Pac-12 Basketball Roundup: Colorado is back on top

What a week!

The Colorado Buffaloes managed to pull out home wins against both of the Northern California teams, making them one of only three teams to sweep this weekend. Arizona State and Utah were the others.

Colorado now holds a full-game lead over Oregon and a game-and-a-half lead over Arizona.

PAC-12 STANDINGS

1. Colorado (8-3)
2. Oregon (7-4)
3. Arizona (6-4)
4. Arizona State (6-4)
5. USC (6-5)
6. UCLA (6-5)
7. Stanford (5-5)
8. Utah (5-6)
9. Washington State (5-6)
10. California (4-6)
11. Oregon State (4-7)
12. Washington (2-9)

Not only did Colorado’s perfect weekend result in some space at the top of the Pac-12, it was also rewarded by the AP voters. The Buffs jumped from No. 24 to No. 16 in the AP Top 25 Poll. The Buffaloes haven’t been ranked this high, this late in the season since 1997.

Colorado’s No. 16 ranking fits it in one spot in front of Oregon, which fell from 14th to 17th this week. No other Pac-12 team is ranked, as Arizona fell from 23rd to 30th.

Two of Colorado’s non-conference opponents are ranked, No. 3 Kansas and No. 6 Dayton. Northern Iowa, another one of Colorado’s non-conference opponents, is ranked 28th in the extended rankings.

Colorado is also ranked No. 16 in the NCAA’s NET Rankings.

AP Top 25

(2019-20 Colorado opponents in bold. Pac-12 teams designated by *.)

1. Baylor
2. Gonzaga
3. Kansas
4. San Diego State
5. Louisville
6. Dayton
7. Duke
8. Florida State
9. Maryland
10. Seton Hall
11. Auburn
12. Kentucky
13. Penn State
14. West Virginia
15. Villanova
16. Colorado*
17. Oregon*
18. Marquette
19. Butler
20. Houston
21. Iowa
22. Illinois
23. Creighton
24. Texas Tech
25. LSU–Extended Rankings–

26. Michigan State
27. Rhode Island
28. Northern Iowa
29. BYU
30. Arizona*
31. Purdue
32. Ohio State
t-33. Cincinnati
t-33. Stephen F. Austin
35. Michigan
t-36. Rutgers
t-36. Virginia
t-36. East Tennessee State
t-39. Wright State
t-39. Winthrop

PAC-12 GAMES TO WATCH

No. 16 Colorado @ No. 17 Oregon
7 p.m. Thu., ESPN

The first Pac-12 game of the week is the big one.

The top two teams in the conference will square off on national primetime television, as Colorado attempts to hit the Ducks with a knockout blow. The Buffs won the first iteration of this contest 74-65 in Boulder, so Colorado will hold the tiebreaker and a two-game lead with a win.

Colorado would have to lose three of its final six games and Oregon would have to win out to surpass the Buffs.

But don’t expect the Ducks to roll over.

As of Monday afternoon, ESPN’s Basketball Power Index gives Oregon a 71.8% chance of winning this one.

If that’s the case, Colorado and Oregon will split the season series and sit in a tie at the top of the Pac-12 standings Friday morning, with four losses apiece.

This is a big one.

Arizona State @ Stanford
9 p.m. Thu., ESPN2

Speaking of four losses, that’s exactly how many the Arizona State Sun Devils have.

They’ll be looking to hold that number where it is this weekend, while hoping the Buffs fall and four losses becomes the new best in the Pac-12.

On paper, the Northern California road trip is the second-easiest in the Pac-12, so the Sun Devils could have a chance to notch just the second road sweep in the conference this season.

Meanwhile Stanford, with five losses, is clinging to life in the regular-season Pac-12 title race. Defending the home court this weekend is the first step in a long road toward the end of the season, one in which they likely can’t drop another game.

But if Stanford manages to regain the magic it found early in the season, nothing is off the table.

No. 16 Colorado @ Oregon State
8 p.m. Sat., FS1

The first Colorado-Oregon State matchup didn’t go the way it was supposed to.

The Buffs were coming off the biggest win of the season and should have been able to sleepwalk to a win over the Beavers. Colorado tried sleep-walking and Oregon State took advantage and pulled out the win in Boulder.

This storyline could be in play again this weekend, if Colorado can pull off the statement road win over Oregon in the first leg of this road trip.

Forget the fact that Oregon State is second-to-last in the Pac-12 standings and remember that road sweeps are remarkably tough to come by in this conference.

If Colorado falls in Eugene, this game becomes a sneaky-tough must-win game.

Don’t sleep on this one.

Arizona @ Stanford
8:30 p.m. Sat., PAC12

Again, Stanford is clinging to relevance, this time against the scarier of the Arizona schools.

The Wildcats fell out of the Top 25 this week, following a home loss to UCLA by double-digits. Arizona is still very much alive in the Pac-12 title race, even if it doesn’t pull off its second road sweep of the season when it travels to Northern Colorado.

Arizona’s schedule down the stretch is favorable, all things considered. They’ll likely have to take down Oregon in Tucson, but the Wildcats should be favored in every other game, except for maybe when they take on USC on the road.

But, for Arizona, it all starts with a chance to show their first undefeated road trip of the year was no fluke.

Utah @ No. 17 Oregon
7 p.m. Sun., FS1

Utah has played 11 conference games this season. In 10 of those games, the home team won. The other was when Oregon traveled to Salt Lake City an eeked out a five-point win.

There isn’t much reason for hope of an upset in this one, but Oregon lost to Oregon State this weekend, a reminder that anything is possible in Pac-12 basketball.

Since Oregon is right on Colorado’s heels, and may have tied things up by the time we get to this game, it’s one worth watching, even if you end up turning it off 10 minutes in.