Whereas the other power conferences possess a handful of bluebloods expected to dominate their territory in 2024 — as they dominate every year — the Big 12’s membership overhaul has created unprecedented balance across its sweeping footprint.

By every identifiable measure, from tradition and resources to recruiting prowess and TV ratings, the distance from first place to last isn’t nearly as great as in the Big Ten, SEC and even the ACC.

The absence of elite programs is problematic on several levels — political leverage in playoff discussions being just one — but it sets the stage for first-rate competition during the season and makes projecting the conference race deliciously tricky.

We have not picked ties in the forecast below. The Hotline never picks ties. But there will be ties. Two-team ties. Three-team ties. Myriad-team ties.

Of that, we can be sure.

For now, we have examined the rosters, the schedules and the coaching staffs and sketched an order of finish for 2024.

Please note: The projections will be revised in the late spring, after the second transfer window.

Here we go …

1. Utah

2023 record: 8-5/5-4 Pac-12
Coach: Kyle Whittingham (20th season)
Top returnees: QB Cam Rising, LB Lander Barton
Key newcomers: WR Dorian Singer (USC), CB Kenan Johnson (Georgia Tech)
Comment: Our forecast assumes the Utes experience a reversion to the mean with injuries after getting walloped last season. They have an elite quarterback in Rising, whose career began in the Big 12 (at Texas in 2018), and should possess one of the top defenses in the conference with Barton and outside linebacker Karene Reid as the ringleaders. The 2021-22 Pac-12 champs will make it three titles in four seasons — and the 2024 will come with Utah’s first playoff berth.

2. Kansas

2023 record: 9-4/5-4 Big 12
Coach: Lance Leipold (fourth season)
Top returnees: QB Jalon Daniels, CB Cobee Bryant
Key newcomers: TE DeShawn Hanika (Iowa State), DE Dylan Wudke (Youngstown State)
Comment: The most impactful newcomer in Lawrence is not a player; he’s offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, who should team with Daniels (assuming his back injury has healed) to provide the foundation for a first-rate attack. We expect the improvement on defense to continue — KU was 76th in yards allowed per play last season, compared to 116th in 2022 — and allow the Jayhawks to play complementary football.

3. Oklahoma State

2023 record: 10-4/7-2 Big 12
Coach: Mike Gundy (20th season)
Top returnees: TB Ollie Gordon, DE Xavier Ross
Key newcomers: TB A.J. Green (Arkansas), S Kobe Hylton (UTEP)
Comment: We considered the Cowboys for the top spot given their long list of offensive returnees — a group that includes Gordon, the entire line and veteran quarterback Alan Bowman. But is the defense up to the task? Is second-year coordinator Bryan Nardo the right fit in Stillwater? We aren’t convinced. OSU simply doesn’t have the balance needed to finish on top of a conference that has so few weak links.

4. Arizona

2023 record: 10-3/7-2 Pac-12
Coach: Brent Brennan (first season)
Top returnees: QB Noah Fifita, LB Jacob Manu
Key newcomers: TB Jacory Croskey-Merritt (New Mexico), DE Tre Smith (San Jose State)
Comment: The Wildcats are a trendy pick to win the Big 12 based on their 2023 success and Fifita’s return (along with star wideout Tetairoa McMillan). But we see several obstacles. Brennan was the right hire, but the staff turnover could impact cohesion. Also, the Wildcats can no longer lean into the underdog role. How will they handle the expectations? The regression will play out on the margins, but that’s all it takes.

5. Kansas State

2023 record: 9-4/6-3 Big 12
Coach: Chris Klieman (sixth season)
Top returnees: QB Avery Johnson, DE Brendan Mott
Key newcomers: WR Dante Cephas (Penn State), S Jordan Riley (Ball State)
Comment: Quarterback Will Howard’s departure (to Ohio State) creates an opportunity for Johnson, but his lack of experience (66 career pass attempts) gives us pause. That pause is extended when we consider the attrition on the offensive line: Will the Wildcats muster enough consistency and avoid racking up damaging negative-yardage plays? It’s not like the defense is a slab of granite, either. The unit was solid last season and should be again in 2024. But solid might not be enough to compete for the title.

6. West Virginia

2023 record: 9-4/6-3 Big 12
Coach: Neal Brown (sixth season)
Top returnees: QB Garrett Greene, LB Tyrin Bradley
Key newcomers: WR Jaden Bray (Oklahoma State), DB Garnett Hollis Jr. (Northwestern)
Comment: Brown climbed off the hot seat and conjured nine wins out of a roster picked for last place in the 2023 preseason media poll. Expectations are substantially higher in 2024; meeting them will be challenging. Greene’s return helps immensely, but the defense looks wobbly. Also, the Mountaineers open conference play with five grueling games in succession. Will they have anything left for November?

7. Colorado

2023 record: 4-8/1-8 Pac-12
Coach: Deion Sanders (second season)
Top returnees: QB Shedeur Sanders, CB Travis Hunter
Key newcomers: OL Justin Mayers (UTEP), DL BJ Green (Arizona State)
Comment: The Buffaloes weren’t as good as they looked at the start of 2023 or as bad as they looked in October and November. They were a vastly improved team that was still below average. In 2024, we expect them to take another step thanks to Shedeur Sanders, Hunter and upgrades on the lines of scrimmage. (They once again turned to the portal for help.) The schedule is extremely difficult, but don’t count out a bowl berth.

8. Iowa State

2023 record: 7-6/6-3 Big 12
Coach: Matt Campbell (ninth season)
Top returnees: QB Rocco Becht, DB Jeremiah Cooper
Key newcomers: OL Dylan Barrett (Wisconsin), DE Kenard Snyder (Louisiana Monroe)
Comment: As opposed to so many of their peers, the Cyclones enter the Big 12’s next era with more questions on offense than defense. They allowed just 5.2 yards per play last season and have enough returnees to maintain that level of efficiency. Success hinges on the offensive line giving Becht time to throw and tailback Abu Sama III room to run.

9. TCU

2023 record: 5-7/3-6 Big 12
Coach: Sonny Dykes (third season)
Top returnees: QB Josh Hoover, LB Namdi Obiazor
Key newcomers: OL Cade Bennett (San Diego State), CB JaTravis Broughton (Utah)
Comment: The most significant addition, in our view, is Andy Avalos, a superb defensive coordinator (at Oregon) who was terminated as Boise State’s head coach last season. If Avalos has the expected impact and Hoover makes the expected improvement, the Frogs should regain lost ground — not all, but some. Eight wins is the benchmark for Dykes and Co. on an annual basis.

