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Strength of Pac-12 hoops showing entering final week of OOC play

Dec 22, 2015

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With just one week remaining in non-conference play, Pac-12 men's basketball has shown the nation that there is Strength in the Pac this winter.  The data places the league among the deepest and strongest in college basketball in 2015-16:

104-28 - The combined record of all Pac-12 programs through Dec. 21 games.  The .788 win percentage is the second-best and 28 losses are tied for the second-fewest nationally, trailing only the Big 12.

2 - The Pac-12’s ranking in the latest CBSSports.com Conference RPI compiled by Jerry Palm on Dec. 22, behind only the Big 12.

8.7 - The average number of victories for Pac-12 teams through Dec. 21 games, the highest of any conference in the nation.

11 - The Pac-12’s 11 teams in the NCAA RPI Top 100 as of Dec. 22 are the most of any conference in the nation. The Pac-12 also has 11 teams inside the Top 101 of ESPN.com’s Basketball Power Index and KenPom.com.

12 - Every Pac-12 program has a winning record through Dec. 21 games, a feat matched only by the Big 12. 

Conference Non-Conference Record Pct. Wins Per Team vs. Power 5 vs. AP Top 25 vs. USA Today Top 25
Big 12 (10) 81-19 .810 8.1 17-12 4-8 4-6
Pac-12 (12) 104-28 .788 8.7 12-9 7-9 7-8
ACC (15) 124-37 .770 8.3 24-20 9-8 8-8
Big East (10) 84-28 .750 8.4 25-17 6-7 6-7
Big Ten (14) 115-47 .710 8.2 17-15 5-13 5-12
Atlantic 10 (14) 98-46 .681 7.0 14-16 3-11 3-10
SEC (14) 94-45 .676 6.7 11-25 5-9 5-8
The American (11)  74-43 .632 6.7 10-15 1-10 1-11
Mountain West (11)  76-47 .618 6.9 4-19 4-7 4-8

PAC-12 IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
81-7 - AT HOME
11-6 - ON THE ROAD
12-15 - AT NEUTRAL SITE
31-24 - vs. NCAA RPI TOP 100 OPPONENTS
12-9 - vs. POWER 5 OPPONENTS
13-10 - vs. PRESEASON CONFERENCE FAVORITES
28-20 - vs. 2015 NCAA/NIT TOURNAMENT TEAMS

PAC-12 QUICK HITS

TOPPLING THE TOP 25: Pac-12 teams have a combined seven wins against Top 25 teams as of Dec. 21, the second-most in the nation behind the ACC.  Five of those upsets have come since Nov. 30 - UCLA vs. #1 Kentucky & at #20 Gonzaga, ARIZONA at #13 Gonzaga, ARIZONA STATE vs. #18 Texas A&M, UTAH vs. #7 Duke.

HOME SWEET HOME: ARIZONA owns NCAA Division I’s longest active home win streak at 46 consecutive games. OREGON has won 15 in a row at home, the 14th longest streak in the nation.

TOP 100 CHARTS: Of the Pac-12’s 104 wins through Dec. 21, 31 have come against NCAA RPI Top 100 teams, led by ARIZONA (4-1), ARIZONA STATE (4-1), CALIFORNIA (3-1), COLORADO (3-1), OREGON (4-2), UCLA (4-4), USC (3-2) and UTAH (4-2).

POLLING WELL: At least one Pac-12 program has been in the AP Top 25 for 66 consecutive weeks, including 46 straight with a Top 15 team. ARIZONA moved into the Top 10 at No. 8 on Monday, while UTAH returned to the poll at No. 24 following its upset of No. 7 Duke.

SIGN OF THINGS TO COME?: In four of the past nine seasons, the Pac-12 has sent six teams into the NCAA Tournament.  In each of those four instances, the league won more than 75 percent of its non-conference games. So far in 2015-16, the Pac-12 has a .788 non-league win percentage.

BUFFALOES ROAM: Following a season-opening neutral site loss to Iowa State, COLORADO has reeled off 10 straight victories, NCAA’s third-longest and its most since a 10-game run in 2013-14, a season in which it earned an NCAA bid.

A FIGHT-ON START: At 10-2, USC is off to its best start since beginning the 2001-02 season 13-2 en route to an NCAA Tournament bid.

WAYNE’S WORLD: Under second-year head coach Wayne Tinkle, OREGON STATE posted a 9-2 mark in non-conference play, its best since 2011-12, with its only losses coming to Big 12 favorite Kansas and Horizon League favorite Valparaiso.

ROAD DEVILS: ARIZONA STATE has two of the Pac-12’s 11 road victories with wins at Creighton and UNLV.  More impressive is the fact that the Sun Devils erased halftime deficits of eight and 12, respectively, in those triumphs.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The league’s 17-game schedule during the holiday week is highlighted by CALIFORNIA visiting No. 5 Virginia on Tuesday, Dec. 22 (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and COLORADO and WASHINGTON STATE competing in the Las Vegas and Diamond Head Classics on FS1 and ESPN Networks, respectively.