A look over my top ten players from the Pac 10 reveals that the conference lacks star power. A quick look at Andy Katz’s list of 50 possible Wooden Award has six Pac 10 players and Katz doesn’t place any in his top 15. That’s hardly surprising, but the conference offers a nice amount of depth and deeper fantasy leagues could find useful players and possibly diamonds in the rough from players not mentioned in my previous article. So, to keep the ball rolling, here are some names to consider when examining the western most conference.

Arizona Wildcats
Even if Nic Wise had chosen to stay in the draft and was on his way to play in Europe or Asia, the Wildcats would have a competitive team. F Solomon Hill seems the best bet to break out and his profile makes him sound a bit like one of his namesakes, Grant Hill. C Kyryl Natazhko is the highest rated prospect by Scouts, Inc. but post players generally take the longest to adapt to the next level. F Derrick Williams (who along with G Lamont “Momo” Jones left USC when Tim Floyd departed) is the heir apparent to Jordan Hill. Another freshman, F Kevin Parrom, came along with coach Sean Miller from Xavier and should team well with Wise on the fastbreak. Of the returnees, F Jamelle Horne (6.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg)  is the most likely to be productive, although he was better known during his sophomore season for committing ludicrous fouls at the end of games.

Arizona State Sun Devils
Like their cross-state rival, the Sun Devils will have opportunities for players to step up. They have plenty of perimeter power in F Rihards Kuksiks (2.7 3pg) and G Ty Abbott (1.4 3pg), but neither of them have shown the ability to create their own shot (mainly because they didn’t have to). Freshman G Demetrius Walker comes with a reputation of playing very hard, but he will need to share time with Abbott at the two. The Sun Devils have some size returning as well in former-Duke Blue Devil C Eric Boateng, who hasn’t earned much playing time in his two years in the desert, and freshman C Ruslan Pateev, who is
7-0, 240 lbs.

California Golden Bears
In addition to their fine backcourt, the Golden Bears bring back nearly every essential piece from the NCAA tournament team of 2008-09. F Theo Robertson was the team’s third double-digit scorer and did most of his damage from beyond the three-point line. The senior hit 2.3 3pg and provided 13.1 ppg on 48.8% from the floor and 48.7% from long range. F Jamal Boykin led the team in rebounding at 6.4 rpg, The fifth year senior also added 9.6 ppg. He may get some help in 7-3 sophomore C Max Zhang who provided 17.3 rpg for the Chinese team at the World University Games. Coach Mike Montgomery also brought in a 6-8, 270 lb bruiser from junior college named F Markhuri Sanders-Frison who may bear watching.

Oregon Ducks
After consistent success, the quack went out of the Ducks last year and they represented the basement of the Pac 10. Perhaps symbolizing that disappointment was sophomore C Michael Dunigan who opened the season strongly, but got hurt and couldn’t stay out of foul trouble after the first two weeks. He averaged 15 ppg and 8.3 rpg in the team’s first five games, but finished with averages of 8.4 ppg and 4.6 rpg. Senior F Joevan Catron led the team in rebounding (6.6 rpg) and assists (2.3 apg). Among the incoming recruits, F Jamil Wilson is a highly touted recruit from Racine, WI. He could start at small forward and could be backed up by F E.J. Singler, Kyle’s younger brother. Keep an eye on sophomore F/C Josh Crittle, who at 6-8, 260 lbs, at least looks the part of a player.

Oregon State Beavers
For the first time in ages, the Beavers outdid their rivals and moved up. After going winless in the Pac 10 in 2007-08, the Beavers won eight conference games and took home the CBI tournament crown. Oregon State returns most of its team as well. I think F/C Roeland Shaftenaar is the most intriguing player and not just for name value. He has center eligibility, which is always at a premium in fantasy college hoops and provided 10.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, and 3.3 apg. G Calvin Haynes led the team in scoring at 13.0 ppg and 1.6 3pg. He’ll be pushed by freshman G Roberto Nelson who has some offensive skills. Swingman Seth Tarver led the team in rebounding at 5.4 rpg and chipped in 8.0 ppg while F Daniel Deane (5.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg) could be someone to remember