10. Texas Tech

2023 record: 7-6/5-4 Big 12
Coach: Joey McGuire (third season)
Top returnees: QB Behren Morton, DB C.J. Baskerville
Key newcomers: WR Josh Kelly (Washington State), DL De’Braylon Carroll (Rice)
Comment: The Red Raiders are in the group of mid-level Big 12 programs that stand to lose ground competitively in the aftermath of conference expansion, with their trajectory in 2024 as the first piece of evidence. The drop won’t be steep — McGuire’s group should avoid the bottom tier — but Texas Tech doesn’t have a single outstanding unit that it can lean into for salvation.

11. Cincinnati

2023 record: 3-9/1-8 Big 12
Coach: Scott Satterfield (second season)
Top returnees: OL Luke Kandra, DT Dontay Corleone
Key newcomers: QB Brendan Sorsby (Indiana), DE Mikah Coleman (Eastern Michigan)
Comment: The Bearcats stand as our Big 12 sleeper pick for 2024 — not that we expect them to contend for the title, but they should be dramatically improved with the addition of Sorsby and the return of the entire starting offensive line. The defense should be fairly stout, as well. Also, the Bearcats will benefit immensely from low expectations. Our only hesitation with this projection, frankly, is that it’s too low.

12. UCF

2023 record: 6-7/3-6 Big 12
Coach: Gus Malzahn (fourth season)
Top returnees: WR Kobe Hudson, DT Ricky Barber
Key newcomers: QB KJ Jefferson (Arkansas), LB Jesiah Pierre (Texas Tech)
Comment: The Knights only won three conference games in their inaugural season in the Big 12, but that was more than any of the other newcomers. We don’t foresee much of an uptick in ’24 with a difficult schedule and uncertainty at quarterback. Jefferson wasn’t consistent enough at Arkansas to suggest he can lead UCF to a top-tier finish in the Big 12.

13. Brigham Young

2023 record: 5-7/2-7 Big 12
Coach: Kalani Sitake (ninth season)
Top returnees: QB Jake Retzlaff, DE Tyler Batty
Key newcomers: QB Gerry Bohanon (Baylor), DE Jack Kelly (Weber State)
Comment: The Cougars are the only team in our projections with quarterbacks listed in both the returning player and newcomer categories, which reflects the uncertain state of the position specifically and BYU’s tenuous footing in the 2024 race broadly. The defense is also a concern after yielding 177.7 yards per game on the ground — and a whopping 4.9 yards per carry — last season.

14. Arizona State

2023 record: 3-9/2-7 Pac-12
Coach: Kenny Dillingham (second season)
Top returnees: QB Jaden Rashada, S Shamari Simmons
Key newcomers: RB Raleek Brown (USC), S Kamari Wilson (Florida)
Comment: The Sun Devils were competitive last season (until the final weeks, at least), and that should be the case again in 2024. The degree of material improvement, however, is difficult to predict because of all the roster and staff turnover sustained in the past 15 months, plus the unresolved NCAA investigation. Three conference wins would constitute a successful season, while final judgment on the Dillingham era must wait until 2025.

15. Baylor

2023 record: 3-9/2-7 Big 12
Coach: Dave Aranda (fifth season)
Top returnees: WR Monaray Baldwin, CB Caden Jenkins
Key newcomers: WR Jamaal Bell (Nevada), DE Steve Linton (Texas Tech)
Comment: The situation in Waco, which was plenty bleak at the close of a disappointing season, turned downright grim in early December when quarterback Blake Shapen transferred to Mississippi State. His departure left the Bears with a massive void. If Aranda doesn’t find a solution and produce a significant course correction, he might be out of work by December.

16. Houston

2023 record: 4-8/2-7 Big 12
Coach: Willie Fritz (first season)
Top returnees: QB Donovan Smith, CB Isaiah Hamilton
Key newcomers: WR Mekhi Mews (Georgia), DB Hershey McLaurin (West Virginia)
Comment: The Cougars made one of the smartest hires of the offseason, for Fritz was the architect of Tulane’s rise to prominence. He will have more resources to work with in Houston, along with tougher competition. We expect immediate progress, but with a difficult schedule, the Cougars might not produce a record that reflects their improvement.

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

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The highlight of the Spartans’ home season will be at the end: San Jose State will host Boise State and UNLV in its last two conference games (Nov. 16 and Nov. 23, respectively) with a chance at revenge for being left out of the 2023 conference title game based on computer projections. Then, in the final game of the season, it will host Stanford in a renewal of the South Bay rivalry.

The Spartans open up at home on Thursday, Aug. 29 against Sacramento State before playing their first conference game of the season in Week 2 at Air Force.

They’ll return home to face Kennesaw State, which is entering the Football Bowl Subdivision, on Sept. 14, then travel to face Washington State in the first of two games against the Pac-12’s remaining schools; Oregon State on Nov. 9 is a rematch from last year’s 42-17 home-opening loss.

The rivalry game at Fresno State will be played Oct. 26, immediately preceding a bye week and following games against Nevada (Oct. 5), at Colorado State (Oct. 12) and against Wyoming (Oct. 19).

ACC heads to Bay Area

Cal and Stanford announced their 2024-25 home and away opponents on Thursday for both men’s and women’s basketball. On the men’s side, the Bay Area teams will mostly visit the bluebloods, as Syracuse and Virginia are the big-name programs to head west next winter, while Cal and Stanford will play Duke and North Carolina on the road.

Boston College, Florida State, Miami, SMU and Virginia Tech will also visit both schools.

On the women’s side, No. 4 Stanford and Cal are set to face Virginia Tech, currently ranked No. 5, on the road but will host No. 12 NC State, No. 17 Notre Dame and No. 19 Syracuse.

Pitt, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Boston College will play at both Bay Area schools.

For the full breakdown of the men’s and women’s opponents, visit the ACC’s website.

MORAGA, Calif. (AP) — When Saint Mary’s stumbled to five losses in the first eight games of a season that began with high expectations, the immediate goals were much more modest than conference titles and NCAA Tournament berths.

“I was hoping for 4-5 when we were 3-5,” coach Randy Bennett said. “That’s exactly how we approached it.”

The 17th-ranked Gaels (23-6, 14-0 West Coast Conference) did that and haven’t slowed down a bit.

