Around the country, the battle for conference supremacy is just beginning.
Especially in the Pac-12.
Arizona, a near unanimous No. 1 in the country, is clearly the class act of the Pac-12 with a perfect 15-0 record and wins over San Diego State, Duke and Michigan.
Colorado, Oregon, UCLA, Cal, Arizona State and Utah all show potential to be successful in conference play this year while USC, Washington, Washington State, Stanford and Oregon State rest in the cellars of the conference.
POWER RANKINGS (overall record, Pac-12 record/national ranking):
1) ARIZONA (15-0, 2-0/No. 1) – The Wildcats are poised to make a run at the national championship led by conference player of the year candidates Aaron Gordon and Nick Johnson. Arizona is the top defensive team in the conference by giving up only 54.9 points per game and plays seven athletes over 19 minutes per game.
2) COLORADO (13-2, 2-0/No. 15) – The Buffaloes weren’t expected to do much with the loss of rebounding machine Andre Roberson but playing 13 of 15 games in their home state has helped this young team gain confidence, though they are still left unproven.
3) OREGON (13-1, 1-1/ No. 17) – Although Oregon lost by nine points to Colorado this past weekend, the Ducks still boast a strong resume and are more battled-tested after getting a road win over Ole Miss and beating Georgetown at a neutral site.
4) UCLA (12-2, 1-0) – Under new head coach Steve Alford, the Bruins started off 8-0 but struggled against nationally-ranked Missouri and Duke. The Bruins, like Oregon and Colorado, are unproven and need to to grow more if they’re going to make a deep run in March.
5) UTAH (12-2, 1-1) – The Utes are the surprise of the Pac-12, and led by do-it-all guard Delon Wright and Jordan Loveridge, the ceiling is high. Utah will contest for an NCAA tournament spot if they can continue to win at home and steal a few road games along the way.
6) ARIZONA STATE (12-3, 1-1) – Arizona State gets the nod over Cal because they have the best scorer in the Pac-12 with Jahii Carson. The Sun Devils need to get continued improvement from their forwards to move up the pecking order.
7) CAL (10-4, 1-0) – The lack of a star player and depth has Cal hurting entering Pac-12 play. Richard Solomon averages a double-double, but the Golden Bears need more production down low to compete with the height in the conference.
8) WASHINGTON (9-6, 1-1) – Only two of the six losses have been against nationally-ranked opponents and the Huskies give up a Pac-12 worst 77.1 points per game.
9) STANFORD (9-4, 0-1) – Depth is the main issue for the Cardinal as only five players average over 11 minutes a game and the loss of Aaron Bright is what’s holding back Stanford.
10) OREGON STATE (8-6, 0-2) – The Beavers have the conference’s leading scorer in Roberto Nelson and are expected to get better with the return of Eric Moreland from suspension.
11) USC (9-6, 0-1) – The Trojans started out fixing loose screws under new coach Andy Enfield,  but a 34-point loss to rival UCLA and the injury prone JT Terrell has USC going in the wrong direction.
12) WASHINGTON STATE (7-7, 0-2) – The Cougars are one of the youngest teams in the conference with only two seniors, so things can only get better as the young players continue to grow and develop.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka