The Pacific 12 is finding that there is not necessarily greater strength in numbers. Although it's still early, the addition of two teams could still leave the conference in a struggle to get more than one into the NCAA Tournament.
If nothing else, the Pac-12 rates as a major disappointment after Arizona started the season ranked No. 16, UCLA No. 17 and California No. 24. This is the eighth consecutive week the league has not had a team in either of the polls. In fact, there was not a single vote to be had.
In his most recent projection of the NCAA Tournament bracket, ESPN's Joe Lunardi has two Pac-12 teams in the field: California as a No. 9 seed and Stanford as a No. 12. That's fewer than he projects from Conference USA and the same as the Missouri Valley Conference. And three computer rankings are consistent in their analysis that only Cal is among the top 50 teams in the country.
"It could be a one-bid league,'' said Jerry Palm, who predicts the tournament field for Cbssports.com. "It probably won't be, but I can't rule it out. It's that weak. The problem is they have to take 68 teams."
At this point the conference race is wide open with four teams tied with two losses while UCLA and Arizona have slipped beneath that group. The Bruins have been the biggest flop. They started poorly and dismissed Reeves Nelson from the team. Now they are 10-9 and 3-4 in the league, opening the door for such teams as Colorado and Oregon to move toward the top.
Not so Fab
After suffering its first loss with starting center Fab Melo sitting at home, Syracuse dropped to No. 3 in the rankings this week. A couple of voters gave his absence considerable weight and continued to give the Orange first-place votes.
Syracuse did not offer an explanation for why Melo missed the game at Notre Dame on Saturday and Monday's contest, a victory at Cincinnati. It has been reported that he missed the games for academic reasons. The Orange still are waiting to find out if and when he will return.
Seeking clarification
Illinois coach Bruce Weber said he has contacted the Big Ten Conference office in search of an explanation for a flagrant foul called against Joseph Bertrand last week at Penn State. The call came after officials reviewed the play twice and resulted in a five-point possession for the Nittany Lions, who won by two.
Bertrand was battling a Penn State player for the ball when one arm came free of the ball and made contact with the player.
"You're trying to eliminate head injuries,'' Weber said. "But you can't have it where officials feel they're being held accountable on everything and have to make the call."
Tar Heels lose guard
North Carolina was dealt a severe blow when starting guard Dexter Strickland was lost for the season because of a torn ACL. He was injured in last week's game against Virginia Tech.
Strickland does a lot of things for the Tar Heels. He averages 7.5 points and leads the team in shooting at 57 percent. He also leads the Tar Heels with 25 steals and is second in assists with 39.
Rising and falling
STOCK RISING: Florida State (13-6) defeated North Carolina and Duke in the span of eight days; Kansas (16-3) extended its winning streak to nine and was the first team to beat Baylor; Long Beach State (12-6), which played a brutal nonconference schedule, has started the Big West with seven wins.
STOCK FALLING: Northwestern (12-6) followed an upset of Michigan State by losing to Wisconsin and Minnesota by a combined 43 points; Alabama (13-6) has lost its last three, albeit to strong teams; Connecticut (14-5) has four losses in six games as the Big East schedule takes a toll.
