The Best of the West offers fans a candid assessment of the top teams in the western third of the country — a collection that includes the Mountain West and the former Pac-12 schools now scattered across the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and West Coast Conference.
Before the Hotline fully focuses on the postseason — on the conference tournaments and NCAAs — there’s a lingering issue from intra-league play worth noting: The impact of cross-country travel on the six West Coast teams competing in the ACC and Big Ten.
They combined for 12 wins, 34 losses and enough frequent flyer miles to travel first class to an alternate universe where, mercifully, regionalized conferences still exist.
That said, the punishment on the other side of the Rockies was not distributed equally.
Cal and Stanford played more games in the Eastern and Central time zones than did the quartet of schools in the Big Ten and went 2-16. Cal’s lone victory was at NC State while Stanford’s breakthrough was the same day, Jan. 18, at North Carolina.
In the Big Ten, USC, UCLA and Washington were each 2-5 in conference games on the other side of the country (including Nebraska). Oregon was the outlier with a 4-3 mark. The combined record of the four teams when crossing multiple time zones was 10-18.
That said, we did not account for the betting lines, which offer a chance to compare expected results to actual results. In many of the 46 road games, the West Coast teams were underdogs.
Nor did we examine the impact of travel on the six teams in their subsequent home game. In some cases, they returned from a long trip only to face a conference opponent that had been on the West Coast for several days.
This is merely a cursory look and should not be mistaken for a data-driven study. (We’ll save that for April or May.)
The full toll exacted by the travel won’t be known until the teams compete in their conference tournaments — the Big Ten event is in Indianapolis; the ACC’s version is set for Charlotte — and, of course, in the NCAAs.
But we feel fairly confident that the results from Year 1 of realignment did nothing to refute the presumption that cross-country travel would be daunting for the West Coast teams in their new conferences.
To the Best of the West …
1. Brigham Young (23-8/14-6 Big 12)
Last week: 3Results: won at Iowa State 88-85 (2OT), beat Utah 85-74NET ranking: 26Next up: Big 12 quarterfinals (Thursday)Comment: The Cougars will face Cincinnati, Oklahoma State or Iowa State in the quarterfinals, with the Cyclones as the most likely opponent. We don’t ask for much from the basketball gods, but we’re asking — no, we’re begging for a rematch.
2. Arizona (20-11/14-6 Big 12)
Last week: 1Results: beat Arizona State 113-100, lost at Kansas 83-76NET ranking: 13Next up: Big 12 quarterfinals (Thursday)Comment: The Wildcats will face UCF, Utah or Kansas. One of those teams is not like the others in any way, shape or form, including crowd support. T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City is 40 miles from Allen Fieldhouse.
3. Saint Mary’s (27-4/17-1 West Coast Conference)
Last week: 2Results: Did not playNET ranking: 19Next up: vs. Pepperdine in WCC semifinals (Monday)Comment: The Gaels swept the season series with Pepperdine by a meager 54 points.
4. New Mexico (25-6/17-3 Mountain West)
Last week: 4Results: won at Nevada 71-67, beat UNLV 81-67NET ranking: 41Next up: Mountain West quarterfinals (Thursday)Comment: The Lobos will face either San Jose State or Wyoming this week in Las Vegas, and it could be interesting either way: They were 1-1 against the Spartans and 2-0 against the Cowboys, and every game was close.
5. Oregon (23-8/12-8 Big Ten)
Last week: 5Results: beat Indiana 73-64, won at Washington 80-73NET ranking: 29Next up: vs. Indiana in the Big Ten second round (Thursday)Comment: The Ducks are the No. 8 seed in Indianapolis and would play No. 1 Michigan State if they advance. But because of their stellar showing in non-conference games, they could very well receive a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament.
6. UCLA (22-9/13-7 Big Ten)
Last week: 8Results: won at Northwestern 73-69, beat USC 90-63NET ranking: 24Next up: Big Ten quarterfinals (Friday)Comment: The Bruins are slotted to face Northwestern, Minnesota or Wisconsin in the quarterfinals and potentially Michigan State or Oregon in the semifinals. If they lose early, and especially if they play poorly while losing early, will coach Mick Cronin play the travel card?
7. Gonzaga (23-8/14-4 West Coast Conference)
Last week: 7Results: Did not playNET ranking: 8Next up: vs. San Francisco in the WCC semifinals (Monday)Comment: The last time they took the court, on March 1, the Zags obliterated USF at Chase Center.
8. Colorado State (22-9/16-4 Mountain West)
Last week: 11Results: beat San Jose State 83-65, won at Boise State 83-73NET ranking: 54Next up: Mountain West quarterfinals (Thursday)Comment: Not sure how many 20-win seasons Niko Medved needs to produce in Fort Collins before a power conference school hires him away. But the Rams should be grateful for the continued oversight.
9. Boise State (22-9/14-6 Mountain West)
Last week: 6Results: won at Air Force 80-57, lost to Colorado State 83-73NET ranking: 45Next up: vs. San Diego State in Mountain West quarterfinals (Thursday)Comment: The 2:30 p.m. tipoff at Thomas & Mack won’t feel like a quarterfinal matchup: Neither team has locked up an NCAA bid and must assume the loser is in bubble trouble.
10. Utah State (25-6/15-5 Mountain West)
Last week: 9Results: beat Air Force 87-47NET ranking: 37Next up: Mountain West quarterfinals (Thursday)Comment: It will be either UNLV or Air Force for the Aggies. They split the season series with the Rebels and swept the Falcons by 69 points. No need to guess the nature of their rooting interests.
11. UC San Diego (28-4/18-2 Big West)
Last week: 12Results: beat Long Beach State 70-63, won at UC Davis 68-57NET ranking: 35Next up: Big West semifinals (Friday)Comment: The Tritons have done everything possible to position themselves for an at-large berth to the NCAAs in the event they don’t win the Big West tournament. And if they sneak in, what a story that would be.
12. San Diego State (21-8/14-6 Mountain West)
Last week: 10Results: lost at UNLV 74-67, beat Nevada 80-61NET ranking: 51Next up: vs. Boise State in Mountain West quarterfinals (Thursday)Comment: We would never have guessed the Aztecs would land squarely on the NCAA bubble after they beat Creighton and Houston — yes, that Houston — back in November. Then again, without those wins, they would be nowhere near the bubble.
13. San Francisco (24-8/13-5 West Coast Conference)
Last week: 13Results: beat Washington State 86-75NET ranking: 64Next up: vs. Gonzaga on Monday (WCC semifinals)Comment: The Dons have produced eight consecutive 20-win seasons (excluding 2020-21, because of COVID), but few realize it because Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s cast such massive shadows over the entire WCC.
14. UC Irvine (27-5/17-3 Big West)
Last week: Not rankedResults: won at UC Davis 88-59 and UC Santa Barbara 97-88NET ranking: 62Next up: Big West semifinals (Friday)Comment: Four of the Anteaters’ five losses have come to teams that finished the season with at least 20 wins. The exception: a lopsided defeat at Duquesne in December.
15. Stanford (19-12/11-9 ACC)
Last week: 15Results: lost at Notre Dame 56-54 and Louisville 68-48NET ranking: 83Next up: ACC second round (Wednesday)Comment: The Cardinal will face either Cal or Virginia Tech on Wednesday for the right to lose to Louisville (again) in the quarterfinals. Not that the Hotline has drawn any premature conclusions.
Also considered: Cal State Northridge, Grand Canyon, Northern Colorado, Stanford and Utah Valley
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