The Ducks came out early in this one, showing again how they are so different than last season’s team. Last year the Ducks played like a loss was inevitable, that it was just a matter of time. This season the Ducks play with a confidence, an attitude that says every game is up for grabs.

Malcolm Armstead is the point the Ducks have been looking for since Brooks left. He can pass and shoot, and play defense. Dunigan is still tentative at the basket, having too think more than react to situations, but time with Armstead will improve that. Jeremy Jacob is more polished around the rim at this time of the season. Singler plays like a cagey veteran, belying his freshman status. Williams, Longmire, Wiley, Crittle when he returns, this is a talented Ducks team.

When Porter returns to full time fitness the Ducks should make some waves in a conference that looks to be very even.

The Gaels are talented & experienced. The Ducks match up with them in the former, but the discrepancy in the latter, signaled the defeat. Even with the two most experienced players out with injuries, the Ducks got a lot of players in the game. Armstead, Longmire, Crittle & Williams in particular, had moments of very good play. But, the constant substituting worked against developing any cohesion. The Ducks have four more home games before conference play begins; hopefully that time will be spent on setting a rotation.

Most seasons if you lose a close game, you’re going to drop a spot or two in the conference power rankings. Most seasons if you get blown out on the road you’re going to drop in the power rankings as well. But this isn’t most seasons.

The PAC-10 is down a significant amount, there’s no question about it. It is down so much that losing on your home court to a team that finished ninth in the Big-12 actually solidifies a higher spot in the power rankings.  It’s still early, but things are certainly starting to take form in the conference.

Forward/Center Drew Gordon will be transferring away from UCLA at the winter break, and is no longer a part of the Bruins team. This, apparently is by mutual agreement.

“After several discussions with Drew, we both have decided that it is in the best interests of our program and Drew that he continues his career at another school.” -Ben Howland

Some may take this as a sign of the rats jumping ship from a Bruins team that has struggled immensely already this season. That is wrong on two accounts. First, the Bruins are likely to turn the season around, and secondly this wasn’t a surprise to Howland and Co. which means that it was an internal issue.

According to Andy Katz over at ESPN, the issue was Gordon’s attitude being viewed as “detrimental” to the team.” I don’t see any other explanation for the departure, and Gordon clearly wasn’t happy with things in UCLA – particularly Ben Howland.

At this point, Gordon has not announced his destination, though San Diego State has been rumored. I believe it would be more likely he would wind up at UNLV who are in desperate need of inside rebounding presence. One way or another, it could be interesting to see where Gordon winds up – but I doubt it except for the team that gets him.

As for the Bruins, they now face replacing their third-leading scorer (11.2) and second-leading rebounder (5.3). That is a big hole to fill, and one that could have given them an advantage in a conference that is thin in the middle.

Last week I gave UCLA the benefit of the doubt in keeping them in the top half of the conference, but it appears as though I shouldn’t have. The Bruins are in bad shape with or without Dragovic and have taken the biggest hit in these rankings of the year dropping four spots this week.

The thing about all of this though, is you can pretty much throw all of it out the window once conference play starts. But we’ll go along pretending I have a clue as to what’s going on.

