Ellington

1. Washington (16-7, 9-2 Pac-12): Lorenzo Romar-coached teams seemingly never fail to have a second-half push. These Huskies are no different, as they have won 11 of their last 13. But the UW was tripped up at the Oregon schools last year; can it escape the Willamette Valley unscathed this season?

2. California (18-6, 8-3): Cal controlled its own destiny — until it lost at home to Arizona, that is. Still, though, the Bears are far from done in the race for the Pac-12 regular season title. As long as guard Allen Crabbe’s foot isn’t seriously injured, Cal has nothing to worry about.

3. Colorado (16-7, 8-3): Go to Vegas and put all your savings on Colorado at home. The Buffaloes are 7-0 in conference play in Boulder and have lost just one game at the Coors Events Center. Just don’t come looking for me after they lose — there’s a good chance I just jinxed them.

4. Oregon (16-7, 7-4): The Ducks lost a heartbreaker to Colorado on Saturday, but winning in Boulder is proving itself to be a tough thing to accomplish for Pac-12 teams. That makes Oregon’s matchup with conference-leading Washington on Thursday all the more important, though, in a game that will ultimately seal the Ducks’ fate.

5, Oregon State (15-8, 5-6): Again, can’t penalize the Beavers too much for a loss at Colorado, which is the reason Oregon State pretty much stays static in this week’s power rankings. The bright side for Craig Robinson is his squad returns home for an important battle with the Washington schools. A sweep and the Beavers put themselves that much closer as a lock for an NIT berth.

6. Arizona (16-8, 7-4): Did someone forget to tell Arizona the Bay Area road trip is supposed to be tough? Either way, the Wildcats make the biggest jump in this week’s Power Rankings after taking care of business last weekend. Sans Kevin Parrom, Arizona seems to be doing just fine.

7. UCLA (13-10, 6-5): If I’m UCLA, I never want to play Washington. Never again. The Bruins just cannot figure the Huskies out, and they’ve now lost four-straight to them, their longest losing streak to the purple and gold since 1952. I guess even 10-point leads aren’t safe when it comes to streaks.

8. Stanford (16-7, 6-5): Lowly Arizona State is the only thing standing between Stanford and a five-game losing streak. Luckily for the Cardinal, equally bad USC is on the schedule for next weekend. Remember when Stanford was atop the conference?

9. Washington State (12-11, 4-7): Not a lot to say about the Cougars. They won’t beat any team they aren’t supposed to, and the CBI is their only likely postseason destination. Tough season in Pullman.

10. Arizona State (7-16, 3-8): Just another bad Pac-12 team.

11. USC (6-18, 1-10): Just another bad Pac-12 team.

12. Utah (5-18, 2-9): Just another bad Pac-12 team.

Reach Sports Editor Josh Liebeskind at sports@dailyuw.com or on Twitter @jlieb24.