They have won 20 of the past 21 games to move to the verge of denying perennial power Gonzaga a share of the regular-season conference title for just the second time in the past 24 seasons.

Saint Mary’s has already clinched the top seed in the WCC tournament next month in Las Vegas for a second straight season and can win its first outright conference title since 2012 by winning at Pepperdine on Thursday night or against No. 23 Gonzaga at home on Saturday.

“We knew just keep pounding the rock and eventually it’s going to break,” forward Alex Ducas said about the mindset following the shaky start. “You don’t know if it’s going to be the fifth time hitting the rock or the thousandth time, but eventually it will break. We knew that. That’s all part of maturing as a team.”

The Gaels came into the season ranked 23rd for the fourth preseason ranking in school history despite losing two-time all-conference guard Logan Johnson (of Mountain View) and defensive stopper Kyle Bowen to graduation.

Ducas had to work his way back to health from a back injury and Bennett had to incorporate Augustas Marciulionis — the son of former NBA star Sarunas — and Joshua Jefferson into the lineup.

The early results were lacking, with the Gaels facing a difficult nonconference schedule that led to losses against Weber State, San Diego State, Xavier, Utah and Boise State.

“You got to always be the hunter,” center Mitchell Saxen said. “I think early in the season, sometimes we were afraid to lose, whether that was coming in ranked at the start of the year or whatever it may be. But we’ve really just grown as a team there.”

The Gaels have won 15 straight games for the longest active winning streak in the nation and have set a school record with 14 straight conference wins.

They have been dominant in that stretch, leading the nation in point differential (plus-21.3 per game), ranking second in rebounding differential (plus-11.1 per game) and fifth in opponent shooting percentage (39.2%).

They have even survived a season-ending knee injury to Jefferson and have kept rolling.

“It could have gone a lot of different ways, but they just kept hanging in there and getting better and staying together,” Bennett said. “You can get beat up by losses and especially a team that is as young as we are. I know it sounded like we had a lot of good players coming back. They weren’t good yet. They had to become good.”

Bennett has made a career of developing players since taking over a two-win team in 2001 that played in a tiny gym in a Bay Area market focused on professional teams.

He tapped a pipeline of Australian players early in his tenure to build a program that has become one of the most successful on the West Coast with 16 straight non-pandemic seasons with at least 20 wins.

The Gaels have the eighth-most wins in the country over the past 15 seasons and have won either a share of the regular-season conference title or the conference tournament seven times in that span.

This year’s version is one of Bennett’s most balanced with a strong backcourt led by local product Aidan Mahaney and Marciulionis, the outside shooting of Ducas, who has made 58% of his 3-pointers the past 12 games, and the strong post play from Saxen.

“Really it’s a pick-your-poison situation when you play Saint Mary’s,” San Diego coach Steve Lavin said.

Now, the next question for the Gaels will be whether they can translate this run into NCAA Tournament success. Saint Mary’s is set to make its third straight tournament appearance for the first time in school history but the Gaels haven’t made it past the opening weekend since going to the Sweet Sixteen in 2010.

But first is the more immediate goal of winning the conference.

“Our whole deal is one step at a time, one punch at a time, one round at a time,” Bennett said. “That’s where I would say we’ve been good. And sometimes they believe in it and sometimes they don’t. These guys have. You can hear it when they talk. They talk right. That’s what gives us a chance.”

Gould, who officially takes over from George Kliavkoff on Friday, was joined by Washington State president Kirk Schulz, chair of the Pac-12 board of directors.

Perhaps the most substantive development came from Gould, who revealed that the Pac-12 Networks’ production studio in San Ramon, California, will remain active for the 2024-25 school year. Although the networks will cease to exist as a media distribution company, the studio will support Washington State and Oregon State “with live events and content,” Gould said. (No specifics were provided.)

She also disclosed the terms of her contract: It’s a two-year deal that coincides with the NCAA grace period allowing WSU and OSU to operate as a two-team conference in football for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. (The schools’ basketball teams and other Olympic sports will be affiliate members of the West Coast Conference during that period.)

Gould and Schulz also fielded a slew of questions about the future of the College Football Playoff — Schulz is on the board of managers — following reports that the Big Ten and SEC want the playoff to expand to 14 teams in the 2026 season.

But the call was notable for two moments of passion.

When asked about the future for Washington State and Oregon State beyond the next two seasons — they could attempt to rebuild the Pac-12 or join another conference — Schulz seemed committed to keeping the conference alive.

“There are lots of ideas about what the Pac-12 should be doing,” he said. “I love the West Coast sports scene and think it’s really important that there’s a top-tier conference on the West Coast for all sports. How do we build it? How do we grow? What’s our vision? And how to do it on the West Coast?”

Gould, who spent decades working in athletic departments before joining the Pac-12 office in 2018, has a three-pronged approach to the job as the first female commissioner of a power conference:

— Lead the Pac-12’s operational arm in a manner that best supports the Cougars and Beavers.

— Represent the conference on the national level, especially in discussions about the College Football Playoff.

— Help WSU and OSU plot a strategy for the future.

“That’s the most important and urgent piece, to partner with the campuses and forge a path for the two programs,” she said.

Gould also used a simple question — why did she take the job? — to outline her view of the Pac-12.

“Since August, there hasn’t been a night that has gone by that I haven’t thought about the more than 1,000 student-athletes on the campuses of Oregon State and Washington State,” she said.

“All I could think about was they need a leader that is prepared to fight for them, that is prepared to fight on their behalf.  … I wanted to be the leader that fought on behalf of those student-athletes and their future.”

The answer drew a stark contrast with the approach taken by her predecessor, Kliavkoff, who sided with the 10 outbound schools in the dispute over governance of the conference and has not uttered a public peep in support of OSU and WSU since the collapse of the Pac-12 in August.

“(Gould) will be a great advocate” for the two schools, a source said.

Other notable comments:

— On an eventual merger, or reverse merger, with the Mountain West: “Those conversations haven’t started,” Gould said.

— On reports that the SEC and Big Ten are considering breaking away from the NCAA: “Why not reform what’s there as opposed to ‘Let’s recreate something,’” Schulz said.

— On WSU and OSU using private equity to fund athletic operations: “I don’t have a stance one way or the other but would be happy to have the conversation,” Schulz said.

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

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*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.

“There is an entirely different set of challenges,” he said recently. “It’s a totally different world.”

That’s true of the past seven weeks alone.

Since Michigan won the national championship:

— Two high-profile coaches, Alabama’s Nick Saban and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, have left the sport.

