Pac-12 basketball is only a week old, but the first shuffle in the league’s power rankings already has a clear theme: the top teams are separating, the middle is sorting itself out, and the two winless clubs are stuck trying to dig out.
Gonzaga still sits at No. 1 after opening with a strong pair of wins, including a 109-68 blowout of New Mexico State on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs also handled Purdue in Las Vegas, and now they get a week to reset before a Saturday matchup with Will Wade and LSU at the Spokane Arena. Tipoff is set for 12:30 PM PT.
The league’s best early résumé belongs to a conference that has already gone 3-0 against power conference opponents. Gonzaga beat Purdue, San Diego State knocked off Colorado, and Boise State took down Butler on Sunday.
Boise State made the biggest leap in this week’s rankings after that 19-point win over the Bulldogs, a result that pushed the Broncos up two spots. Leon Rice’s team led by 20 at halftime and stayed in control throughout, with Aginaldo Neto scoring 25 and Spencer Ahrens adding 24.
The Broncos now face Oakland on Wednesday before a much bigger test against Nebraska on a neutral floor Sunday, Nov. 15.
San Diego State also made a strong early statement, dominating Colorado in the Bill Walton Classic and holding the Buffaloes to 17 first-half points. Chance Gladden led the way with 20 points on 5-6 shooting.
Brian Dutcher’s roster still has questions in the bench department, but the opening stretch has been encouraging. Bethune-Cookman comes to town Wednesday.
Oregon State is another team drawing plenty of attention, and the Beavers are backing it up so far. Under new head coach Justin Joyner, with Josiah Lake, Daniel Freitag, and DeShawn Gory in the mix, Oregon State opened with a 41-point win over Weber State and followed it with a 28-point victory over Cal Baptist.
That run moved the Beavers from No. 98 to 85 in the KenPom ratings. Eastern Washington visits Monday night.
Texas State has also started 2-0, and the Bobcats have done exactly what was expected against lighter competition. They rolled Howard Payne 135-66 to begin the year, and KenPom has them favored in their next nine games. Terrence Johnson’s team gets UT Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday.
Colorado State slipped two spots despite staying unbeaten, mostly because the Rams’ first two wins haven’t carried much weight. They beat Montana State by 10 and Idaho by 11, and now they need a sharper showing against Portland State on Wednesday before a tougher one against Loyola Chicago on Saturday in Fort Collins.
The two teams at the bottom are still looking for a breakthrough. Fresno State is 0-1 against Division 1 competition after losing 81-65 to UC San Diego on Saturday.
The Bulldogs’ only win came by nine points over non-D1 Fresno Pacific, which leaves Vance Walberg’s group with work to do. Georgia State visits Tuesday, then UC Riverside comes in Saturday, and both are games Fresno State needs at home.
Washington State has faced the toughest non-conference path in the league so far, with games against Davidson and at High Point. The Cougars lost both, and they did it without star guard Ronnie Harrison. His status for Tuesday’s road game at Duquesne is unclear, and if he can’t go, Riley’s team could be staring at another loss to start the season.
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Gonzagas 2-0 start has given the Bulldogs an early boost, with wins over Purdue and New Mexico State helping push them up one spot to No. 14 in the AP Poll. It is the kind of opening that keeps the national spotlight fixed on Mark Fews group, especially with several ranked opponents still ahead on the schedule and plenty of chances to see how this roster stacks up in the weeks to come.
One of the biggest questions around the program, though, has nothing to do with the results on the floor. Forward Chauncey Wiggins remains ineligible for now, even as the eligibility fight moves forward and the calendar edges toward a key mid-November date that could shape when, or if, he becomes available for Gonzaga. [Read more 🡒]
Gonzagas Fast Start Just Raised A Bigger Question About This Team
Gonzagas season opened the way the program usually wants it to, with two wins and a small climb in the latest Associated Press Top 25. The Bulldogs moved up one spot to No. 14, a modest rise that still reflects how quickly the early-season rankings can shift, especially when other teams around the country make noise. UCLA made the biggest leap in the poll after beating Arizona, while the top four stayed put.
For Gonzaga, though, the more important part of the early picture is still ahead. The nonconference schedule is loaded with high-end opponents, the kind that can either validate an early ranking or expose how much work remains. After a clean start, the Bulldogs are about to find out a lot more about themselves once the games get bigger and the margin for error gets smaller. [Read more 🡒]