Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Summer Power Rankings | Sports

With every Pac-12 men’s basketball team having filled out its respective rosters to the point where no coach has more than one or two spots to fill, it’s an almost perfect time to make a first attempt at a power ranking for the upcoming 2026-27 season.

And that’s exactly what we did on the Full Court Press on 106.9 FM, 1390 AM, The FAN. We’ll have maybe another check-in as the season gets closer, but there probably won’t be any major changes barring significant developments (like injuries or final roster additions).

You can find a link to the whole show below, which is where we revealed our rankings and the detailed explanations behind each pick. For this written version, we’ll just go through each team in alphabetical order and show where we ranked them with a summary of our reasoning. At the bottom of the article, you’ll find the table that concisely summarizes our respective rankings in a more visually-friendly manner.

For the reader’s information, the rankings included with these capsules for each team in returning production and transfer class will be relative to the rest of the conference (we were going to include high school recruiting rankings, but no outlet has even close to accurate recruiting classes, let alone ratings, for the whole Pac-12). The returning production ranks are a calculation based on returning minutes, points, rebounds, assists, 3-pointers and win shares from the 2025-26 season. The transfer rank is based on Evan Miyakawa’s ranking on EvanMiya.com.

Boise State

• Returning Production Rank: 5th
• Transfer Class Ranking: 3rd

Jason’s Rank: 6th

There are two major concerns with Boise State. Firstly, the man who might have been the best player on the team, Ty Rodgers, could be out for a significant amount of time after an unspecified injury. Then, there are the major concerns about their offense, with potentially underwhelming guard play and a frontcourt that could be intriguing, but isn’t a certainty. They also may end up being the worst 3-point shooting team in the conference (and maybe among the worst in the nation). Leon Rice pretty much never has bad teams, so I won’t count them out, but there’s very little that excites me with this team.

Eric’s Rank: 6th

An advantage for the Broncos is that they have Leon Rice back. His teams are always good, never bad (but not very often elite). Boise State has a decent amount of returning players, but few of them were really impact players. I have too many questions about where their offense will come from this season. Will Pearson “Peanut” Carmichael make a big jump? Can their other returning players transition from solid bench players to impact starters?

Colorado State

• Returning Production Rank: 1st
• Transfer Class Ranking: 7th

Jason’s Rank: 4th

The Rams started red-hot last year and were only slowed by midseason injuries. A supermajority of that roster returns, now more experienced. That goes for the coach too, as Ali Farokhmanesh enters his second season as a head coach. Colorado State will probably have the best offense in the conference and will be among the best in the nation at 3-point shooting. The only concern left is defense. The Rams were inconsistent at best on that side of the ball. If they fix that, they’ll have the ability to battle for the conference title in March.

Eric’s Rank: 5th

I love how many players chose to stay at Colorado State with Ali Farokhmanesh. Additionally, I’m impressed with the number of high school recruits and lack of D1 transfers. Farokhmanesh appears to be trying to build a program from the ground up while keeping guys in his system, rather than filling a roster full of mercenaries. That being said, this team struggled to find its feet even after injured players returned to the roster later in the season. The Rams will have a lot of advantages with their size, but who initiates the offense for them?

Fresno State

• Returning Production Rank: 8th
• Transfer Class Ranking: 8th

Jason’s Rank: 8th

Vance Walberg can’t seem to catch a break. He’s repeatedly brought in some impressive freshmen and transfers, but playing in a tough Mountain West led to subpar win totals. Those promising players then leave after one year, so Walberg can never get the traction he needs to get the Bulldogs out of perpetual mediocrity. Looking at Fresno State’s transfer and freshman class, there’s a decent likelihood that Walberg’s squad could be a slightly better version of his 2025-26 team, but not good enough to make waves in the new Pac-12.

Eric’s Rank: 9th

It seems like every time Fresno State starts to develop some interesting players, they leave. Regardless of coach or conference affiliation, Fresno State never seems to be able to gain traction. And the 2026-27 roster does not appear to be one that might move significantly in a positive direction. Not only does it lack returning production, many of the transfers coming in lack starting experience.

Gonzaga

• Returning Production Rank: 3rd
• Transfer Class Ranking: 1st

Jason’s Rank: 1st

The Zags are a consensus preseason top 25 team and are placed in the top 10 fairly consistently as well. Gonzaga brings back arguably the top player in the conference (Braden Huff) and brought in two of the top three transfers of anyone in the Pac-12 (Isiah Harwell and Massamba Diop). The consistency of the program under Mark Few, combined with the undeniably great recruiting/transfer class, makes for an obvious number one choice.

Eric’s Rank: 1st

Gonzaga is in a class of its own. Yes, last year was a bit of a down year for the Bulldogs (according to their own standards…hundreds of teams would have loved to have a year like they did), but this year’s team features a great player that many didn’t get to see. Having Braden Huff available is a big win for Mark Few, in addition to some high-quality transfers from Houston and Arizona State. The most intriguing thing to monitor for Gonzaga is how things go for them in conference play, facing larger crowds in bigger arenas night after night (as opposed to those high school gyms throughout the West Coast Conference).