Stanford Cardinal
No one knew exactly what to expect from first year coach Johnny Dawkins, but the long time Duke assistant acquitted himself well in the Pac 10. Of course, he had a veteran roster to rely upon and the seniors have all left the building. The Cardinal should continue to have a solid returning duo with Fields and F Josh Owens, the 6-8 native of Atlanta who provided 6.9 ppg on 56.1% from the floor and 3.6 rpg in 20.7 mpg. Sophmore G Jeremy Green was on the All-Pac 10 freshman team and converted 45.6% of his threes for 1.3 3pg. The recruiting haul includes 6-2 PG Gabriel Harris, who should start immediately. In the low post, 6-9 F Andrew Zimmerman, from Oostburg, WI via Foothill junior college, could provide some help. He previously played at Santa Clara.

UCLA Bruins
The Bruins have been devastated by players leaving early for the draft. Nevertheless, coach Ben Howland continues to restock the shelves with impressive recruiting classes. While there might not be a Kevin Love or Jrue Holiday type prospect in the young’uns for UCLA, someone will likely step to the front. F Nikola Dragovic is the team’s top returning scorer (9.4) and rebounder (4.3). He also made 1.6 3pg. C J’Mison Morgan was heavily hyped prior to last year after he reneged on a commitment to LSU. F Drew Gordon was also heavily hyped and looked promising this summer before injuring his knee. Among the newcomers, F Tyler Honeycutt or F Mike Moser could be the team’s go-to player. Honeycutt has skill and athleticism and Moser is a tough defensive player.

USC Trojans
Like Howland, new USC coach Kevin O’Neill prefers a slow down defensive game. That might lead to more wins for the Trojans, but it also results in fewer possessions and less fantasy relevance for his players. O’Neill should care about fantasy (although I am sure he would probably tell me where to stick it). After the mass exodus of Trojans, the team will have a short bench which could recoup some fantasy value. G Dwight Lewis led the team in scoring at 14.4 ppg and converted 1.6 3pg. 6-8 F Leonard Washington showed some skills (6.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg) in his freshman year and will lead the frontcourt. He missed four games with an ankle injury and was slowed for the remainder of the season. Former-Tar Heel F Alex Stepheson is also now eligible and could help with low post defense.

Washington Huskies
The Huskies had three players in my top ten, but have plenty of depth too. British F Matthew Bryan-Amaning had a double-double on Dec. 14 against Portland State, but was mainly a bench player. The 6-9, 236 lb forward could inherit Jon Brockman’s spot and might see 30+ mpg if he can stay out of foul trouble. If Abdul Gaddy has troubles adapting to college basketball (he is rather slight), G Venoy Overton could get more of an opportunity. The 5-11 guard has played 20.5 mpg in his first two seasons and provided 3.2 apg as a freshman. The Huskies also have brought in some power players in 6-7 freshman F Clarence Trent and 6-9 juco transfer F Charles Garcia, Jr. Trent has offensive skills and Garcia can man the post.

Washington State Cougars
With the Bennett shackles off the offense, the team could be more fantasy relevant. Of course, it may be that new coach Ken Bone doesn’t want to dismantle what Tony Bennett built and will continue to rely on the team’s defensive identity. The Cougars have returning talent. F DeAngelo Casto played played on the U.S.’s U19 team but hurt his knee. He is expected to be ready for the season. The 6-9 sophomore set a Cougar freshman record with 39 blocks last year. When I watched Washington State last year, I liked F Nikola Koprivica. He reminded me of Toni Kukoc and is the team’s only senior. Freshman F Brock Motum is a 6-9 Aussie. He did strain his calf this summer, but like Costa should be ready to roll in November when the season tips off.

My apologies for not updating the blog in awhile. Two pieces of business have kept me without the proper amount of time to tip off some conference previews. First off, I opened the sign up for the Big Chief Challenge, this is my own concoction of a fantasy basketball league that I wrote about last month. Feel free to pop over to the site, look around, and join us if you feel like it (it’s free). Secondly, at some point in the next couple of months, I will be managing a fantasy college basketball content site. This preview, in an updated form, will probably land there. More details as they come available.

As for the Pac 10, on paper, it looks to be a down year. In my top ten run down last month, there was a nary player from west of the Rockies. Over the last two years, many stars have departed early (see Bruins, UCLA) and some of just run out of eligibility (like rugged Jon Brockman). If you view a conference by its signature team, then the suddenly lackluster Bruins make the conference seem weak. However, things on paper have a way of turning themselves around on the court. Someone will likely step up in southern California (USC has a lot of question marks, too) and more frontcourt players will do their requisite damage around the basket. In any case, here is my best guess at the top ten fantasy prospects for the Pac 10.

