Around the Pac-12 Basketball: Week of Nov. 19

The Pac-12 is one of the more intriguing conferences in the NCAA. Multiple teams are still undefeated in this young season, including three ranked teams, No. 3 Arizona, No. 16 USC and No. 25 Colorado.

After a massive win over then-No. 2 Duke, the Wildcats were able to settle down and face two lesser opponents. Both matchups were won in dominating fashion as they defeated Southern 97-59 and Belmont 100-68.

Keshad Johnson leads the team, averaging 14 points per game. He is one of six players averaging double-digit points so far.

No. 25 Colorado has won in dominating fashion in all three of its matchups. The Buffaloes put up 106 points against Milwaukee, with Cody Williams and Tristan da Silva having 17 points each.

The UCLA Bruins have a star right in front of their eyes. Adem Bona has looked like one of the best players in the conference. He’s averaging 18 points and eight rebounds in his early sophomore campaign.

The Bruins look like a legit threat in the Pac-12 despite losing multiple players from the big runs in the NCAA Tournament over the past few seasons.

A team on the rise is the USC Trojans. Ranked No. 16, the Trojans have a lot of young talent including former No. 1 overall player Isaiah Collier. Despite an early season loss in a busy game against UC Irvine, the squad will continue to grow with the young talent.

Collier has already shown why he was the top player in the class of 2023. He’s averaging 20 points per game so far and if he starts to limit the turnovers, he will become even more of a threat for the team.

Alongside Collier is fifth-year guard Boogie Ellis. Ellis brings the veteran presence to the Trojans and will help the young star in the front court.

With Bronny James returning shortly, the Trojans are looking at a dangerous trio of guards to cause many problems for opposing teams.

Oregon is one of the few teams to have a win over a Power Five school. The Ducks were able to build off of a win over Georgia with dominating wins before entering Invitational play.

The Pac-12 has talent everywhere in the conference.

Andrej Stojakovic, son of former NBA sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic, has built off of every game and has shown sparks of being a star for Stanford in his first year.

Keion Brooks Jr. is looking like a big-time scorer for Washington as he is averaging 23.3 points per game already this season.

Each team will look to gain momentum as they enter the invitational part of the season, where teams play in different invitational tournaments around the world, competing against other top teams in the nation.

These next few weeks will show what teams are for real and what teams will look to make a Cinderella run come March.

A conference often referred to as “The Conference of Champions,” the Pac-12 will look to get back to its winning ways in the final season of a 12-team conference.

Andrew Deal is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email asd5765@psu.edu