1. Washington – Still undefeated and truly unchallenged. Typically teams have to earn the top spot, but before they need to earn it someone has to prove they deserve it more than the Huskies. Clearly the cream of the crop thus far.
2. Cal – They’ve won their last two – good for them – but still lack a quality hash-mark in the left column. I’m hesitant to bump them down in the standings – and perhaps they’re staying on credits from last season. December 22 will tell.
3. WSU – They’re undefeated and average 84 points a contest. While only San Diego is a quality opponent, they absolutely manhandled the Torreros 93-56. It’s early, but the Cougars under Bone are looking to be a contender.
4. Arizona – Arizona went 1-2 in the Mauii Invitational, but you can’t knock them too badly for it considering the level of competition and the close results. They have a lot of room to improve, especially if they want to solidify a top spot in the conference.
5. ASU – Kudos to the Sun Devils for playing a legitimate team in non-conference play this year. Double that up with hanging relatively tight with the Blue Devils and I’m almost a believer.
6. OU – The Ducks have only one bad loss this season – by 13 to Montana – and have otherwise been impressive. The Ducks won’t find themselves braised this year.
7. Stanford – They forced a loaded Kentucky team into overtime, defeated Virginia, and continue to get better despite their lack of depth and inside presence. This may be the highest they get all year… but not if they keep playing like they did against Kentucky.
8. UCLA – You can let slide a close loss to Bulter, but the Bruins 2-4 start to the season has been absolutely horrific. After losing three of four last week there is no way I can justify putting them in the top half of the league any longer. Howland has a lot of questions to answer and little time to do it. Especially if a shot at the NCAA Tournament is to be salvaged.
9. OSU – A win over George Washington is nothing more than a bad team beating another bad team. The only chance we have to see how good they really are before conference play will be Colorado by comparison with Arizona. But it will be two steps forward (last season), one step back (this season) for the Beavers.
10. USC – There’s no two ways about it, USC is bad and they could wind up being blanked in conference play. I don’t see them winning more than two conference games this season. They’ll serve as a nice practice squad for Texas later this week.

Dragovic anchors a ridiculously young team that has too much potential and not enough experience to make a whole lot of noise this season. Unfortunately, the Bruins have floundered without Dragovic in the lineup. Which is why Howland brought Dragovic back despite the investigation into his October altercation being incomplete – a decision I completely disagree with for the sake of the integrity of the team. Sure, Dragovic scored 14 and led the Bruins against Butler, and will recapture his starting role in the near future. But in an age of college basketball that has more controversy than not, is it really worth it for the Bruins to risk it simply for a few wins until their freshman can catch up, especially when other schools are seeing investigations of this nature through before making decisions?

Howland is making a huge mistake. Dragovic has already been accused once, but his live-in girlfriend opted not to pursue charges. And while the rumor is that Dragovic was the victim, and not the attacker in the most recent incident, it doesn’t change the fact that Dragovic wasn’t smart enough to just walk away, report it to security, or take numerous other avenues. Garland Judkins was effectively suspended for the year under Russ Pennell for the same type of decision.

It’s a shame really, that Howland after cherrishing so much success over the past few years is utterly incapable of enduring a few weeks or even a whole season without compromising the integrity of the program.

Is it possible that at 3-3, Stanford has looked more impressive than Oregon, ASU, and UCLA, and possibly even Cal? It is certain they have been more impressive than USC and Oregon State, but forcing a heavily heralded Kentucky team into an overtime game is impressive.

Kentucky, fifth in the nation at game time, required a 10-2 run in overtime to put the pesky Cardinal away. That’s impressive for the Cardinal, who were thought by many to be a shoe-in for the PAC-10 basement. they could still wind up there, but in the early goings they have been more impressive than a lot of the young (and not-so-young) squads in the conference.

Jamelle Horne has taken his "Superman" impression to new heights - fortunately it is no longer parallel with the ground. Photo by Associate Press

In the end, the Wildcats were out-scored in the final five minutes of each game as a direct result in their inexperience. Part of that inexperience is fatigue, poor decision making down the stretch, but most importantly the inconsistency on the offensive end. Make a change in any number of those, especially the offensive continuity and the results could have been different.

That’s not to make excuses. After all, a young team in an early season match-up against more experienced of equal or better talent is a recipe for losses such as these. What’s important at this stage in the season is that the ‘Cats learn from their mistakes, play better defense, become more comfortable with one another offensively, and continue to move forward.

To start, the Wildcats learned that they can not rely on Nic Wise to be the main offensive threat. In the two toughest games of the year Wise has tallied 13 and 9 points. While that is good, it isn’t going to be enough to beacon the ‘Cats past the tougher competition to come.

Next off the ‘Cats while playing with no reservations defensively, must still do so intelligently. While the intensity has been present, the ‘Cats continue to struggle with help defense and reaching. The Wildcats have already out-fouled opponents 112-102 on the season. Not something that has been customary in Tucson in recent years. More specifically, in each of their losses the Wildcats have out-fouled their opponents: 25-14 against Vanderbilt, and 30-24 against Wisconsin.

