CBGB: The Pac-12 Is Pretty Good; Duke and Virginia Could Be Better; West Virginia Might Be Great

Welcome to the VICE Sports College Basketball Grab Bag, where every week we'll round up the biggest news stories in the sport. Random stuff, too, because it's college basketball. Enjoy!

If you're looking for parity, this year's Pac-12 is for you.

The conference hasn't made national news much this season because it doesn't boast a single great team or transcendent player. In fact, the Pac-12 has only one school ranked in the AP Poll—and that squad, Arizona, is No. 18 and devoid of the first-round NBA Draft picks that have dotted its roster in recent years.

However, the conference could have more NCAA Tournament teams than anyone else. Right now, ESPN projects eight Pac-12 teams—or two-thirds of the conference—to play in March. Two more teams are among the first eight out.

Those teams are seeded as follows: Arizona (4), Oregon (6), USC (6), Utah (7), Cal (7), Colorado (10), UCLA (11), Washington (13), Oregon State (first team out), Arizona State (seventh team out).

There aren't any "elite" teams at the top of the Pac-12, and there probably isn't a serious national championship contender in the bunch. The conference's best team, Arizona, has struggled in January, dropping consecutive close road games to UCLA and USC while losing high-scoring freshman Allonzo Trier to a broken shooting hand. UCLA has losses to Washington and Washington State. USC beat UCLA, but has a loss to Washington. So the Huskies should be great, right? They're 3-0, but KenPom.com ranks them No. 98 in the country. That's because Washington really isn't that good, with losses to Oakland and UC Santa Barbara.

The list goes on: Oregon State boasts impressive wins against Oregon and Cal, and the Pac-12's best player in Gary Payton II, but the Beavers lost to Stanford, which lost Oregon and Colorado. Utah beat Duke earlier this year, but the Utes are 1-2 in conference play, with losses to Stanford and Cal.

In the Pac-12, everyone is good and everyone is bad. That won't get the league a lot of national attention, but it sure is a lot of fun—if you aren't listening to Bill Walton call conference games, you aren't really living. It just might be something to remember when filling out your NCAA Tournament brackets, given that over the past three seasons, the Pac-12 has sent eight teams to the Sweet 16 and posted a combined 21-15 record.

Duke and Virginia came into the season as national title contenders. While it's too soon to write either school off, it's safe to say that both have been disappointing so far—and especially in the new year.

The Cavaliers have two of the best players in the ACC in Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill. They overcame an early loss to beat two KenPom top five teams, West Virginia and Villanova, but have since lost two of three conference games, against Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.

Like Virginia, Duke has talent, even if the Grayson Allen–led Blue Devils aren't as good as last year's national-title-winning squad. In fact, it's Duke's ongoing recruiting success that makes their "meh" performance this season so perplexing: the Blue Devils own a win over Indiana, which is nice, but they also have losses to Kentucky, Utah, and—bleah—Clemson. If Duke is to be considered a serious threat to repeat this March, it needs to start banking better wins, and stop losing to teams like, well, Clemson.

Right now, North Carolina is the clear front-runner in the ACC. Virginia and Duke can still catch up, but they need to start making their moves.

Heading into the season, everyone expected that Kansas, Iowa State, and Oklahoma would battle it out for the Big 12 title. With Iowa State faltering, it still looks like a three-team race—only now West Virginia has crashed the party.

The Mountaineers were largely ignored early in the season, thanks to a very easy non-conference schedule. Big mistake. West Virginia has just one loss, to Virginia, and is the only undefeated team in a very tough conference, with a list of wins that includes Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and No. 1 Kansas, whom the Mountaineers beat at home Tuesday.

West Virginia isn't just good; the program is arguably good for college basketball. In a particularly slow era, the Mountaineers play an exciting, up-tempo, pressing style, ranking No. 53 nationally in pace and No. 2 overall in defensive efficiency. That's due mostly to their press, which helps West Virginia lead the country in turnover percentage and steal percentage on defense.

While the Mountaineers may not be the Big 12 favorites just yet, KenPom suggests they're for real, ranking them No. 5 in the nation, just behind No. 2 Kansas and No. 3 Oklahoma.

This weekend, West Virginia faces the latter on the road. A loss won't doom the Mountaineers' season, but a win would make the rest of the country pay closer attention to what they've accomplished so far.

Early in the season, Indiana looked like it was in deep trouble, with losses to lowly Wake Forest and UNLV in the Maui Invitational. However, the Hoosiers have been on a tear recently, beating Wisconsin at home and then crushing Ohio State by 25 points. Will Indiana have a say in the Big Ten race? The Hoosiers have the talent; consistency remains the question.

Iowa State was a trendy pick to beat out Kansas for the Big 12 crown, with a loaded roster that includes All-American candidate Georges Niang. The Cyclones own a nice 20-point comeback win over Iowa, but they've struggled in conference play, losing at Oklahoma (fine), at home against Baylor, and at Texas. Those aren't awful losses, but ISU already is in a huge hole to finish first in the Big 12.

Let's power rank the Pac-12, the Lake Wobegon of major college basketball:

1. USC: Remember Florida Gulf Coast and "Dunk City"? Coach Andy Enfield may be working the same mojo at the conference's flagship football school.

2. Arizona: Sean Miller's squad is always a tough out, but injuries and uncharacteristically mediocre defense have made the Wildcats vulnerable.

3. Utah: Big man Jakob Poeltl is a likely NBA Draft Lottery pick, and probably the best college center you've never seen play.

4. Oregon State: Payton II—yep, he's the son of the longtime NBA All-Star and shit-talking legend—can't do it all by himself. But he can come pretty close!

5. Oregon: Chris Boucher's 52 blocked shots rank No. 2 in the country.

6. Colorado: Always underrated but never really fearsome.

7. UCLA: On high school recruiting rankings alone, the Bruins should be much higher, but then they wouldn't be the Bruins.

8. Cal: Between freshmen Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb, the Bears arguably have the best NBA future of any team in the Pac-12.

9. Stanford: The school is swimming in too much tech money to care about where its basketball team ranks.

10. Washington: Reportedly rallying around the hashtag #YOUmeWE, because "the me is very small so we're never focusing on the individual" and "WE is big because we're in this together as a group" and—hey, you know what, this is the perfect landing spot for RGIII.

11. Arizona State: Bobby Hurley is more entertaining as a coach than as a player.

12. Washington State: We're pretty sure Klay Thompson went to school here, but too lazy to Google.

As always: you're welcome, America.