1. G Nic Wise, Arizona Wildcats
The wise return of Wise (if you aren’t good enough play in the NBA, there is nothing wrong with spending a senior season in the desert, despite what I wrote a couple of months ago brings some star power to Arizona. They have an excellent incoming recruiting class (F Solomon Hill, C Kyryl Natyzahko, and two former USC-signees Derrick Williams and Momo Jones), but an experienced hand is definitely need to mold these youngsters. While new coach Sean Miller’s style at Xavier seemed egalitarian, he recruited excellently and always had plenty of depth. If all of the Wildcat freshmen play as expected, Arizona should have nice depth as well, but Wise will be the unquestioned star of the team. The point guard may be hard pressed to equal last year’s stats (15.7 ppg, on 45.2% from the floor, 4.6 apg, 1.5 spg, 1.8 3pg, 36.4 mpg), but he should have plenty of opportunities.

2. G Jerome Randle, California Golden Bears
Randle is the league’s leading returning scorer (18.0 ppg) and assist maker (5.0 apg) and I have bounced back and forth between Randle and Wise as the league’s top player. Randle will score more than Wise, but I think the burden of actually winning (and sharing with Christopher) could affect his fantasy value a bit. The 5-10 Chicago native had a remarkable shooting season as a junior. He made 50.1% of his shots, 86.3% of his free throws, and 46.3% of his threes. Will he be able to shoot that well again? I have my doubts. His assists add value, but his lack of sticky fingers (just 0.7 spg in 35.3 mpg) may cause problems in some fantasy leagues.

3. G Isaiah Thomas, Washington Huskies
It will be interesting to see which Is(a)iah Thomas garners more media attention by season’s end. The new Florida International coach is doing a nice job of escaping his NBA shadow, but my guess is that the pint-sized Husky sophomore will be the one getting the ink. The 5-8 shooting guard led Washington, the Pac 10 regular season champion, in scoring at 15.5 in his first year and wasn’t shy about taking shots away from the upper classmen. He only made 41.8% of his shots and 29.1% of threes, so a marked improvement in those numbers will lead to an improved season. Thomas should start next to 6-3 freshman Abdul Gaddy, so his size will be less of a factor against Husky opponents.

4. G Patrick Christopher, California Golden Bears
Between fellow seniors Randle and Christopher, the Golden Bears have not only the best backcourt in the Pac 10, but one of the best in the nation. It will be up to the frontcourt (including Jamal Boykin) to keep pace and help Cal to the top of the Pac 10 standings. As a junior, Christopher actually took a slight step back as Randle took a giant leap forward. The 6-5 shooting guard saw his scoring average fall from his fine sophomore season from 15.2 ppg to 14.5 ppg. He made more threes (35.8%) and more free throws (83.0%), but saw his field goal percentage fall to 44.1% (from 45.6%). Christopher scored in the 20’s eight times, including each of the first four conference games in early January. As opposing defenses concentrate on Randle, Christopher will need to provide offensive balance.

5. G Klay Thompson, Washington State Cougars
For the duration of the Bennett era in Pullman, the Cougars played the slowest brand of basketball possible. While I am not going to say that it was bad basketball necessarily or even hard to watch, it drastically hurt the fantasy values of players who could have been pretty decent on an up tempo team. Bennett has moved on to Virginia and former Portland coach Ken Bone is in his place. While the Cougars may not turn into VMI overnight, they should play a speedier brand of ball. That will help sophomore G Klay Thompson who had a respectable freshman season (12.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.1 3pg). Mychal’s son played big minutes (33.1 mpg) in his first year and scored in the 20’s three times (all against Pac 10 competition). He should be the focus of the Cougar offense and could be among the conference’s leading scorers.

