The NCAA selection committee on Thursday will reveal the first of two previews of postseason seeds before No. 1 South Carolina’s game against Tennessee.
If those top 16 match ESPN’s latest Bracketology, then five Pac-12 teams will be positioned to host first- and second-round games, at least for now. The second preview from the committee is Feb. 29, followed by selection day on March 17.
This week, ESPN projects Stanford as a No. 1 seed, Colorado and UCLA as No. 2s, USC as a No. 3 and Oregon State as a No. 4 — all hosting positions for the opening weekend. What’s more, Utah is forecast as a No. 5 seed, which is within striking range of hosting with three weeks left in the regular season followed by the Pac-12 Tournament.
Here are the Hotline’s seventh weekly power ratings, with seven teams in a new position.
(NET rankings through Monday)
1. Stanford (22-3/11-2)
Last week: 2
Results: won at Washington 63-59 (OT) and WSU 73-58
Next up: vs. Cal (Friday)
NET ranking: No. 2
Comment: It wasn’t pretty, but with two hard-fought road wins, Stanford returns to No. 1 in the Hotline ratings for the second time in three weeks. Freshman Courtney Ogden scored 11 points against Washington, including the final basket in overtime. The 6-foot-1 forward was a high school McDonald’s All-American out of Atlanta.
2. Oregon State (20-3/9-3)
Last week: 3
Results: won at Utah 58-44 and Colorado 65-59
Next up: vs. UCLA (Friday)
NET ranking: No. 17
Comment: The Beavers have games coming up against the three teams they’ve lost to, which could be more of an opportunity than a detriment given how well they are playing (five-game win streak) and with all three rematches at home. Forward Raegan Beers is the Pac-12 Player of the Week for the second time in the last five weeks. OSU was first in the Pac-12 from 2015-17 but not since, and it finished 11th last season.
3. Colorado (20-4/10-3)
Last week: 1
Results: beat Oregon 90-57, lost to Oregon State 65-59
Next up: at Utah (Friday)
NET ranking: No. 15
Comment: There’s no way the Buffs expected to trail Oregon State by 25 late in the third quarter Sunday in Boulder, and they certainly deserve credit for cutting the final margin to six — the same as the loss in Corvallis (68-62) on Jan. 26. It’s possible, given the current standings, that there could be a third meeting in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals March 8 in Las Vegas.
4. USC (18-4/8-4)
Last week: 4
Results: beat Arizona State 81-63 and Arizona 81-64
Next up: at Oregon (Friday)
NET ranking: No. 16
Comment: Although the final scores last week were almost identical, the Trojans got there in different ways. They jumped on ASU early (22-9 first quarter) while outscoring Arizona 23-11 in the third. JuJu Watkins, the 12-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, had two more 30-point games — she has nine in total this season — but had meaningful help Monday from Kayla Padilla, who was 5-of-8 from 3-point range, plus seven assists with no turnovers.
5. UCLA (19-4/8-4)
Last week: 5
Results: beat Arizona 66-58 and ASU 78-45
Next up: at Oregon State (Friday)
NET ranking: No. 7
Comment: The Bruins strung two wins together for the first time since their 3-0 start in Pac-12 play, in part thanks to the return of 6-7 Lauren Betts. Kiki Rice had a 32-point weekend, plus eight rebounds against ASU. “She was a hunter,” coach Cori Close said after Rice scored 20 on Arizona. “I’m really enjoying the growth and progress for Kiki.”
6. Utah (18-7/8-5)
Last week: 6
Results: lost to Oregon State 58-44, beat Oregon 70-48
Next up: vs. Colorado (Friday)
NET ranking: No. 6
Comment: The Utes badly needed to go inside to Alissa Pili against Oregon State but instead kept firing away from 3-point range on a poor-shooting night (6-of-33). They were better (12-of-34) against Oregon but got outscored 30-22 in the paint. Utah is facing a fifth- or sixth-place finish in the regular season, meaning no bye in the Pac-12 Tournament first round.
7. Cal (15-10/5-8)
Last week: 11
Results: won at WSU 66-59 and Washington 59-57
Next up: at Stanford (Friday)
NET ranking: No. 62
Comment: Cal snapped a four-game losing streak in dramatic fashion with two road wins that put the Bears on the NCAA Tournament bubble (per ESPN) and earned them a four-place rise in the Hotline power ratings. Ionna Krimili scored eight of her 14 points in the final 5:06 to secure the win over Washington. Cal led by 18 with 7:23 left against Washington State, then held on despite a 17-6 Cougars run.
8. Washington State (15-10/4-8)
Last week: 7
Results: lost to Cal 66-59 and Stanford 73-58
Next up: at Arizona (Friday)
NET ranking: No. 25
Comment: The Cougars are now 0-4 without Charlisse Leger-Walker and down to a projected No. 10 NCAA seed as in the ESPN projections. With three ranked teams coming up (starting Feb. 23), it’s imperative for Washington State to win and perhaps sweep this week in Arizona. That likely will require elevated play from fifth-year center Bella Murekatete.
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9. Arizona (12-12/4-8)
Last week: 8
Results: lost at UCLA 66-58 and USC 81-64
Next up: vs. Washington State (Friday)
NET ranking: No. 46
Comment: There’s not much difference on paper currently between Arizona and Washington, who meet Sunday in Tucson. What the Wildcats have going for them, in addition to a tangible home-court advantage, is the return of leading scorer Kailyn Gilbert, who missed three games (reasons undisclosed), then came off the bench in L.A. for a combined 25 points.
10. Washington (13-10/3-9)
Last week: 10
Results: lost to Stanford 63-59 (OT) and Cal 59-57
Next up: at ASU
NET ranking: No. 49
Comment: Lauren Schwartz scored four points in the final 22 seconds as the Huskies forced overtime against Stanford. But they were outscored 9-2 at the outset of the extra period and couldn’t get closer than two in the final 2:03. Then came the follow-up heartbreaker against Cal, which replaced Washington on the NCAA Tournament bubble this week.
11. Arizona State (10-14/2-10)
Last week: 9
Results: lost at USC 81-63 and UCLA 78-45
Next up: vs. Washington (Friday)
NET ranking: No. 115
Comment: Jalyn Brown kept rolling with a 49-point week but, especially against UCLA, had too little help. (No other Sun Devil scored more than six.) Brown is sixth in the Pac-12 in scoring (17.9 points per game) and has 11 games of at least 20 points. ASU won 73-65 at Washington on Jan. 21 and is seeking its first Pac-12 season sweep under second-year coach Natasha Adair.
12. Oregon (11-14/2-10)
Last week: 12
Results: lost at Colorado 90-57 and Utah 70-48
Next up: vs. USC (Friday)
NET ranking: No. 86
Comment: Oregon is mired in a seven-game losing streak for the second consecutive season. Six defeats in the current streak were to ranked teams, with two more ranked foes ahead this week. (The Ducks close the regular season against the Washington schools and Cal.) “It’s the same thing we’ve struggled all year long, points off turnovers and second-chance points,” coach Kelly Graves said after the loss to Utah.
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