We're halfway through the men's Pac-12 BB conference schedule, and the only things that are clear is that UW is winning the regular season conference championship and WSU and C.al are really bad.
There are three teams at 6-3, three at 5-4 and Stanford and UO are tied for eighth at 4-5. At 11-10 overall Stanford is not making the NCAA without winning the Pac-12 tournament and we're probably not making the NIT.
However, with a healthy Cormac Ryan and continued inconsistency from opponents not named UW, I could see Stanford working its way up to the top half of the conference standings for the second year in a row. We have roadies against the Oregon and Arizona schools and home games against the LA and Washington schools as well as hosting C.al in the regular season finale. A "good" scenario in my mind would be wins versus:
UO--currently tied with us at 4-5
UA--only a games ahead of us at 5-4
U$C--1-5 in road games
UCLA--2-4 in road games
WSU and C.al.
It's depressing to set the bar so low, but it could be worse.
There are three teams at 6-3, three at 5-4 and Stanford and UO are tied for eighth at 4-5. At 11-10 overall Stanford is not making the NCAA without winning the Pac-12 tournament and we're probably not making the NIT.
However, with a healthy Cormac Ryan and continued inconsistency from opponents not named UW, I could see Stanford working its way up to the top half of the conference standings for the second year in a row. We have roadies against the Oregon and Arizona schools and home games against the LA and Washington schools as well as hosting C.al in the regular season finale. A "good" scenario in my mind would be wins versus:
UO--currently tied with us at 4-5
UA--only a games ahead of us at 5-4
U$C--1-5 in road games
UCLA--2-4 in road games
WSU and C.al.
It's depressing to set the bar so low, but it could be worse.
If there's one thing people have learned in Berkeley, it's that you can't put "Cal football" and "Rose Bowl" in the same sentence. The words just don't fit. You'd be better off linking "covered wagons" with "Mars travel." (Bruce Jenkins, Cal '70, SF Chronicle, Nov. 11, 2017)