By Kenneth Cross
The rise of Arizona basketball under coach Tommy Lloyd propelled the Wildcats back into the Sweet 16, but they lost, 72-60, to Houston. UCLA and USC were back in the NCAA Tournament where the Bruins followed their Final Four appearance with the Sweet 16 and lost to North Carolina after defeating Akron and Saint Mary’s in the first two games. The Trojans dropped a 68-66 decision to Miami in round one.
Going forward, the same three teams are likely to battle for those top three spots, but watch Oregon, as the Ducks, were a likely NCAA Tournament team at the beginning of last season, but they were out as the struggles in the Pac-12 ultimately hurt their opportunity.
The following Pac-12 preseason poll was posted on ESPN.com
1) UCLA – Jaime Jacquez (13.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Tyger Campbell (11.9 ppg, 4.3 apg) are two veteran leaders who can help pace the Bruins after losing Johnny Juzang and Jules Bernard. The Bruins put up 75.4 points per game last season (59th/CBB) as they defended at a high level in allowing opponents to only shoot 32.1 percent from 
three. Five-star combo guard Amari Bailey and 5-star center Adem Bona came come in and give UCLA a shot in the arm on both ends of the floor. Point guard Dylan Andrews will also carve a niche as he is a four-star player who can thrive in coach Mick Cronin’s system. Going forward, the Bruins look for their first Pac-12 regular season championship since 2012-13.
2) Arizona – The Wildcats went 33-4 in coach Tommy Lloyd’s first season as they captured both the Pac-12 regular season title (18-2) and defeated UCLA, 84-76, in the Pac-12 title game. With Benedict Mahurin and Christian Koloko off to the NBA, Azuolas Tubelis (13.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and Kerr Krisa (9.7 ppg, 4.7 apg) will be a solid inside-outside duo which can be the catalyst in propelling Arizona back near the top of the league. The Wildcats lost Dalen Terry as well, so Lloyd will
work to build beside of Tubelis and Krisa as Oumar Bello, who transferred to Tucson a year ago from Gonzaga, will be able to join or spell Tubelis inside. Lloyd has Texas transfer Courtney Ramey coming in at a guard and Kylan Boswell, a 4-star point guard who was ranked in the Top 30 among high school seniors.
3) USC – The Trojans were ranked No. 5 in the nation in early January and continued to win throughout their Pac-12 campaign. They had a tough ending to their season with losses to UCLA and Arizona and then the Bruins beat them in the Pac-12 Tournament before their season ended in the NCAA 
Tournament at the hands of Miami, 68-66. Boogie Ellis (12.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg) and the 6-8 Drew Petersen (12.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.3 apg) will make for a strong and efficient backcourt for coach Andy Enfield. USC brings in a 5-star, 7-footer in Vincent Iwuchukwu and a pair of 4-star forwards in 6-8 Kijani Wright and 6-6 Tre White.
4) Oregon – WiIl Richardson (14.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.6 apg) will be the key for coach Dana Altman as he was the Ducks’ leading scorer and assist man. With former Syracuse transfer Quincy Guerrier (10.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg) returning to the post, N’Faly Dante (8.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg) is another big man who can give Altman plenty of minutes and have a consistent output as he is the leading returning rebounder. Altman brings in a 5-star center in 7-0 Kel’el Ware who can join Guerrier and Dante to bring the Ducks a higher quality post game. Altman found transfers in Jermaine Cousinard (South Carolina) and Keeshawn Barthelemy (Colorado) who both averaged double digits a year ago.
5) Stanford – Coach Jerad Haase returns his top two scorers in Spencer Jones (12.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and Harrison Ingram (10.5 PPG, 6.7 RPG) and this could propel the Cardinal into a high Pac-12 finish and a trip back to the NCAA Tournament. Ingram should move forward as a consistent shooter while Jones was a top three-point marksman in making 37.6 percent of this triples to supplement his 60.7 percent mark inside the three-point line. Improving on scoring is the biggest key for the Cardinal, who added transfer Michael Jones from Davidson.
6) Arizona State – The Sun Devils return leading scorer D.J. Horne (12.5 ppg, 2.9 rpg), who shot 36 percent from three while making 2.4 three-point shots per game. Bobby Hurley’s squad was solid on defense as it allowed opponents to shoot only 40 percent from the floor (25th/CBB) while scoring 67.2 points per night. ASU needs returnees such as Luther Muhammad and Alonzo Gaffney to play key roles in pushing the offense forward as the Sun Devils averaged only 65.4 points per game (312th/CBB) and shot 41.4 percent (311th/CBB). Incoming freshman point guard Austin Nunez was rated in the top 100 freshmen in the nation and could be a key this season in Tempe.
7) Washington State – Coach Kyle Smith has put the Cougars on the prowl in the Pac-12 as they finished in fifth place last season before getting to the Final Four in the NIT. Offensively, T.J. Bamba (7.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and Mouhamad Gueye (7.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg) are the leading returning scorers as they were WSU’s fifth and sixth scorers last season. Smith picked up a four-star center in Adrame Diongue while former Auburn and Tennessee guard Justin Powell comes in as a transfer.
8) Washington – Kentucky transfer Keion Brooks (10.8 ppg at UK) will be one of the keys for Coach Mike Hopkins as Jamal Bey (9.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg) is his leading returning scorer. The Huskies welcome back PJ Fuller (7.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg) to the perimeter where he will look to be more consistent as a shooter. Washington signed newcomers in freshman four-star combo guard Koren 
Johnson and freshman point guard Keyon Menifield as well as a Washington State transfer in point guard Noah WIlliams.
9) Colorado – Coach Tad Boyle will have one of the top point guards in the league in KJ Simpson (7.4 ppg, 2.7 apg), who will find Tristan de Silva (9.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg) as a top option on the inside. de Silva shot 53.5 percent from the field and should be joined by 6-6 guard Nique Clifford (6.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg) as they are two Buffaloes who will enhance scoring on a nightly basis. Colorado lost it’s top three scorers as Jabari Walker went into the NBA Draft and was picked on the second round by Portland and Keeshawn Barthelemy transferred to Oregon.
10) Utah – Branden Carlson (13.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg) was the lone Ute who averaged double figures as coach Craig Smith went with a younger lineup throughout the mid to later part of Pac-12 play. Rollie Worster, Luzar Stefanovich and Gabe Madsen should be able to fit into the Utah lineup and help the team finish games now that they have been able to get much more experience. Marco Anthony (9.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg) led the Utes in rebounding last season and he is the second leading returning scorer.
11) Cal – Coach Mark Fox is going to look for more consistent offense as Cal could only average 63.1 points (338th/CBB) and the Bears also lost their top three leading scorers. Jalen Celestine is the leading returning scorer (7.5 ppg) as he started 16 of the Bears’ 31 outings. Fox added a pair of solid freshmen in ND Okafor and Grant Newell while Texas point guard Devin Askew is also a top addition.
12) Oregon State – The Beavers hop to regain the solidity that allowed them to make it into the Elite Eight just two years ago. Coach Wayne Tinkle is one of the best in the business and as nine players left off a tough ’21-22 season, nine new Beavers came in to join the four veterans who stayed inCorvalis. Coach Tinkle will welcome back Rodrique Andela, who played in only seven games and started four after breaking a bone in his left foot to start the season. With the change in the roster, competition for starting spots plus roles off the bench are with heavy challenges.