— The Department of Justice has taken aim at the NCAA.

— The College Football Playoff has approved a new format and is discussing additional expansion.

— Boosters have won the right to buy recruits.

— Players on an Ivy League basketball team have been declared employees.

“The NCAA needs to admit that everything they’ve done is wrong and stop trying to fix it all with Band-Aids,” said Hill, who retired in March 2018 after three decades in charge of the Utes.

“Start with the things that have to happen. We know players are going to get paid. We know they have to go to school. We know football is where the real money is. We know the transfer portal is a challenge but kids have to have freedom.

“They have to find solutions.”

Keeping track of all the recent changes isn’t easy. Here’s a primer on the key off-the-field developments (in rough chronological order) …

Uncle Sam gets involved

To the list of plaintiffs against the NCAA, add the Department of Justice.

Just 10 days after the national championship, the DOJ joined a lawsuit against the NCAA’s policy on second-time transfers.

First-time transfers were granted immediate eligibility in the spring of 2021, but the NCAA did not offer the same treatment for undergraduates switching schools a second time — until recently.

Prior to Christmas, a West Virginia judge issued an injunction stating the NCAA could not force second-time transfers to sit out a full season.

Weeks later, the DOJ joined the suit — and will eventually make its case in court.

Until then, the injunction stands and players are immediately eligible following their second transfer.

Big Two team up

Frustrated by the NCAA’s inability to succeed in court or produce meaningful change to a broken model, the heavyweight conferences are stepping into the void and consolidating their authority.

In early February, the SEC and Big Ten announced the formation of a joint advisory group of university presidents and athletic directors that will consider “the significant challenges facing college athletics.”

The partnership will undoubtedly consider everything from revenue-sharing deals with players to policies governing the transfer portal and name, image and likeness to whether the sport must be separated from the rest of college athletics.

In other words, they plan to find solutions — solutions that suit their purposes specifically — and offer other FBS leagues the opportunity to join the journey.

Those who decline will be left behind.

“They know what they want,” Hill said, “And everyone else has to react.”

NLRB involvement

The National Labor Relations Board has taken aim at the NCAA on both coasts. While a complaint against USC, the Pac-12 and the NCAA plays out in Los Angeles, a regional office in New England ruled in early February that Dartmouth’s men’s basketball players are employees of the school.

An upcoming election — it hasn’t been scheduled — will determine if the Green Wave players are entitled to form the NCAA’s first labor union.

“It’s the first step to potential employee status for college athletes,” Tulane law professor Gabe Feldman told ESPN.

The USC case might be more significant. To this point, the NLRB’s jurisdiction is limited to private schools. But if the Pac-12 and NCAA are determined to be joint employers of USC athletes, then athletes across the NCAA (both private and public universities) could become employees.

Unleashing name, image and likeness

Last week, a federal judge in Tennessee became the latest contributor to the dismantling of the NCAA. Clifton Corker issued a preliminary injunction that allows third parties (i.e., NIL collectives funded by boosters) to offer financial inducements to recruits in exchange for them attending a particular school.

“The NCAA’s prohibition likely violates federal antitrust law and harms student-athletes,” Corker wrote.

With that, the bedrock of NCAA amateurism for a century was declared illegal. And yes, it applies to players across the country — those in the transfer portal and high school recruits.

Obviously, inducements have been integral to the recruiting process for eons. Corker’s ruling means all the arrangements previously made in the shadows can unfold in broad daylight.

CFP changes, parts 1 and (maybe) 2

Last week, the College Football Playoff’s board of managers approved the so-called 5/7 format for the 12-team event. In the 2024-25 seasons, there will be five automatic qualifiers and seven at-large teams.

(Originally, the CFP planned to have six and six, but the demise of the Pac-12 changed the calculation by eliminating a major conference.)

The new format carves an automatic bid for the highest-ranked team from the Group of Five, while Washington State and Oregon State — the lone remaining members of the Pac-12 — must qualify as at-large teams.

But that wasn’t the only development impacting the postseason. The conference commissioners on the CFP’s management committee began discussing the format for the 2026 season, which marks a new contract cycle.

The SEC and Big Ten, which possess so many of the sport’s bluebloods, are interested in creating a 14-team event in which only the top two seeds would have byes in the opening round.

What’s more, the two conferences want a bundle of automatic bids for themselves, thus limiting access to the playoff for everyone else.

A decision on the future format of the CFP could come in the next month or two.

Summer signings? Oh, my

The NCAA is considering a massive change to the football recruiting calendar. Officials are meeting this week, according to ESPN, to discuss what’s called the “three-period model” for signing National Letters of Intent.

Prospects could sign with schools in late June, late November (after the regular season) or early February.

The goal is to eliminate the current early signing window that falls just before Christmas because it overlaps with the transfer portal and bowl games — and, starting next season, will conflict with the opening round of the expanded playoff.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is among those who believe the recruiting calendar needs a makeover.

“Putting signing day in the middle of December with playoff games no longer works,” he told Yahoo.

And those are just the most immediate developments across the college football landscape.

There are several ongoing court cases that could inflict further damage on the NCAA model, plus Florida State’s legal challenge to the ACC’s grant-of-rights contract and early-stage discussions about expanding March Madness.

The past seven weeks have been packed with enough news to last seven months. And there is no end in sight.

“They should say, ‘Let’s look at the whole package. What are the outcomes that are legal?'” Hill said.

“They can’t take one little thing and try to fix it. They have to make major changes. They need to pay the players, and everything else will come from that.”

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

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The 6-foot-7 junior transfer from Texas Tech enters tonight’s Pac-12 game at Colorado averaging 20.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists. If he were to finish the season with those numbers, he’d be the first Cal player ever to do so, and that includes Jason Kidd, who went on to post 107 triple-doubles in a Hall of Fame career in the NBA.

Tyson has become the Bay Area’s best player, and it’s not merely because he has scored 20 points or more 16 times, including 30 when the Bears (13-15, 8-7 Pac-12) claimed an 82-78 win over Colorado (18-9, 9-7) back on Jan. 10.

He has helped elevate the Bears by 10 victories (and counting) over a year ago, when they were 3-29. They take the floor tonight just a half-game out of fourth place in the Pac-12, which would reward them with a first-round bye at the conference tournament, beginning March 13 in Las Vegas.

