The Best of the West offers fans a candid assessment of the top teams in the western third of the country — a collection that includes the Mountain West and the former Pac-12 schools now scattered across the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and West Coast Conference.
The rankings will be published on the Hotline weekly throughout the regular season.
1. USC (4-0)
Last week: 1
Results: beat Santa Clara 81-50
Up next: vs. Notre Dame (Saturday)
Comment: Star guard JuJu Watkins scored 22 points against Santa Clara, tying for fourth in NCAA Division I history for the fastest to reach 1,000 career points (38 games). Three players reached that milestone in 37 games.
2. UCLA (4-0)
Last week: 2
Results: beat Arkansas 101-52
Up next: vs. South Carolina (Sunday)
Comment: The Bruins pummeled Arkansas with Oregon State transfer Timea Gardiner scoring 23 points and double-doubles from Lauren Betts, Angela Dugalic and Texas A&M transfer Janiah Barker. Defending national champion South Carolina is on a 42-game win streak and plays Wednesday at Clemson.
3. Oregon (5-0)
Last week: 3
Results: beat Grand Canyon 70-54
Up next: vs. Auburn (Wednesday)
Comment: Oregon's 20-0 first-quarter run was enough to put away GCU for the Ducks' first 5-0 start since 2020-21. Texas transfer Amina Muhammad had a double-double and Peyton Scott, who missed all but five minutes last season, scored 17 points. Oregon is up two spots to No. 23 in the AP poll.
4. California (4-0)
Last week: 7
Results: beat Gonzaga 86-65
Up next: vs. Grambling State (Wednesday)
Comment: The Bears ended Gonzaga’s 37-game home win streak, with 24 turnovers forced leading to 29 points. Kayla Williams scored 25, and Cal made 11 3-pointers. Auburn plays Oregon and Cal (Friday) on its trip west this week.
5. Arizona (5-0)
Last week: 6
Results: beat Chicago State 84-48, lost to NAU 92-75
Arizona guard Lauryn Swann (1) fires a shot under the dual pressure from UNLV forward Alyssa Brown (44) and guard Kiara Jackson (3) in fourth quarter, Nov. 12, 2024.
Up next: vs. Grambling State (Saturday)
Comment: Lauryn Swann is the Big 12 Freshman of the Week for her 31 points (combined) on 64.7% shooting against UNLV and Chicago State. But what looked like a possible 12-0 start ended with a thud in the loss in Flagstaff on Wednesday night.
6. Stanford (4-1)
Last week: 4
Results: beat UC Davis 69-56, lost to Indiana 79-66
Up next: vs. Morgan State (Friday)
Comment: Indiana is a quality program, but the Hoosiers were coming off losses to Harvard and Butler before beating Stanford. That knocked the Cardinal from No. 24 to others receiving votes in the AP rankings.
7. UNLV (3-1)
Last week: 10
Results: beat Stonehill 93-57 and San Diego 88-54
Up next: vs. Oklahoma (Friday)
Comment: The Rebels won twice after a loss at Arizona in advance of a home test against No. 9 Oklahoma. Four players scored in double figures Tuesday against San Diego, led by freshman Meadow Roland with 15.
8. Utah (3-1)
Last week: 5
Results: lost to Northwestern 71-69, beat McNeese 118-50
Utah head coach Lynne Roberts watches during the first half of a second-round college basketball game against Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash., Monday, March 25, 2024.
Up next: vs. Saint Joseph’s (Friday)
Comment: Nothing in the West this week tops the stunning departure Tuesday of Utah coach Lynne Roberts to the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks. Roberts, in her 10th season, leaves the Utes with a 165-116 record and NCAA Tournament appearances in the last three seasons. Gavin Petersen was promoted from associate head coach. He was on Roberts’ staff at Pacific and Utah.
9. BYU (5-0)
Last week: 11
Results: beat Colorado State 69-55, Idaho State 77-68 and McNeese 85-64
Up next: vs. Northern Colorado (Saturday)
Comment: The win over Colorado State is the Cougars' best so far. They trailed by six points at halftime before a second straight big third quarter (57-18 combined). BYU’s schedule gets tougher next week in Cancun against Rice and Iowa.
10. Colorado (5-1)
Last week: 13
Results: beat Southern 65-45 and Utah State 95-65
Up next: at Utah Tech (Nov. 27)
Comment: The Buffaloes are 3-0 since a loss at Boise State on Nov. 10 and now get a week off to prepare for Utah Tech, followed by No. 25 Louisville. Oklahoma State transfer Lior Garzon scored 26 Tuesday against Utah State.
11. Gonzaga (2-2)
Last week: 8
Results: lost to Cal 86-65, beat Wyoming 62-51
Up next: vs. Rice (Thursday)
Comment: The Zags stabilized against Wyoming after one-sided losses to the Bay Area's first-year ACC teams. But perhaps the WCC favorites are vulnerable to Portland and affiliate members Washington State and Oregon State.
12. Washington (4-1)
Last week: 9
Results: beat Eastern Washington 83-59, lost to Montana 82-68
Up next: vs. Cal State Fullerton (Thursday)
Comment: The Huskies’ encouraging start to the season took a hit at Montana, where they were outscored 22-10 in the first quarter. Sayvia Seller scored a career-high 22 points on 75% shooting.
13. Grand Canyon (2-2)
Last week: 15
Results: beat Arizona State 70-59, lost to Oregon 70-54
Up next: vs. Liberty (Wednesday)
Comment: The Antelopes rallied in the second half to beat ASU but couldn’t overcome a slow start at Oregon. Trinity San Antonio surpassed 1,000 career points. Ten of GCU’s next 11 games are at home.
14. Arizona State (3-2)
Last week: Not ranked
Results: lost to Grand Canyon 70-59, beat SMU 80-73 and Oregon State 79-60
Up next: vs. Kentucky (Nov. 26)
Comment: After scoring only 17 points in the second half against GCU, the Sun Devils played more complete games in the Briann January Classic. Tyi Skinner scored a combined 47 points in the tournament and guard Jaz Jackson had a combined 23 rebounds.
15. Washington State (2-2)
Last week: 14
Results: lost to Texas Tech 56-52
Up next: at Iowa (Sunday)
Comment: The Cougars led going into the fourth quarter at Texas Tech and were even in the final minute before a 5-1 closing run by the Red Raiders.
Also considered: Boise State, San Diego State, Portland, Colorado State, NAU, Santa Clara and Montana State.
