Midway through the Pac-12 season, it’s clear that the conference race has become a two-tier system.
With Arizona and Utah leading the way and giving the Pac-12 its best opportunity to win a national championship, the rest of the conference is stuck behind them.
Here are the Emerald’s Pac-12 power rankings:
1) No. 6 Arizona (20-2, 8-1 Pac-12): The Wildcats might have the MVP (TJ McConnell), defensive (Rondae Hollis-Jefferson) and freshman (Stanley Johnson) conference players of the year. Arizona is outscoring its conference opponents by an average of 17.7 points per game, asserting its dominance in Pac-12 play.
2) No. 11 Utah (16-4, 6-2 Pac-12): Utah had the chance to make a statement in Arizona but got blown out by 18 points. The Utes now have one month to right the ship before hosting Arizona on Feb. 28.
3) Stanford (15-6, 6-3 Pac-12): Chasson Randle is the conference’s leading scorer at 20.2 points per game. But the Cardinal failed to take a step forward with a weekend loss to lowly Washington State.
4) Oregon (15-7, 5-4 Pac-12): The Ducks are struggling to find consistency during conference play, as evidenced by the two game losing streak followed by a two game winning streak. Elgin Cook is averaging 16.3 points over his last four games and should be a huge factor for things moving forward.
5) UCLA (13-9, 5-4 Pac-12): After two bad losses to Oregon and Oregon State, Bryce Alford and company dominated Utah and Colorado the next week, once again showing their talent and inexperience at the same time.
6) Oregon State (14-7, 5-4 Pac-12): The Beavers are the surprise of the conference. They play phenomenal defense, but they have to improve on the 54.6 points per game in conference play, which is last in the Pac-12.
7) Colorado (11-10 overall, 4-5 Pac-12): When Josh Scott and Xavier Johnson return, they will be a formidable combination, with Askia Booker and his 20.7 points per game in conference play.
8) Washington State (10-11, 4-5 Pac-12): The Cougars snapped their four-game losing streak with a one-point upset over Stanford.
9) Arizona State (11-11, 3-6 Pac-12): The Sun Devils could begin reeling fast after a one-point, overtime loss to Oregon. Now they must face the Wildcats on Saturday.
10) Washington (14-6, 3-5 Pac-12): Nigel Williams-Goss is one of the premier players in the Pac-12 and if not for him, the Huskies’ season would be all but lost.
11) California (12-9, 2-6 Pac-12): The Golden Bears broke their six-game losing streak with a win over Washington State but Cal needs more production from players not named Tyrone Wallace and Jordan Matthews
12) USC (9-11, 1-7 Pac-12): The future remains bright at USC, so the Trojans must keep that in mind while finishing out the later half of conference play.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter @Ryan_Kostecka