That’s just a starting point for the Bears, Tyson said. He’s inspired by the example of the 2021 Oregon State team that was 11-11 before stunning the field at the Pac-12 tournament to earn an NCAA berth, then advancing to the Elite 8 round before exiting.

“I think this team can make that happen,” Tyson said. “I think we can really make a run in the Pac-12 tournament.”

Tyson, one of four first-year transfer starters playing for new coach Mark Madsen, showed his grit on Saturday when he came back from a nasty-looking fall on his left arm late in the first half to score 16 of his 27 points in a 69-64 win over Oregon.

“It feels better with a win,” he said. “You can chop my arm off and I’ll play.”

The performance came two days after Tyson’s worst game of the season, a seven-point effort on 3-for-15 shooting against Oregon State. Madsen wasn’t surprised by how Tyson responded.

“Jaylon Tyson holds himself to an incredibly high standard,” Madsen said. “He has been a fantastic leader. I’ve been incredibly impressed with him on and off the court, taking teammates to dinner. Being a glue guy in the locker room. Helping younger players, pushing guys.”

A natural wing, Tyson has essentially played point guard since Devin Askew was declared out for the season with a foot injury in early January.

“It’s been great for me,” Tyson said. “I’ve been learning how to be a leader, make my teammates around me better. Growing up I’ve always been a scorer. I’ve been able to show I can do more.”

The NBA apparently has taken notice. Bleacher Report, in a recent mock draft, projects Tyson going at No. 18.

“Jaylon Tyson keeps pumping out huge scoring outputs with the type of self-creation and three-level shotmaking that’s limited in the projected 2024 draft field,” Jonathan Wasserman wrote. “At 6-7, 215 pounds, he’s too skilled on/with the ball, including as a secondary playmaker, for NBA teams to overthink his offensive effectiveness.”

An NBA scout who has watched Cal play multiple times this season, believes Tyson’s versatility could make him a first-round pick.

“To me, he’s a complete player — he does everything. He plays on both ends of the floor and plays hard,” the scout said last week. “He’s a Swiss Army knife. He’s kind of like their Draymond Green — he defends, he rebounds, he can handle the ball, he can make plays for other people.”

Tyson plans to declare for the draft after the season to get evaluations from NBA scouts and personnel folks. He’ll retain the option of returning to school, but makes no bones about the fact playing in the NBA has been his ambition since he was a youngster.

“Am I in a rush? No,” he said. “It’s (about) what makes sense for me. Where I’ll be (taken in the draft) . . . am I ready to be a NBA player? It’s one of the biggest decisions of my life.”

Dons, Zags clash at Chase

USF (22-7, 11-3 WCC) hosts Gonzaga (22-6, 12-2) on Thursday (8 p.m. on ESPN2), in a game with ramifications for seeding in the West Coast Conference tournament. And the Dons are playing this critical home game off campus at the Warriors’ Chase Center.

Asked about the potential to lose some home-court edge in a larger venue, USF coach Chris Gerlufsen acknowledged, “I initially probably did not like the idea, but sometimes you’ve got to think outside the box and try something to try to elevate your program.”

He said moving the game out of the 5,300-seat War Memorial Gym at the Sobrato Center is about the big picture.

“We’re looking at it to put our league and our program in a different light,” he said. “Hopefully, it can be an event for the city. And we can turn this into a thing that has an opportunity to grow.”

The Zags have participated in the NCAA Tournament for 24 consecutive seasons (excluding 2020, when it was canceled). But in stark contrast to their normal standing this time of year, they are not guaranteed a berth.

The cleanest path would be to win the West Coast Conference tournament and claim the league’s automatic bid.

Otherwise, they must play the resume game and hope the NCAA selection committee deems Gonzaga’s profile good enough for the at-large pool.

At this point, it’s not — at least not compared to Saint Mary’s.

The Zags are 1-5 in Quadrant I games; the Gaels are 4-2.

The Zags have just three combined wins against Quadrant I and II opponents; the Gaels have seven.

Perhaps more alarming for the Zags, 86 percent of their victories are against Quadrant III and IV foes (the lowest quality), compared to just 68 percent for the Gaels.

There is no comparison: Saint Mary’s has a tournament-worthy resume regardless of the result Saturday night in Moraga; Gonzaga does not.

But it’s not a zero-sum game, either.

If the Zags fail to earn the WCC’s automatic berth, they will be compared to a plethora of teams in similar situations — teams on the bubble, teams with flawed resumes, teams that have left their fate in the hands of an unpredictable committee.

For Gonzaga, the showdown Saturday night is, above all, an exercise in risk reduction.

To the latest Best of the West rankings …

Also considered: Colorado, Eastern Washington, Grand Canyon, Nevada, Santa Clara, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UNLV and Utah

1. Arizona (21-6/12-4 Pac-12)

Last week: 1
Results: lost to WSU 77-74, beat Washington 91-75
NET ranking: No. 4
Next up: at Arizona State (Wednesday)
Comment: Arizona should root for WSU to finish second or third in the Pac-12, thus ensuring the Wildcats would avoid their Kryptonite until the finals of the conference tournament.

2. Brigham Young (20-8/8-7 Big 12)

Last week: 2
Results: lost at Kansas State 84-74, won at Kansas 76-68
NET ranking: No. 10
Next up: vs. TCU (Saturday)
Comment: The massive victory in Lawrence ended KU’s 19-game home winning streak and super-charged BYU’s resume. (All the Cougars had to do was rally from a double-digit deficit early in the second half.) Now, they have four days to forget and re-focus.

3. Saint Mary’s (23-6/14-0 WCC)

Last week: 4
Results: beat San Diego 88-62
NET ranking: No. 15
Next up: at Pepperdine (Thursday)
Comment: Colorado State’s late-season stumble (see below) is undermining SMC’s resume given that the early-season victory in Fort Collins stood as one of the Gaels’ best results.

4. Washington State (21-7/12-5 Pac-12)

Last week: 5
Results: won at Arizona 77-74, lost at ASU 73-61
NET ranking: No. 36
Next up: vs. USC (Thursday)
Comment: Plenty to like about WSU’s resume — except the non-conference schedule, of course — but we’re hesitant to declare the Cougars a lock for the NCAAs. If the post-Tucson hangover continues and they get swept by the L.A. schools, it’s back to the bubble.

5. San Diego State (22-7/11-5 MW)

Last week: 6
Results: won at Fresno State 73-41, beat San Jose State 72-64
NET ranking: No. 18
Next up: at UNLV (Tuesday)
Comment: The Aztecs have just one double-digit defeat and are a few timely baskets away from being alone in first place. Regardless, their spot in March Madness is secure.

