Pac-12 Team Efficiency
Tomorrow, the site’s Pac-12 power rankings will be released, but before that, it is time to take a look at the most efficient teams in the Pac-12 on offense and defense using Dean Oliver’s ORtg and DRtg. These statistics calculate how many points a team scores and gives up every one hundred possessions, and this number will be divided by one hundred to give a points per possession total. The statistics used in this post are provided by Sports Reference, and PPP is regarded as the best way to look at a team’s efficiency (other than KenPom’s complex rankings). The efficiency statistics that will be used are a little more complex than normal, because they are adjusted for strength of schedule. At the end of the post, a total net rating ranking will be given for the teams in the Pac-12, as well as a few long paragraphs highlighting some noteworthy observations from these lists.
Offense
1. UCLA 1.097
2. California 1.096
3. Oregon State 1.08
4. Washington 1.07
5. Washington State 1.06
6. Arizona 1.054
7. Colorado 1.048
8. Oregon 1.04
9. Stanford 1.03
10. Arizona State .98
11. USC .912
12. Utah .91
Defense
1. Stanford .86
2. California .86
3. Arizona .87
4. USC .90
5. Washington .92
6. Colorado .921
7. Oregon .945
8. UCLA .949
9. Oregon State .95
10. Washington State .99
11. Arizona State 1.00
12. Utah 1.08
Overall
1. California
2. Arizona
3. Stanford
4. UCLA
5. Washington
6. Oregon State
7. Colorado
8. Oregon
9. Washington State
10. USC
11. Arizona State
12. Utah
The first thing that can be gathered from these efficiency rankings from Sports Reference is that Utah is the consensus worst team in the Pac-12, and there is no way that USC is worse. Arizona State isn’t that much better than USC either, because the Trojans can actually defend. What saves the Sun Devils is that USC can’t score, which is why USC is consistently ranked lower than ASU in most power rankings. The Sun Devils and the Utes are the only two teams who have a negative efficiency rating, and Utah would lose by 17 points in a 100 possession game against an average opponent.
An unfortunate tidbit of information that can be gathered from these statistics is that the Oregon Ducks are not for real and have a lot of luck. That’s not to say that the Ducks are bad, but they aren’t in the upper-half of the conference in efficiency and are due for a fall from grace. In fact, they already lost to the two teams ranked directly above them; Oregon State and Colorado.
Speaking of the Ducks most hated rivals, OSU will not be able to challenge the upper class of the conference due to their defense. UCLA is another team that needs to start buckling down on defense, but that’s not likely to happen for either team. Both the Beavers and Bruins are top units on offense, with the Bruins being especially impressive on the offensive side of the ball, but these teams give up points in bunches. It’s the basis for UCLA’s struggles this season, along with poor morale.
California’s placement at the top is no shock, and they are the best team in the conference. Some analysts have tried to water down their accomplishments this season by putting them in a “tie” with Stanford and Washington, but California is clearly better than both teams. The Golden Bears are equally proficient on offense and defense and have an abundance of talent.
For some reason, the Arizona Wildcats are constantly put in the nether regions of everybody’s power rankings, even though they aren’t that bad. In fact, the Wildcats are one of the best teams in the conference. They are 16-8 overall, 7-4 in conference play, and they are the second most efficient team in the conference. Their SRS (Simple Rating System, another Sports Reference metric) is the second best in the conference as well. The Wildcats are certainly one of the best five teams in the conference and have been victims of a tough early schedule and some awful play at the start of the year. This team is playing worse than their talent level and is in the midst of a disappointing season. However, they are still a talented, efficient team and deserve better than eighth place.
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