But for all the things lacking for the Wildcats, the games results have been more positive than negative. The fouls and intelligent play will develop with time – and hopefully, most are past their Superman impression days long before Jamelle Horne was – as will the continuity and consistency of the offense. As that happens, players will settle into their roles and a starting lineup.

Two of the biggest players that will likely develop are Derrick Williams and Solmon Hill. Williams and Hill led the ‘Cats in scoring in each of their two losses, have made it evident they know how to fill their roles, get to the line, and put up decent numbers.

In all, despite being 3-2 with losses to the only quality teams they’ve played, the ‘Cats have remained competitive and shown growth in each of the games. So while they aren’t a NCAA Tournament calibur team yet, they will progress throughout the season, take advantage of a weakened PAC-10 and earn themselves a Tournament bid.

It has certainly been a bizzare week of PAC-10 basketball. With so many teams struggling out of the gate it not only looks like the PAC-10 is down, but it is way down. But as I said earlier, withhold your judgement. Afterall, do you really trust records that put Arizona State (4-0) as the top team in the conference?

That is the very reason I do the Power Rankings, because the quality of a team isn’t just in wins and losses…

1. Washington – The Huskies are showing no signs of slowing down and have been the only team that hasn’t stumbled out of the gate. And, no, I don’t consider WSU and ASU to be performing stellarly right now – name three players from teams they have played, I bet you can’t.
2. CAL – You can’t knock Cal for losses to Syracuse (who beat the pants off of UNC as well) and Ohio State. Both are quality programs that are better than any other PAC-10 opponent thus far – even Wisconsin. While a 3-2 start has to be a concern for Cal, I’m not going to take anything away from them for losses to tough teams. But they certainly are struggling thus far.
3.  Arizona Wildcats – Had the ‘Cats not spotted the Badgers a 13-point lead to start the game, they might be undefeated. But considering the rough play characteristic of a young team with a new coach – I doubt it. The ‘Cats are up here because of the potential they have shown and for not slipping up against lesser teams like so much of the conference already has.
4.  UCLA Bruins – I’m being generous in giving the Bruins the four spot. Based upon their performance to date they don’t deserve it, but honestly I can’t think of who does. The potential on that bench is why I’m keeping them in the top five. They have a ton of talent – now they just need to tap into it.
5. Washington State – Ken Bone is turning heads at the same tempo his team is scoring points – FAST. The new-look Cougars will be fun to watch this season, but don’t put too much trust in their unblemished three-game start.
6. Oregon Ducks – It’s Jekyll and Hyde for the Ducks. Their volatile one day, and about as dangerous as Donald Duck the next. I still expect to see the Ducks having a fine season this year, but creating a winning habit takes time. Perhaps starting the season with back-to-back-to-back games was a bit much…
7.  Arizona State Sun Devils – Sparky and the boys have had a good run thus far – but I don’t expect it to last much longer. They haven’t played anybody worthwhile, and might as well have played Southwestern College or Grand Canyon College four times as far as I’m concerned. Beat someone legit and their stock will rise. In the mean time, I’m keeping them where they deserve to be.
8. Stanford – The Cardinal are 3-2, which is three more games than I thought they’d win. Even though it’s hard to gauge just how good they really are at this point in the season, one thing is for certain – they have been better than the rest of the teams below and their season-outlook is better of than the Trojans.
9. Oregon State – Are you serious? Perhaps the Beavers ’09 season was more a result of the players than it was the coach. It’s hard to justify taking a team seriously with losses like Texas A&M -CC (a blowout), Texas Tech, and Sacramento State. The Beavers don’t have the talent or athleticism to keep up this year.
10. USC – If losing to Loyola-Marymount wasn’t bad enough, losing Alex Stephenson made this team the front-runner for the PAC-10 cellar this year. It is going to be a brutal year for a team whose head coach was the eight year old attempting to shove a square peg into a circle hole. It didn’t work then, and it isn’t going to work now.