Predictions for the season

Having previewed all of our competition in the Pac-10, I now move to a weekly commentary on the conference, the results, and the future. Today my predictions on the Pac-10 and the state of each team.

Following are my predictions of the final standings and a brief analysis of each team's season thus far and its schedule for the remainder of 2006. All team stats are through Dec 14th, team records through Dec 16th.

1. Stanford. Well who else?

Record: 5-3
Quality wins: Texas Tech, Utah
Leading Scorers & Rebounders:

• Wiggins, 16.9 ppg
• Smith, 14.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg
• Newlin, 9.0 rpg

3-point %: 32.7%
Averaging 18 assists and 15 turnovers per game, the only Pac-10 team with a positive ratio.

Schedule:

• Dec 20 @ USC
• Dec 22 @ UCLA
• Dec 28 Arizona
• Dec 30 Arizona State

2. Arizona State

Record: 9-1
Quality wins: Gonzaga, New Mexico
Leading Scorers & Rebounders:

• Westerberg, 16.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg
• Orsillo, 10.4 ppg
• Noe, 6.4 rpg

3-point %: 41%, tops in the Pac 10.
January, Thompson, Simon and Noe are all averaging between 9.3 and 9.9 ppg.

Schedule:

• Dec 20 Arizona
• Dec 28 @ Cal
• Dec 30 @ Stanford

3. UCLA

Record: 6-6
Quality win: 3 losses to top 10 teams
Leading Scorers & Rebounders:

• Pluimer, 16.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg
• Quinn, 15.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg
• Ibekwe, 6.5 rpg

3-point %: 34.5%
Quinn is averaging 6.4 assists per game, but shooting only 39%. UCLA is out-rebounding its opponents by 8 per game.

Schedule:

• Dec 20 Cal
• Dec 22 Stanford
• Dec 28 @ WSU
• Dec 30 @ Washington

4. Washington

Record: 7-4
Quality wins: Gonzaga, Florida State
Leading Scorers & Rebounders:

• Hicks, 18.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg
• Plouffe, 10.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg
• Bell, 9.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg

3-point %: 32.3%.

Schedule:

• Dec 21 @ Oregon
• Dec 23 @ Oregon State
• Dec 29 USC
• Dec 31 UCLA

5. USC

Record: 6-4
Quality win: Notre Dame
Leading Scorers & Rebounders:

• Murphy, 19.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg
• Kerr, 14.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg

3-point %: 28.5%.
Backup Hughes is now out for several weeks.

Schedule:

• Dec 20 Stanford
• Dec 22 Cal
• Dec 29 @ Washington
• Dec 31 @ Washington State

6. Cal

Record: 8-1
Leading Scorers & Rebounders:

• Walker, 19.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg
• Hampton, 11.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg

3-point %: 35.8%
The loss of Grey-Lawson for the year puts the spotlight on Frosh Lauren Greif. She is hitting 48.6% from 3-point range and has a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio.

Schedule:

• Dec 20 @ UCLA
• Dec 22 @ USC
• Dec 28 Arizona State
• Dec 30 Arizona

7. Oregon

Record: 7-2
Leading Scorers & Rebounders:

• Haring, 13.1 ppg
• Lilley, 11.4 ppg
• Shetters, 8.9 rpg

3-point %: 39.6%

Schedule:

• Dec 21: Washington
• Dec 23: Washington State
• Dec 30: BYU (Note, Oregon will play Oregon State twice in the same week later this season)

8. Arizona

Record: 6-5
Leading Scorers & Rebounders:

• Hollingsworth, 16.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg
• Whisonant, 11.8 ppg
• Njonkou, 6.1 rpg

3-point %: 26%
6-7 JC Transfer Beatrice Bofia never got to play and is now out for the season with a knee injury.

Schedule:

• Dec 22: @ ASU
• Dec 28: Stanford
• Dec 30: Cal

9. Washington State

Record: 4-6
Leading Scorers & Rebounders:

• Stotler, 10.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg
• Kelly, 8.4 ppg
• Benz, 8.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg

3-point %: 24.2%

Schedule:

• Dec 21: @Oregon State
• Dec 23: @ Oregon
• Dec 29: UCLA
• Dec 31: USC

10. Oregon State

Record: 4-3
Leading Scorers & Rebounders:

• Nash, 21.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg
• Lomax, 12.4 ppg, 12.2 rpg

3-point %: 22.4%
They have a fine 1:1 assist to turnover ratio

Schedule:

• Dec 21: Washington State
• Dec 23: Washington
• Dec 28: Texas
• Dec 30: Holy Cross or San Diego