6. F Quincy Pondexter, Washington Huskies
I am proud to state that for the first time in my college basketball writing history, I have not added an “I” to the middle of Pondexter’s name. For whatever reason, I apparently got the 6-6 Husky forward confused with a member of the cast of Revenge of the Nerds. It’s kind of hard to believe that Pondexter was part of the same recruiting class as Spencer Hawes. The Fresno, CA native has survived to his senior year and is coming off a junior season in which he set career highs in scoring (12.1 ppg), shooting (51.1%), and rebounding (5.9 rpg). Without rebound magnet Brockman around, Pondexter is a good bet to collect more boards and could get more scoring opportunities as well.

7. F Landry Fields, Stanford Cardinal
In his first year as a starter, the 6-7 Fields showed that he could play competently (averages of 12.6 ppg on 49.8% shooting, 6.6 rpg, 0.9 3pg) and sometimes excellently. Fields had his best game in the last Pac 10 conference tournament. In a losing effort against Washington, he provided 16 points and 15 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year. In 2009-2010, the senior will need to lead a young squad. He did score in the 20’s three times last year, but he will likely attract more defensive attention this year. His field goal percentage will likely decrease, but his points could average out to about 15 per game.

8. G TaJuan Porter, Oregon Ducks
For non-fantasy purposes, Porter is my least favorite type of player: a short shooting guard who bombs away and has little interest in passing. My impressions aside, Porter has been a consistent long range threat over his first three years with the Ducks and there’s little reason to think he’ll provide something different in his senior season. The 5-6 shooting guard has averaged between 13.9 and 15.4 ppg over his career and has made no less than 2.6 3pg. Last year, he provided his career high in scoring and 2.8 3pg. He will not help your team’s shooting percentage (39.3% from the floor), but he did make 87.2% of his free throws and provided a career high 1.0 spg.

9. G Abdul Gaddy*, Washington Huskies
Generally, I take a conservative approach to freshmen. Gaddy is the only one to make my Pac 10 top ten and I think number nine is probably the right place for him. The 6-3 guard from Tacoma, WA should start next to Thomas, but he will have some competition in Venoy Overton to take Justin Dentmon’s spot. Gaddy will likely grow into the starter’s role, but he could lead the conference in assists by the end of season. The Huskies have plenty of offensive options, so Gaddy might not be among the lead scorer’s. Husky coach Lorenzo Romar has shown no fear in playing freshmen big minutes. If the scouting reports are true about Gaddy being a pure point guard, he will get plenty of court time.

10. G Derek Glasser, Arizona State Sun Devils
There were a number of options for this tenth slot, but rather than going with one of the mediocre-to-possibly-decent big men, I decided to complete the point guard trend and go with the Sun Devils field marshal. The 6-1 senior has now had three years to run coach Herb Sendek’s Princeton-style offense and he made the most of his starting role last year. He set career highs in minutes (33.0 mpg), points (8.8 ppg), assists (4.8 apg), threes (1.3 3pg) and three-point percentage (41.3%) while chipping into an NCAA tournament team. Speaking of the Big Dance, Glasser saved his best game for the Sun Devils’ win over Temple with 22 points and four threes. While he might not blow up to become a superstar, Glasser should be a consistent contributor of ten points and five assists per game.

I don’t have very many good things to say about soccer. I enjoyed playing it when I was in middle school because I liked playing dirty and getting away with things. Plus, I was somewhat bigger than the other kids. I lost interest in high school when the other people actually had skills (and were as big, if not bigger than me). I find soccer very dull to watch and it always annoyed me that it got so much attention on World Sport when I lived in Asia. However, there is one thing I really like about the European soccer leagues: relegation. If you stink in the top conference (the Premier League), you get sent down to the Championship League. If you play well in the lower leagues, you get promoted. I’ve always wanted to have a fantasy system like that, but have never been able to put it together. So, I decided to try it with college basketball.

There were a few other geographic inconsistencies that I wanted to work out, so I did some rearranging as well. I worked on the conferences using a few rules:

1. No conferences will have more than 12 members (that means you, Big East)
2. No conference will end up with an odd number of teams (this worked, for the most part)
3. There are four tiers of conference as you will see when I go over the western region in a minute. While I realize this is somewhat demeaning to the Missouri Valleys and Atlantic 10’s of the world, is it any less demeaning to be lumped in with the low-majors like the SWAC and MEAC as the all-encompassing mid-major label. [A side note – a few years ago, I tried to redefine the conferences into three sets: power, binary (generally one- or two-bid conferences), and minor. It did not take off. I am at it again by putting the conferences into four tiers. No longer will there be power conference, but they will all be Tier 1.]
4. In Tier 2, 3, and 4 conference, if a team won the regular season title, they moved up. In Tiers 1, 2, and 3, if the team came in last place, they moved down.
5. I tried to sort out some of the geographical nomads, such as TCU from the Mountain West or Denver from the Sun Belt.

