Oregon looks like favorite in basketball
If Arizona State is going to compete for the conference title, it is going to have to survive some tough competition in the Pac-12.
Oregon, UCLA and Washington loom as the most formidable foes. Those three were picked in that order
in the preseason Pac-12 coaches poll and also made the national rankings.
Oregon, with coach Dana Altman starting his ninth season, checks in at No. 14 in the AP poll and No. 16 in the USA TODAY poll.
Seven teams kick off the season on Tuesday including ASU (20-12, 8-10 last season), predicted to finish sixth, which will be at home against Cal State Fullerton. Defending champion Arizona (27-8, 14-4) opens on Wednesday at home against Houston Baptist. The Wildcats are tabbed fourth despite a tumultuous offseason.
The Ducks (23-13, 10-8 last season) will boast a large front line, averaging 610. That group is led by sophomore forward Kenny Wooten, who led the conference in blocked shots as a freshman.
The newcomer of note is 7-2 Bol Bol, son of the late NBA standout Manute Bol, listed at the No. 1 center in the nation by both ESPN and 247Sports.com.
UCLA was predicted second but that was before a series of injuries, the latest to freshman forward Cody Riley who sustained a jaw injury last week in practice. Freshman Shareef O’Neal (heart) is out for the season and junior forward Alex Olesinski (foot) will be out until at least late December.
Washington returns all five starters and its top eight players from a team that won 21 games. The Huskies have
more scoring output returning of any team in any major conference.
UA lost several recruits because of the uncertainty around the program from NCAA and FBI investigations. The Wildcats did land a top-notch transfer in Chase Jeter from Duke but he did not play in the Wildcats’ exhibition game last week because of an unspecified injury.
Meanwhile, the Sun Devils are morphing from a guard-oriented team to one with size, athleticism and more power in the paint. ASU graduated its top three scorers but much of the early buzz comes with the eligibility of Zylan Cheatham and Rob Edwards, transfers from San Diego State and Cleveland State, respectively, who sat out last season.