Any attempt to properly rank the Pac-12 men’s basketball teams will likely prove to be futile, mostly because, well, this conference makes no sense. UCLA was supposed to break out of its slumber in 2011 — the Bruins are 1-4. No one really saw the Oregon State Beavers coming, but there they are at 5-1. And any chances the Oregon Ducks had may have been derailed by an absurdly early departure by freshman Jabari Brown.
So, as difficult as it was to come up with any coherent rankings (especially because none of these teams have played each other yet), we did our best. What follows is a list from top to bottom, best to worst, contenders to offenders.
Top of the heap
1. Oregon State (5-1):
It might seem absurd, egregious even, to rank the Beavers as the class of the Pac-12. And maybe this will end up looking incredibly stupid further down the line. But as it stands right now, Oregon State has been most impressive to start the year. Craig Robinson’s squad shocked Texas 100-95 in overtime back on Nov. 19 in the semifinals of the TicketCity Legends Classic and came within two points of besting No. 22 Vanderbilt two days later in the tournament championship game. As a result, ESPN’s Andy Katz named Oregon State as one of his two “teams to watch,” and no one is sleeping on the Beavers anymore.  Junior guard Jared Cunningham is off to a soaring start with 20.8 points per game and a .507 shooting percentage, and Oregon State is also shooting an even .500 as a team. It’s too early to tell if the Beavers are for real, but they’ve certainly been impressive thus far.@@CE@@
2. California (6-1):
As the only Pac-12 team currently ranked in the AP top 25 (No. 20), Cal might deserve to be at the top of this list. But that one loss on its record really can’t be ignored. The Golden Bears suffered a 92-53 drubbing at the hands of No. 21 Missouri back on Nov. 22, shooting a miserable .298 for the game. By our standards, no one can have a performance like that and remain at the top of the heap. California is certainly talented though — and balanced, with four starters averaging double-digit scoring numbers. One loss doesn’t eliminate the Bears from contention, but it does make you think about their status as a favorite in the conference.@@CE@@
3. Stanford (6-1):
Another team that few could have seen coming, Stanford can’t be ignored anymore after a commanding 82-67 victory over Oklahoma State. The Cardinal’s only loss of the season came against No. 5 Syracuse, and it was a close 69-63 finish. If Stanford can maintain its crisp shooting (.490 from the field) and strong rebounding (plus-11 rebounding margin), it will be a dangerous squad when conference play begins.@@http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/24/stanford-cardinal@@
4. Washington (4-1):
It’s hard to make any definitive observations about the Huskies, as they have yet to play any big-name opponents. They do have a puzzling loss to Saint Louis on their resume, though, and it’s unclear whether they’ll be able to make up for the loss of 2010 standouts Isaiah Thomas and Matthew Bryan-Amaning.@@both names CE as well as the loss@@

The enigmas
5. Arizona (4-2):
The Wildcats earned a preseason No. 16 ranking from the AP, but they’ve failed to back it up recently with two straight losses to Mississippi State and San Diego State. The loss to the Aztecs came at home in Tucson, Ariz., which only made matters worse. Junior forward Solomon Hill is off to a solid start (12.0 points per game, 8.2 rebounds), but Arizona faces an uphill battle in replacing superstar Derrick Williams.@@yes and yes. williams went to the t-wolves@@
6. Oregon (3-1):
This seems about right for an Oregon team that was competitive with Vanderbilt to start the season and came away with an impressive victory at Nebraska last week. The Jabari Brown situation was unforeseen and unfortunate, but this team is still talented enough to make some noise without its heralded freshman. Garrett Sim (14 points per game) is hitting his senior-year stride, and center Tony Woods could be a force come the start of Pac-12 play. It will take a bit longer to make any sort of definitive conclusion about the ceiling of this team.
7. Colorado (4-2):
Here by default, as the lone remaining team in the Pac-12 standings with a winning record. None of those wins were particularly impressive, and the Buffaloes will likely be jumped in these rankings sooner rather than later.
8. USC (3-4):
It’s been an uneven start for USC, but all of its losses have been closely contested, and one came against the UNLV team that knocked off No. 1 North Carolina this past weekend. As such, it’s probably too early to write off USC entirely.
9. UCLA (2-4):
I guess this is what happens when you put Reeves Nelson on your cover, Sports Illustrated.@@ce@@ Really, though, the Bruins can’t possibly be this bad. Nelson’s suspension early in the season didn’t improve team chemistry, and the Bruins have already played against two top-15 teams (No. 14 Kansas and No. 15 Michigan). But Ben Howland is going to have to turn things around fast if he wants to salvage this season.@@CE@@
The cellar-dwellers
10. Washington State (2-4):
The Cougars hung close with Gonzaga at the start of the season but appear to be sliding after losing three straight. With the departure of Klay Thompson, it will be at least a year before Washington State is competitive again.
11. Arizona State (2-4):
Is there really a difference between Washington State and Arizona State at this point? Probably not. It’s just too early to make any conclusive observations and safe to say that both are underachieving and likely won’t be factors in the Pac-12.
12. Utah (1-5):
Like Colorado in football, Utah’s basketball performance begs the question of why it ever had to be added to the Pac-12 in the first place.