Nonconference play hasn't been good to Pac-12 teams

When Washington traveled to Auburn early last month, the Huskies set the tone for the Pac-12 both physically and metaphorically.

They were blown out 88-66 and then, on the way to catch a charter flight home, their team bus blew a tire and caught on fire.

Everyone was forced to evacuate.

After a rough weekend that included Arizona’s 58-49 loss to Baylor on Saturday, it’s too late for Pac-12 teams to evacuate the nonconference season.

Pac-12 teams are a combined 2-13 against ranked teams, and the league has collectively played so poorly that it has all but locked itself into a perilous battle for NCAA Tournament at-large spots no matter how the conference race plays out.

Arizona State moved up to No. 18 in Associated Press Top 25 rankings on Monday, and is also No. 25 in the NCAA’s NET ratings after coming back to win at Georgia on Saturday. But the Sun Devils then lost by 16 at Vanderbilt on Monday night.

The Pac-12 is not represented at all among the top 25 teams in the other major power ratings.

Oregon is the conference’s highest-rated team — 32 in Kenpom, 37 in Sagarin and 39 in ESPN’s BPI — while opinions of Arizona vary.

The Wildcats are ranked 40th by Sagarin and are No. 54 in Kenpom and No. 60 in BPI, which also does not forecast the Wildcats making the NCAA Tournament.

The Pac-12 is rated the nation’s sixth-best conference in the old RPI formula. ESPN’s BPI was particularly unkind to the conference: It has Oregon at 39 and ASU at 40 but nobody else until Arizona’s No. 60 spot. Five Pac-12 teams are over 100 in the BPI. Cal is 268th.

All that suggests Arizona (7-4) might have to win its final two nonconference games — on Wednesday against Montana and Saturday against UC Davis — and then capture at least 14 wins between the Pac-12 regular season and conference tournament to receive an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.

The Wildcats have helped the Pac-12 by going through what Sagarin rates the 43rd-toughest strength of schedule so far (Kenpom rates it No. 53) thanks in large part to playing Gonzaga and Auburn in the Maui Invitational. But the Wildcats’ comeback win against Iowa State (the No. 32 team in NET ratings) during the first round of the Maui event is their only win over a Top 50 team so far.

The rest of the league also has little to hang its hat on.

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The Pac-12 is a collective 5-22 against teams rated in the Top 50 of the Sagarin ratings while ASU’s 72-67 win over Mississippi State in Las Vegas last month is the league’s only win over a team that is currently ranked in the Top 25. Oregon beat then-No. 15 Syracuse in New York City but the Orange is no longer ranked.

UCLA helped things slightly by beating Notre Dame at home … but then lost to Belmont at Pauley Pavilion. Stanford took Kentucky to overtime at Rupp Arena … but hasn’t beaten a top-100 team yet.

Cal went nearly a year without putting together consecutive wins … until it beat lowly Cal Poly by a point at home on Saturday.

And Utah’s decision to schedule tougher nonconference games has led to five losses in nine games.

Last weekend, the Pac-12 had two opportunities against ranked teams — Utah at Kentucky and Washington against Virginia Tech at Atlantic City, N.J. — plus two chances against Big 12 teams. It lost them all.

Then there was Belmont’s visit to Pauley Pavilion.

“I didn’t like our energy, I didn’t like our attention to detail, our enthusiasm at all,” UCLA coach Steve Alford said afterward, according to the Los Angeles Times. “That falls squarely on my shoulders. I just did a really poor job of getting them ready because I thought of all our games … that was the most lethargic, less-energy effort.”

Baylor’s 51-19 rebounding edge over Arizona on Saturday suggested the Wildcats were suffering some sort of lethargy, too.

“We just weren’t tough enough, man,” point guard Justin Coleman said.

Playing at home meant neither the Wildcats nor Bruins had to catch a bus afterward. But smoke followed them out of their buildings anyway.

Rim shots

• ASU’s Remy Martin was named the Pac-12’s Player of the Week after leading the Sun Devils to a comeback 76-74 win at Georgia with 21 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Among the players Martin beat out was Colorado’s Tyler Bey, who had 16 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks in the Buffs’ 78-75 win at New Mexico. Arizona did not nominate anybody.