I know that something like this could never happen because of a number of factors. No college would want to be relegated and it probably would not be accepted at any level. Traditional rivalries would be broken up. There is also the fact that conferences with football have to be aligned somehow. I think these downsides are minor compared to what would be gained.

Teams would be under real pressure to perform. And teams that made it through the battle of the regular season would be rewarded even if they were upset in the conference tournament (which could also be used as a tie-breaker). Consistent big fish in little ponds (such as Gonzaga, Memphis, and Xavier) would have to move up and play the big boys, while consistent losers and easy wins for the big boys (like a certain school in suburban Chicago) would be sent to their proper level of competition.

So, without further ado, here are the newly aligned conferences of the West Coast:

Tier 1 – the Pac 12
Holdovers: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon State, Stanford, USC, UCLA, Washington, Washington State
Promotions: Gonzaga (WCC), BYU (Mountain West), Utah State (WAC)
Comments: Gonzaga was the only team in college basketball that I promoted up two tiers. I think they deserve it for consistently squashing the WCC. Let them face the big boys of the Pacific coast. Over the past three years, they haven’t faced many PAC 10 teams. Last year they lost to Arizona (helping the Wildcats into the tournament) and in 2007-08, they lost to Washington State (who was rated number six at the time). The Zags also lost to the Cougars in 2006-07, but managed to beat their new conference rival, Washington Huskies. That’s 1-3 over the last three years. If they can’t handle the heat, which I think they can, they’d be relegated. The other two promoted teams – BYU and Utah State – faced off last year and BYU came away with a 68-63 win. BYU did lose to Arizona State.

Tier 2 – the new WAC
Holdovers: Nevada, Boise State, New Mexico State, Hawaii, Idaho
Move overs from the now dismantled Mountain West: New Mexico, Utah, UNLV, Wyoming, San Diego State
Promotions: St. Mary’s
Relegations: Oregon
Comments: Even though one of my fantasy leagues had the WAC and MWC in it, I could never tell them apart. One had Utah and New Mexico, while the other had Utah State and New Mexico State. It always confused me. So, when I heard that the WAC split had caused the play-in game, I decided to do something about it. I would have liked to lump all of the Utahs and New Mexicos together, but the Utah State Aggies got promoted. Oregon would not be out of its element in this league (even though they have NCAA success in the recent past) because they lost to Utah and St. Mary’s last year. St. Mary’s went 2-1 against their new conference mates, including a win over San Diego State. The Aztecs got their revenge in the NIT by beating Gaels 77-60. New Mexico swept New Mexico State in a pair of meetings. UNLV beat Nevada and Boise State beat Wyoming.

Tier 3 – WCC
Holdovers: Pepperdine, San Diego, Santa Clara, Portland, San Francisco
Promoted: CSU-Northridge
Relegated from the Mountain West; Air Force, Colorado State
Relegated from the WAC: San Jose State, Fresno State
Comments: Because the original WCC had just eight members, it became a dumping ground for the former MWC/WAC. For no good reason, I gave Hawaii the nod over San Jose State, so the Spartans were relegated. They lost to Santa Clara last year but were able to beat San Francisco. Colorado State proved they were a good match for the WCC by losing to the Dons. CSU Northridge dominated the Big West and also beat up on Pepperdine (99-64). I think they’d hold their own against some of these bigger schools.

Tier 4 – Big West
Holdovers: Pacific, Long Beach State, UC-Riverside, UC-Santa Barbara, UC-Irvine, CSU Fullerton, UC-Davis, Cal Poly
Move over from the Summit: Southern Utah
Relegated: Loyola Marymount
Comments: This former nine-team conference had the least movement. Southern Utah moves from one Tier 4 conference to another. They faced UC-Riverside last year and lost. Similarly, the other new member of the Big West, Loyola Marymount lost to the Highlanders and also lost to UCSB and UC-Davis. They were ripe for relegation. All they have to do to get back to the WCC is win.