-12, but with a 9-9 conference record. So what’s going for them? For one, they have a Pac-12 POTY candidate in senior G Delon Wright, who scored 15.5 points per game as a junior last year. One of the more underrated players in the country is junior F Jordan Loveridge. Loveridge scored 14.7 PPG as a sophomore last year, while also grabbing 7 RPG. He could be a big X-factor in how the Utes do this year in the Pac-12. They’re going to add depth at the forward position, with four star players PF Brekkott Chapman and SF Kyle Kuzma coming in. Watch out for the Utes to fight to finish as high as 2nd next year.
Overrated: Colorado Buffaloes
Colorado seems to be a hot pick for 2nd in the Pac-12 this year, that after coming off a 23-12 (10-8 conference) record the year before. It was a good season considering star G Spencer Dinwiddie suffered a season ending injury about halfway through the year. He’s off to the NBA now, and it’ll be interesting to see how the team does without him for a full season. I don’t know if junior forwards Josh Scott (14 PPG) and Xavier Johnson (12 PPG) will carry the load, or if senior G Askia Booker (13 PPG) will. Either way, a lead act will have to step up if this team wants to finish 2nd. Four star PG Dominique Collier will help carry some of the load, but he is not a game changer by any means. Don’t get me wrong, I think this is a good, sound basketball team. Just not one that has a high enough ceiling to hold their ground among the conferences best.
You can find the first article of this mini-series here.
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