6. Gonzaga (22-6/12-2 WCC)

Last week: 7
Results: won at Portland 86-65, beat Santa Clara 94-81
NET ranking: No. 21
Next up: at San Francisco (Thursday)
Comment: The Zags can’t get caught looking ahead to Saint Mary’s, or they risk a loss to the Dons, who dropped the first head-to-head matchup by just five points in Spokane.

7. Oregon (18-9/10-6 Pac-12)

Last week: 8
Results: won at Stanford 78-65, lost at Cal 69-64
NET ranking: No. 62
Next up: vs. Oregon State (Wednesday)
Comment: Is this the final rivalry game for Oregon’s Dana Altman or OSU’s Wayne Tinkle? Unknown. The more intriguing question is whether it’s the final rivalry game for both coaches.

8. Boise State (20-8/11-4 MW)

Last week: Not ranked
Results: Won at Wyoming 92-72 and Air Force 79-48
NET ranking: No. 26
Next up: vs. New Mexico (Saturday)
Comment: The Broncos are simply pummeling opponents. Their average margin of victory during the four-game winning streak is 26.8 points. But their finish (New Mexico, Nevada and SDSU) is rugged.

9. Colorado State (20-9/8-8 MW)

Last week: 3
Results: lost at New Mexico 68-66 and UNLV 66-60 and to Nevada 77-74
NET ranking: No. 29
Next up: vs. Wyoming (Saturday)
Comment: The selection committee no longer emphasizes performance in the final 10 games and instead treats November results with the same weight as February outcomes.

10. Utah State (23-5/11-4 MW)

Last week: 10
Results: won at Fresno State 77-73
NET ranking: No. 35
Next up: vs. Air Force (Friday)
Comment: Technically, the Aggies are tied with Boise State atop the Mountain West. In reality, they have a one-game advantage rooted in sweeping the season series. They would win the tiebreaker, if it comes to that.

11. New Mexico (21-7/9-6 MW)

Last week: 9
Results: beat Colorado State 68-66, lost to Air Force 78-77
NET ranking: No. 25
Next up: at Boise State (Saturday)
Comment: There have been a slew of bad losses in the wild Mountain West. But we aren’t sure anything comes close to the Lobos losing at home to Air Force, which is 2-13 in conference play.

12. San Francisco (22-7/11-3 WCC)

Last week: 11
Results: beat Pepperdine 92-68
NET ranking: No. 56
Next up: vs. Gonzaga (Thursday)
Comment: After devoting many words to Gonzaga’s prospects for making the NCAA field as an at-large team, we can offer four on the Dons: They have no chance. On The Hilltop, it’s WCC title or bust.

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Of those five tied teams, only No. 11 Oregon State faces a ranked opponent this week (No. 4 Stanford on Thursday). The Cardinal needs one more win to clinch sole possession of first place, while the Beavers are at risk of dropping out of the top four and playing in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament.

USC and UCLA are on the road in Arizona while Colorado and Utah are home against the Washington schools. Wins by the underdogs in any of those games would have NCAA Tournament ramifications since Arizona, Washington State and Washington are on the bubble (per ESPN).

Stanford, USC, UCLA, Oregon State and Colorado still are in position to host NCAA games for the rounds of 64 and 32, with Utah in range of that coveted position.

This week, competition is scheduled for Thursday and Saturday — earlier than usual in order to facilitate travel to Las Vegas next week for the Pac-12 Tournament.

Here are the Hotline’s ninth power ratings of the 2023-24 season, with seven teams in new positions.

(NET rankings through Monday)

1. Stanford (24-4/13-3)

Last week: 1
Results: lost to Arizona 68-61, beat Arizona State 81-67
Next up: at Oregon State (Thursday)
NET ranking: No. 4
Comment: Even with Cameron Brink out (illness), Stanford led Arizona by nine points at home with 3:59 left and should have closed out the win. Kiki Iriafen had 43 points and 35 rebounds in two games last week and, with Brink back against ASU, reinforced their dominance as a frontcourt duo. “She (Iriafen) is playing monster basketball,” coach Tara VanDerveer said.

2. UCLA (22-5/11-5)

Last week: 5
Results: beat Utah 82-52 and Colorado 53-45
Next up: at ASU (Thursday)
NET ranking: No. 5
Comment: It was much tougher sledding three days later against Colorado, but what the Bruins did to Utah on Feb. 22 shouldn’t be minimized. They jumped to an 18-4 lead and never trailed while holding the Utes 28 points below their season average. Completing the sweep against nationally ranked foes warrants a rise of three positions in the Hotline’s power ratings.

3. USC (21-5/11-5)

Last week: 3
Results: beat Colorado 87-81, lost to Utah 74-68
Next up: at Arizona (Thursday)
NET ranking: No. 11
Comment: USC and Colorado shot so magnificently in the first half Friday, including 83 percent from 3-point range for both teams, that there were only 15 combined rebounds to be had. The significant difference against Utah was McKenzie Forbes and Kayla Padilla dipping from a combined 36 points (9-of-11 from long range) against the Buffaloes to 13 (on 5-of-17 shooting). The Trojans are 7-1 in February.

4. Oregon State (22-5/11-5)

Last week: 2
Results: won at WSU 65-52, lost at Washington 61-51
Next up: vs. Stanford (Thursday)
NET ranking: No. 18
Comment: It’s not surprising that the Beavers would suffer another loss — their second in three games — without Raegan Beers (17.5 points per game). But they deserve credit for winning at Washington State, which was in dire need of victories to make the NCAA Tournament field, even though Lily Hansford was the high scorer with just 11 points. Until Beers (broken nose) returns, defense is paramount.

5. Utah (20-8/10-6)

Last week: 6
Results: lost at UCLA 82-52, won at USC 74-68
Next up: vs. Washington State (Thursday)
NET ranking: No. 7
Comment: The Utes easily could have lost twice last week after the one-sided defeat at UCLA, which included Jenna Johnson suffering a cut on her head in the first quarter that required stitches. Johnson returned late in the third quarter with Utah trailing by 24 points, then played 36 minutes in a bounce-back win at USC when she was hit again and needed more stitches.

