We’ve officially crossed into November, which means college basketball season is just around the corner.
Non-conference games have commenced and we’ll be eating, sleeping and breathing college basketball for the next handful of months, But first, we’ve got to preview what to expect from the Power 5 conferences as well as take a look at the mid-major landscape.
Pac-12 basketball is always one of those conferences that sneak up on people across the nation. The west coast tip-offs and the production from the games that follow usually escape the national media.
But the Pac-12 doesn’t escape us here at BetFTW. We give a primer on what to expect this season, including sleepers and players to watch, before making a conference-champion prediction.
Players to Watch
Will Richardson (guard) – Oregon Ducks
Richardson has put in a lot of work for the Ducks over the years. So far, he ranks in the school’s Top 10 in career steals and assists, and by the end of this fifth year, he may be able to go down as one of Oregon’s 10 best scorers.
Expect Richardson to build off of a fantastic 2021-22 season that landed him on the All-Pac-12 Second Team. Both he and the Ducks should have a season to remember.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. (guard) – UCLA Bruins
It feels like Jaquez has been in Westwood for about 10 years, doesn’t it? He’s been a staple of several really good Bruin teams and this year should be no different. The defense will remain elite for another season and if the offense, particularly the jump-shooting, takes a step forward, he’ll lock. in the conference’s Player of the Year award.
Kerr Kriisa (guard) – Arizona Wildcats
Kriisa really burst onto the scene during his sophomore season as both a reliable playmaker and a high-volume shooter. There’s no denying how exciting of a lead guard he is, but for him to Keep Arizona afloat after all of the talent it lost to the NBA, he’s going to need to become more efficient on offense. Nevertheless, he’ll easily be one of the most entertaining Pac-12 players to watch throughout the season.
Boogie Ellis (guard) – USC Trojans
Boogie’s transition from Memphis back home to Southern California was a smooth one. The six-foot-three-inch guard quarterbacked the Trojans to a third-place finish in the Pac-12 a season ago and under second-year in head coach Andy Enfield’s system should make for an even more productive campaign. I think Ellis makes his way from Honorable Mention to All-Pac-12 Second Team this year.
Sleeper Teams
USC Trojans
I feel like the Trojans are generally being slotted into that second tier of Pac-12 title contenders, which is somewhere between fourth and sixth in the standings. There’s a world in which they finish higher than that and actually have a shot at the regular-season championship.
If you think about it, last season’s NCAA Tourney team returned two of its top three scorers, Boogie Ellis and Drew Peterson, and have two freshmen in Vincent Iwuchukwu and Tre White that could become real difference-makers by the time February rolls around. On top of that, trust that Andy Enfield will continue to do an outstanding job, as he’s done throughout his career as a college basketball coach.
Conference Champion
UCLA Bruins (+190)
There will be an obvious challenger in Arizona and perhaps another school (USC? Oregon?) that comes from out of nowhere, but it’s truly difficult for me to imagine anyone other than the Bruins sitting atop the Pac-12 at the regular season’s conclusion. Like last season, they maintain a good amount of top-end talent — some that have played in some incredibly big college basketball games — while also having a crop of high-profile recruits to slowly acclimate.
I’m unsure of how high the ceiling is for this group, but with Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Tyger Campbell in uniform, it’s higher than any other team’s. I’m confident in saying that the Bruins will finish the season with the conference’s best record and a Pac-12 championship.
