Throughout much of the nonconference college basketball schedule, I made sure to focus on a few things. Usually, it would be the ACC, usually the standard for college hoops excellence. Not this year. There’s the SEC, which boasts the defending champ Florida Gators. Then there’s the Pac-10, who have two legit national championship contenders (hell, how about favorites), not to mention a handful of other quality teams.

January 20th and February 17th. You might as well mark your calendars now. If you watch two college basketball games all year, these might be the ones to watch. It’s UCLA vs. Arizona. UCLA is undefeated with 14 straight wins, four of those over ranked teams. Then there’s Arizona, whose only loss came by three points at Virginia. What UCLA gets done with poise and teamwork, Arizona does it with absolutely freakish talent and athleticism. These two teams will be in it ’till the very end. If you want to see a handful of lottery picks on the court at one time, watch Arizona vs. the Bruins. But definitely watch Arizona play North Carolina on January 27th. It’s Lute Olsen’s standard to throw in a brutal non-conference game in the middle of the Pac-10 season. I’d say he picked a decent opponent in the Tarheels.

But after those two teams, there’s certainly a lot more. Oregon was undefeated until last night’s home loss to…USC, a team that is quietly shaping up to be pretty damn formidable. The Trojans have beat ranked teams Wichita State, Washington, and Oregon in the last two weeks. Everyone knew USC was on the rise with the opening of the Gale Center and next year’s insane recruiting class. I’m tired enough of USC pulling countless five star players in football. Now they’re going to do it in basketball?

Throw in the tough teams of the Pacific Northwest and we might be looking at the deepest conference in the country. It’s certainly close. Washington St. is off to a great start, Oregon is 13-1, and the talented Washington Huskies will find themselves in the top 25 for most of the year (although they’re off to a 0-3 Pac-10 start). It’s not far-fetched to see five or six teams from this conference making it to the dance.