6. Colorado (20-7/10-6)

Last week: 4
Results: lost at USC 87-81 and UCLA 53-45
Next up: vs. Washington (Thursday)
NET ranking: No. 16
Comment: After winning four straight against unranked teams, the Buffs are now on a four-game losing streak (by a combined 21 points) against ranked opponents. That puts their chances of hosting an NCAA Tournament sub-regional in jeopardy — a vastly different situation than being projected as a No. 1 seed in the selection committee’s early reveal two weeks ago.

7. Arizona (16-12/8-8)

Last week: 7
Results: won at Stanford 68-61 and Cal 87-68
Next up: vs. USC (Thursday)
NET ranking: No. 33
Comment: Adia Barnes said her team has improved through “addition by subtraction” this season, including the recent departure of leading scorer Kailyn Gilbert. Certainly, the short-handed Wildcats don’t have to apologize for beating Stanford without Brink. With a four-game winning streak and a more-than-respectable NET ranking, they are solidly on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

8. Washington (15-12/5-11)

Last week: 11
Results: beat Oregon 74-66 and Oregon State 61-51
Next up: at Colorado (Thursday)
NET ranking: No. 49
Comment: Like UCLA, Washington jumped three spots in the Hotline’s power ratings because of a home sweep and, in particular, taking down Oregon State. Elle Ladine went from a scoreless game against Oregon to 23 points against OSU. The Huskies also have a win over USC and beat Washington State when the Cougars were ranked.

9. Washington State (17-12/6-10)

Last week: 9
Results: lost to Oregon State 65-52, beat Oregon 71-61
Next up: at Utah (Thursday)
NET ranking: No. 25
Comment: The Cougars are running out of time to secure a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. They have talent, even without injured star Charlisse Leger-Walker, but are missing the cohesiveness she provides. WSU hasn’t put a winning streak together since January and is 3-7 in the past four weeks.

10. Cal (16-12/6-10)

Last week: 8
Results: beat ASU 67-55, lost to Arizona 87-68
Next up: at Oregon (Thursday)
NET ranking: No. 63
Comment: After securing a season split against ASU, the Bears were outscored 32-11 in the second quarter against Arizona and trailed by 24 at halftime. Ioanna Krimili’s scoring has dropped off in the last three games (11 combined points), but Australian freshman Lulu Twidale had a season-high 24 against Arizona. The Bears are currently lined up to meet Washington State in the Pac-12 tournament’s opening round.

11. Arizona State (11-17/3-13)

Last week: 10
Results: lost at Cal 67-55 and Stanford 81-67
Next up: vs. UCLA (Thursday)
NET ranking: No. 112
Comment: ASU’s three Pac-12 wins are over unranked opponents (Washington twice and Cal), so the Sun Devils are still seeking a signature victory under second-year coach Natasha Adair. They’ll get two chances this week, then another in the Pac-12 tournament as the likely No. 11 or 12 seed. Jalyn Brown had a pair of 18-point games in the Bay Area.

12. Oregon (11-18/2-14)

Last week: 12
Results: lost at Washington 74-66 and WSU 71-61
Next up: vs. Cal (Thursday)
NET ranking: No. 93
Comment: Will the Ducks avoid a school-record 12th consecutive loss? That’s on the line against Cal, which won 66-57 when the teams played in Berkeley on Jan. 21. Phillipina Kyei combined for 33 points and 36 rebounds last week and leads the Pac-12 with 19 double-doubles. But Chance Gray shot 2-of-17 against Washington State as guard play remains an ongoing issue for the Ducks.

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Schulz made his case along with OSU’s president Jayathi Murthy — a joint proposal that received the CFP board’s full attention.

“There wasn’t a great deal of support,” Schulz told the Hotline. “One of the reasons given was the (future revenue model) hasn’t been determined yet. It’s hard to discuss distributions beyond the next couple years. But we appreciated the opportunity to make the pitch.”

A member of the CFP board himself, Schulz did not seem frustrated by the tepid response from his peers. Nobody expected a two-team conference to be given the same status as the four massive leagues that will sprout next fall.

But when the topic turned to the CFP’s broader direction, Schulz seemed ready to sound an alarm.

If you think the NCAA is screwed up with all the legal mayhem and transfer portal madness, well, the playoff isn’t far behind. Schulz agreed with the description often used in the media — that the jewel of college football is “a mess.”

He offered two examples of the roiling waters:

*** Internal communication

The CFP has a tiered governance structure: The 10 Football Bowl Subdivision commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director form the management committee; one president/chancellor from each conference and Notre Dame’s president form the board of managers.

The committee creates policy, but the board must approve all major proposals and changes.

“The commissioners meet to discuss the playoff on a regular basis,” Schulz said. “Every couple months, they ask the presidents to approve something.

“We are getting too much information second- and third-hand. If the SEC and Big Ten are considering things, it’s appropriate they communicate to us.

“That communication is not going on.”

Schulz is pushing for the presidents to meet more frequently — and to be kept informed of policy discussions unfolding at the commissioner level.

During a CFP board meeting last week, in fact, a president from one of the Group of Five conferences reminded the board that playoff expansion (from four to 12 teams) had previously stalled as the commissioners squabbled.

It wasn’t until the presidents swooped in and resolved the outstanding issues — Mississippi State’s Mark Keenum led the process — that the 12-team format was formally approved in the fall of 2022.

“The reason we got to where we are is the presidents took the lead,” Schulz recalled the Group of Five president telling his peers on the board.

*** Resource disparity

The 12-team, four-round playoff format approved 18 months ago will be the law of the land in college football for the 2024 and 2025 seasons:

— Five automatic bids (for conference champions) and seven at-large berths.

— Opening-round byes for the four highest-ranked conference champions.

— Home games in the opening round for the No. 5-8 seeds.

— Quarterfinals and semifinals hosted by the New Year’s Six bowls (on a rotating basis).

But starting with the 2026 season, there is no playoff. No format. No governance structure. No revenue distribution plan. No media contract.

The expanded Big Ten and SEC, which will claim 12 of the 15 biggest brands in the sport next season — all the heavyweights except Notre Dame, Clemson and Florida State — are pushing for an outsized role in the next iteration of the playoff.

They want more money, more automatic bids and more votes in the boardroom. And the other conferences are powerless to stop them.

“The leagues have become tiered,” Schulz said, “and two of them” — the SEC and Big Ten — “are more resourced than everybody else. And some of the highly-resourced schools have a different format in mind, which would give them more automatic qualifiers.”

Schulz described the next month or two as a critical period for solving the CFP riddle for 2026 and beyond.

