Before tonight's games tipoff, I decided to get my act together and publish my ballot for this week's poll. Here we go with Week #3 of the Pac-10 Power Poll. Hat tip to dvieira for organizing this fine event.
1. UW (15-4, 6-1) - Tough not to put Brockman at the Huskies at #1 with what they've been doing to the conference in the past two weeks. The overtime loss to Cal has been the only setback so far, with big wins over Stanford, USC, and UCLA. Saturday's game with Arizona State will tell wether the Huskies stay at #1 next week, or fall to #2.
2. ASU (16-3, 5-2) - Arizona State has dropped two Pac-10 games to USC and Cal, but they made up for it partially with a win at Pauley Pavilion, in overtime. They enjoyed some nice time off after beating rival Arizona earlier in the week, but they'll have top-ranked Washington on their plate tonight.
3. UCLA (15-4, 5-2) - Perhaps the underachievers of the year so far in the Pac-10 are the Bruins, who are suffering without good post play. Their two losses did come against teams with good post play, and fortunately, Stanford and Cal, who the Bruins play next, don't have stellar big guy either.
4. USC (13-6, 4-3) - The Trojans, having lost to the Beavers, Bruins, and Huskies already, are underachievers at this point. They have the talent to where they should have at least beat either UCLA or UW, and they definitely had the athleticism to defeat Oregon State.
5. Cal (16-4, 5-2) - California started out the year just fine, picking up wins over Arizona State and Washington. Then, the Big Game came around, and the Bears were dealt their first loss. Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, it was Craig Robinson's Beavers who upset Cal. They need to rebound in a hurry, with the Los Angeles road trip starting tonight.
6. WSU (11-8, 3-4) - The Cougars need to turn things around in a hurry if they want to make a splash in the post-season. They were swept at home last week by the LA schools, including a game they could have won against USC. They don't have the shooters that they did last year (WSU scored 44 against USC), and it shows, as they rank ninth in the conference in field goal percentage.
7. OSU (9-10, 3-5) - Right now, the Beavers are in good shape with the chance to go 4-5 through the first round of Pac-10 play... It seems light and dark from last season. The Beavers need to make some noise in the Civil War if they want to keep the momentum rolling in the second half of the conference schedule.
8. Stanford (13-4, 3-4) - The win over Cal was good, but the loss to Oregon State hurt. The Cardinal, who got picked apart by Oregon State, arent' the same team with out Mitch Johnson, and will need to do some damage against the LA schools this week to get back on track.
9. Arizona (12-8, 2-5) - It seems like they've got the athletes down there, but for some reason they always get stomped on. Their two Pac-10 wins have come against Oregon and Oregon State.
10. Oregon (6-4, 0-8) - Things are looking grim for Ernie Kent and the Ducks in Eugene.... but let's hope their breakout game doesn't come Saturday in Legendary Gill.
That's a wrap.... Feel free to add feedback or your own take in the thread.
--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)