Katz on the PAC 12:
"Pac-12: Arizona is in a complete overhaul, so the Wildcats won’t be in the Power 36. Washington will be — and very high. The Huskies return each key piece of the team that won 21 games and added Jamal Bey. That’s four seniors back for Washington, including Matisse Thybulle. Five returning starters mean the Huskies are going to be very good. Oregon will have Kenny Wooten back and Bol Bol to watch. There is enough returning, even if without Troy Brown, for the Ducks to fly high again.
UCLA should be right back where it belongs with Prince Ali and Alex Olesinski. Remember, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill, who were both suspended for the China theft incident, return. Don’t sleep on Arizona State with the losses of Tra Holder, Shannon Evans and Kodi Justice with a host of transfers and the return of Remy Martin, Mickey Mitchell and Romello White. Stanford’s appearance here all depends on Reid Travis. If he’s back, then so are the Cardinal. They were close this past season. This should be a breakout year for Jerod Haase. Daejon Davis, Oscar Da Silva and KZ Okpala lead the charge.
Colorado has McKinley Wright IV and that keeps the Buffaloes around for me. Dismissing Oregon State and Utah would also be a mistake. The Utes could build off this year's NIT runner-up finish."
My take:
Stanford, assuming Reid Travis comes back, should be the front runner. They struggled early in the year with injuries but really starting putting it together late. UCLA will probably be the most talented team in the conference but will be very young. Oregon will be a similar position to UCLA. UW should be improved as well. I really like what Hopkins is doing up there. UW should be solid for a while with him up there. USC should remain competitive since they keep bringing in good talent and have a good core returning.
After those top 5 you have some unknowns:
Arizona is the biggest unknown of them all. I won't comment until their roster is finalized. ASU is losing some of their top players but they have a good recruiting class coming in and Hurley seems to have changed the culture in Tempe. They expect to compete now. Utah is always competitive under Coach K west. I'm not as high on CU and OSU as Katz is but they won't be pushovers.
The bottom:
Cal should be improved but that's a low bar. Washington State is a disaster right now. Flynn and Franks leaving really tanked this program.