After existing for a decade as a four-team invitational, the CFP could maintain the 12-team format for just two seasons before expanding again. There is support within the management committee for 14 teams once the next cycle begins in 2026.

But any change in size would pale in significance compared to a change in access. If the Big Ten and SEC each secure three or four automatic bids, their influence over the sport, already massive, would grow exponentially.

Meanwhile, the ‘Pac-2’ schools are trying to remain as relevant, and flexible, as possible.

“Several presidents are committed to Washington State and Oregon State being an integrated part of the (CFP) conversations going forward,” Schulz said. “But what does that really mean? The situation could change.

“There is a profound sense of regret about the situation we’re in. A lot of presidents have told me, ‘That could have been us’ or ‘That could be us.’

“Realignment isn’t done.”

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Even Stanford, the highest-ranked team of the group, went 1-1 against the unranked Arizona schools. But the Cardinal still emerged from the penultimate week of the regular season with at least a share of its 27th conference title.

Stanford is two games up on USC, Oregon State and UCLA and needs one more victory for its 22nd outright championship in the Pac-12’s final season as currently configured.

Games this week are Thursday and Saturday, with Stanford visiting the Oregon schools.

The last time the Cardinal failed to win a regular season or Pac-12 tournament title was in 2019-20, when Oregon won both. Stanford tied Utah for the 2023 regular-season title and lost to UCLA in the tournament semifinals.

UCLA and Arizona were the teams of the week. The Bruins outlasted Colorado 53-45 on Monday on national television to complete a sweep of nationally ranked opponents.

After losing at home to Arizona for the first time since 2001, Stanford needed a win over Arizona State on Sunday — and a little help — to clinch a title. Both happened. All-American forward Cameron Brink returned from an illness that sidelined her against the Wildcats to participate in the Cardinal’s 81-67 victory. Meanwhile, both USC and Oregon State lost, the latter to unranked Washington.

“I want to enjoy this ride,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “I’m not even going to think about anything else. We’re going to enjoy these (championship) shirts. I might sleep in it tonight. We know we’re going to the NCAA Tournament. We want to be healthy and enjoy playing with each other. That’s the priority.”

Brink estimates she was 60 percent recovered from the flu against ASU — healthy enough to contribute 14 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and five blocks to Kiki Iriafen’s 22-point, 20-rebound gem.

UCLA sweeps ranked teams in diverse ways

UCLA’s wins were as stylistically opposite as possible.

The Bruins shot 50 percent or above in three of four quarters against Utah, winning 82-52 to avenge an earlier loss. Londynn Jones went 7-for-10 from 3-point range and, with 23 points, was among four double-digit scorers.

“I thought this was our best defensive execution of a game plan all year long,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “We had some moments in the first and second quarter where we lost track of what we were doing, but our next-play speed, our response to that mistake was maybe the best it’s been.”

Center Lauren Betts added: “If we play the way we did today, no one is going to be able to stop us.”

The defense was solid again against Colorado, which missed its first nine shots and was 6-of-21 from the field at halftime. But Betts couldn’t get going offensively, failing to score until the 8:49 mark of the fourth quarter and finishing with two points.

Guards Kiki Rice and Charisma Osborne combined for 34 points to get the Bruins past Colorado and into a second-place tie. Osborne’s 3-pointer with 1:28 left ended an 0-of-11 shooting stretch for the Bruins.

Colorado lost for the fourth consecutive time (all to ranked opponents) and has been outscored 79-48 in the first quarter of those defeats.

As it stands now, Colorado and Utah would be playing in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament on March 6 against Oregon and ASU, respectively.

Watkins vs. Hidalgo

There isn’t a wrong choice for national Freshman of the Year between USC’s JuJu Watkins and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo.

They are second (Watkins) and third (Hidalgo) in the nation in scoring behind Iowa All-America Caitlin Clark. The 6-foot-2 Watkins has an edge in rebounding and blocks while the 5-6 Hidalgo has more assists and steals. Their shooting percentages are similar.

Watkins has scored at least 30 points in 12 games, with a high of 51. Hidalgo has eight games of at least 20 points with a high of 35, plus one triple-double. She and Iowa’s Clark are the only players from the power conferences who average 20 points, five rebounds and five assists.

The voting could come down to media exposure. Notre Dame has 10 nationally televised regular-season games compared to USC’s one. The Pac-12 Networks also have well-documented distribution issues.

So plenty of people across the country have yet to see Watkins, who three times has swept the Pac-12 Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week awards. She has won the latter award 13 times, a record that begs the additional question: Who else deserves to be on the Pac-12’s All-Freshman team?

Three players seem certain even given their difficulty getting noticed in Watkins’ lengthy shadow: Oregon State’s Donovyn Hunter, Washington State’s Eleonora Villa and Arizona’s Jada Williams.

Williams scored 14 of her 23 points against Stanford in the fourth quarter Friday as the Wildcats closed with a 19-3 run for a stunning 68-61 victory. She followed up with 18 points against Cal, earning her first Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award.

Watkins had 42 points (on efficient 10-of-19 shooting) in a win over Colorado and 30 in a loss to Utah. She was a combined 27-of-30 on free throws and even overcame 10 turnovers against Colorado.

Arizona sweeps (teams and awards)

Because USC’s seven-game win streak ended Sunday against Utah, the Wildcats enter this week with the longest winning streak in the conference at four games.

At the opposite end, Oregon has lost 11 in a row, tying a school record set in 1992-93.

Arizona won twice despite again being without leading scorer Kailyn Gilbert and having just seven players (before adding a walk-on to the roster on Sunday). Breya Cunningham fouled out with 2:58 left against Stanford, and the Wildcats still went on to complete the highest-ranked road win in school history.

“We believed we could walk in their house and win,” Williams said on the Pac-12 Networks.

“We’re playing like sisters. This wasn’t about me, it was about winning for my team and all the adversity we’ve been through this season. A lot of people thought we were going to bow down because we have seven people.”

Arizona coach Adia Barnes told a Tucson radio station that Gilbert “won’t be with the team for the rest of the year.” A sophomore, Gilbert could be transferring as she considered doing after last season.

Arizona is in seventh place in the Pac-12 – two games ahead of Washington State and Cal – and up to No. 33 in the NET ranking. That means an NCAA Tournament berth remains available entering home games against USC and UCLA.

The Wildcats’ Esmery Martinez won her first Pac-12 Player of the Week award for 17- and 20-point games against the Bay Area teams. She and Williams combined to give the Wildcats a sweep of the weekly awards.

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