At the end of last season, the Pac-10 was ranked eighth in conference RPI standings, behind the Mountain West and the Atlantic 10.
↵So with the release of the Men's College Basketball Preseason AP Top 25 Poll today, we have final confirmation on something that might have been obvious: the Pac-10 is not highly thought of this year, as described by Eric Stephen of SBN Los Angeles.
↵↵↵College Basketball Rankings: Only One Pac-10 Team In Preseason AP Top 25
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The Washington Huskies, who advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament last season as a No. 11 seed, are ranked No. 18 in the AP poll, the only Pac-10 team in the top 25. Washington was the only Pac-10 team in the Sweet 16 last season. The Arizona Wildcats (No. 37) and UCLA Bruins (No. 41) are the only other conference teams in the "others receiving votes" section, meaning the Pac-10 only has three teams in the AP top 50. Ouch.
The ESPN/USA Today Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll was slightly kinder to the Pac-10 with reigning regular season conference champion California receiving votes (5) in addition to Arizona (2) and UCLA (12).
↵Of course games have yet to be played, but as of right now, the Pac-10 gets the college basketball Rodney Dangerfield "No Respect" award.