Oregon State

• Returning Production Rank: 6th
• Transfer Class Ranking: 2nd

Jason’s Rank: 5th

Usually, teams that have to replace 80-90% of production from the year prior, and are replacing a head coach, get automatically relegated to the cellar of preseason rankings. I may not have them in the top half of the Pac-12, but I think they’ll be competitive. Justin Joyner has brought in arguably the best transfer class in the conference (at least by volume of quality prospects), with a lot of intriguing players who own a wide range of skills that bring good roster balance.

Eric’s Rank: 4th

It’s practically an entirely new roster and a new head coach, yet I can’t help but be impressed with the job Justin Joyner has done in assembling talent at Oregon State. After winning the national championship with Michigan, Joyner quickly went to work attracting transfers to Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers appear to have a complete and versatile roster, including three players listed 7’0″ or taller. 

San Diego State

• Returning Production Rank: 7th
• Transfer Class Ranking: 4th

Jason’s Take: 3rd

Most of San Diego State’s offseason makes me want to put them lower than I have them. The offense looks like it could lack some punch, especially with Nick Anderson going down with a likely season-ending knee injury. The Aztecs also don’t seem to have the elite length on the wings and in the frontcourt that they’re used to having. This will also, once again, be a year where most of the roster is inexperienced. But at the end of the day, Brian Dutcher just doesn’t miss, and that counts for a lot. He has a long track record of finding the right players and getting the most out of them on defense at a minimum, and then having just enough firepower on offense.

Eric’s Take: 2nd

There certainly are some questions about where the offense will come from, but as long as Brian Dutcher is the head coach at San Diego State, I have to give the team respect and recognition that they will be good. Young returners Elzie Harrington and Tae Simmons will be joined by seasoned veteran transfers Jeremiah Cherry and Isaiah Sy. An injury to Nick Anderson likely keeps them from contending with Gonzaga for the conference title, but they will still be dangerous.

Texas State

• Returning Production Rank: 2nd
• Transfer Class Ranking: 6th

Jason’s Rank: 7th

Putting Texas State this low feels mean given they have multiple key players returning, including the underrated DJ Hall. The Bobcats also brought in what I feel is an underrated transfer class. What puts Terrence Johnson’s team down near the bottom for me is just a lack of confidence that they’ll make the leap to the Pac-12 gracefully. It’s incredibly hard to move up and succeed right away. Grand Canyon may be the best case scenario of any recent move up at this level, and it barely managed a fourth-place finish in the Mountain West. And Texas State doesn’t have nearly the track record GCU did prior to its move to the MW.

Eric’s Rank: 7th

The Bobcats are perhaps the most intriguing team for me to figure out. They have solid returners, an experienced coach, and some interesting transfers. However, they didn’t exactly light up the Sun Belt, and they are moving into a significantly more challenging basketball conference. They look like a team that can score, but can’t stop anyone else from scoring. And what happens when they face great defensive teams like USU, San Diego State and Gonzaga?

Utah State

• Returning Production Rank: 4th
• Transfer Class Ranking: 5th

Jason’s Rank: 2nd

If you add up all of the individual pieces that typically go into crafting an offseason ranking, Utah State doesn’t look particularly elite. The Aggies have a new head coach, something never viewed as a positive for a team coming off a good season. They are also middle-of-the-pack among the conference in both returning production and transfer class ranking. Still, there are several reasons to buy stock in the Aggies while they’re perceived as a team in the 3-4 range in the conference, when a finish in the 1-2 range looks likely.

Utah State has found ways to succeed despite all potential disadvantages, and the Aggies are in a better place this year than in several other recent years. They’ve got arguably the best returning player, Mason Falslev. An experienced coach in Ben Jacobson (even if he hasn’t spent much time in Logan). And the players Jacobson has brought in have Pac-12-level skill sets and fit incredibly well with the proven system Jacobson used to dominate at Northern Iowa.

Eric’s Rank: 3rd

Utah State and San Diego State have strengths and weaknesses, but they are complete reversals of each other. The Aztecs have questions about their roster, but their coach has a long track record of winning at a high level at that institution. Utah State, on the other hand, has a really interesting roster, but we just don’t know how well Ben Jacobsen will translate to this level of basketball. As long as USU has Mason Falslev and Karson Templin together, their leadership will help bring others along and make the Aggies one of the top teams in the Pac-12. This Aggie team features a lot of on-court experience, just not a lot together. This will be a fun team to watch once that on-court chemistry starts to take off.

Washington State

• Returning Production Rank: 9th
• Transfer Class Ranking: 9th

Jason’s Rank: 9th

The Cougars brought back effectively zero production and are pairing that with the most underwhelming transfer class in the Pac-12. There is some room for surprises, given most of the transfers are former high-major guys. But it’s a big roll of the dice from David Riley, who struggled to gain traction in the West Coast Conference and now has to contend with the tougher rebuilt Pac-12.

Eric’s Rank: 8th

Coach David Riley has a big project on his hands. In his second year, he is practically starting over from scratch. And the team he has assembled leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe there is a diamond in the rough here, a guy who was deep on the bench of a power conference school who just needs a shot (we know that has worked well for USU in the past). But based on what we know so far, the Cougars’ roster lacks size and talent enough to compete in the Pac-12 this season.

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