Where Gonzaga lands in early Pac-12 basketball power rankings

The Pac-12 is officially back, and while the football side of things could be going better, all signs point to a very strong college basketball conference arising out of the new-look league in 2026-27.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are the cream of the crop, after a dominant run through the West Coast Conference over the last quarter century under Hall of Fame head coach Mark Few.

While the Zags remain the favorite in the new league - even with major roster uncertainty - there will be plenty of challengers from the former Mountain West, including the always dangerous Utah State, Brian Dutcher's tough, physical San Diego State squad, and Leon Rice's Boise State Broncos.

With less than a week until Kraziness in the Kennel, and exhibition games getting underway across the country, let's take a revisited look at the preseason power rankings for Pac-12 men's basketball:

1. Gonzaga Bulldogs

Even with all its roster uncertainty, Gonzaga sits atop the preseason power rankings. The worst-case scenario for the Zags still includes one of the best frontcourt duos in the entire country in Braden Huff and Massamba Diop, along with sophomore breakout candidates Davis Fogle and Isiah Harwell and 23-year-old French point guard Nathan de Sousa.

That's a squad good enough to win the new look conference, and if the team gets to add in former Florida PG Xaivian Lee, Florida State sharpshooter Chauncey Wiggins, Dayton guard Javon Bennett, and 21-year-old Spanish big man Izan Almansa, well, they might just find themselves back in national championship consideration.

2. Utah State Aggies

Utah State has the likely preseason Pac-12 Player of the Year in Mason Falslev, a 6'3 guard who averaged 16 points, 3.1 assists, and 1.9 steals per game last season and - despite seven-figure offers to play elsewhere - opted to return to Logan to run it back with the Aggies under new head coach Ben Jacobson.

Jacobson comes over after an excellent 20-year career at Northern Iowa, bringing star forward Will Hornseth (11.1 points, 4.6 rebounds) along with him. AJ Bates from LA Tech and - if eligible - fifth-year senior Dallin Hall from Virginia give this team a bevy of ball-handlers. How good this team is depends a lot on the frontcourt stepping up, but Falslev alone makes them a top-two team in the Pac-12.

3. San Diego State Aztecs

Not only did SDSU see a huge swath of talent depart the program via the transfer portal - including Miles Byrd (Providence), Magoon Gwath (DePaul), BJ Davis (Creighton) and Pharaoh Compton (Oregon) but the team's top transfer acquisition - Rice guard Nick Anderson - suffered a knee injury and will miss the entire season.

Still, Brian Dutcher is an incredibly proven head coach, and returners Elzie Harrington and Tae Simmons, along with transfers Chance Gladden (Boston), Isaiah Sy (Oregon State), Jeremiah Cherry (Sacramento State) and international guard David Torresani is enough talent to keep this team in the top three.

4. Colorado State Rams

Retention is always a crucial step toward a successful season, and Colorado State has more of that than anyone in this conference. Coach Ali Farokhmanesh kept four starters - forwards Carey Booth and Kyle Jorgensen and guards Jase Butler and Josh Pascarelli - from last year's team, while adding a stud transfer guard in Justin Menard from Marist.

Farokhmanesh is a young coach on the rise, and getting to work with a similar group of players is a blessing for him and the Rams - and could result in a top four, or top three, finish in league play.

5. Oregon State Beavers

Retention is always good, but so is having arguably the best transfer portal class in the conference. Oregon State moved on from Wayne Tinkle after over a decade in Corvallis and secured a promising young coach in Justin Joyner, who spent seven years under Randy Bennett at Saint Mary's before the last two as associate head coach at Michigan.

Joyner first managed to retain one of the five best players in the conference - guard Josiah Lake - and then went out and built a very talented portal class that includes Buffalo guard Daniel Freitag, Fresno State guard DeShawn Gory, BYU big man Xavion Staton, GCU center Dennis Evans, and San Francisco sharpshooter Legend Smiley, among others.

Whether Joyner can get all the pieces to coalesce is the big question for the Beavers, but the talent is undeniably top five in the Pac-12.

6. Boise State Broncos

Like San Diego State, Boise State has an excellent head coach who deserves the benefit of the doubt - even if the offseason doesn't look like it went all that great on paper.

Leon Rice saw a ton of talent depart his Broncos, and the team's best addition - Illinois guard Ty Rodgers - suffered a knee injury that has him out indefinitely.

Look for junior Pearson Carmichael, Campbell transfer Dovydas Butka, and North Dakota transfer Damari Wheeler-Thomas to shoulder most of the load for Boise State in what could be a challenging year for coach Rice's club.

7. Texas State Bobcats

Huff, Fogle, Falslev, Lake, and Booth are the returners getting most of the attention in the Pac-12, and for good reason, but don't sleep on what Texas State coach Terrence Johnson managed to do - keeping freshman phenom DJ Hall in San Marcos after he put up 15.6 points and 7.7 rebounds last year to earn Sun Belt Rookie of the Year.

Hall is a sneaky Pac-12 First Team candidate, and alongside Southern Illinois transfer guard Quel'Ron House - who averaged 15.2 points and 3.3 assists last year - the Bobcats have a very talented core and the advantage of being a bit of a wildcard in a league full of new opponents.

8. Fresno State Bulldogs

Vance Walberg has had a very hard time retaining talent at Fresno State, with a limited NIL budget that is primarily focused on football.

The team is hoping to strike gold with some high major transfers coming over in Baye Fall (Rutgers) and Quentin Rhymes (Nebraska), along with Lipscomb sharpshooting guard Ross Candelino, who averaged 11.2 points and shot 42.6% from three last season.

9. Washington State Cougars

There has always been talent in Pullman under David Riley. Ace Glass was a superstar last year, Jerone Morton was a quality guard, Eemeli Yalaho was a great shooter and Tomas Thrastarson showed promise ... but the problem is that none of them stick around.

Glass is off to start at Vanderbilt in the SEC, Morton is at Kentucky, Yalaho will play in the ACC at NC State, and Thrastarson is across the state at Seattle U.

Freshman Lazerek Houston is a great get for coach Riley, and taking a shot on former highly regarded prospects like Jamari Phillips, RJ Jones, and Sebastian Akins makes a lot of sense, but with a limited budget and the need to rebuild this roster every offseason, it's hard to feel too confident in Washington State in this new-look league.

Today's best reads

• Gonzaga's move to the Pac-12 didn't make its schedule any easier
• New details announced for Gonzaga's highly anticipated showdown with Duke
• 5 Gonzaga players who could make a statement at Kraziness in the Kennel
• Gonzaga guard Nathan de Sousa reportedly cleared by NCAA for 2026-27 season
• Gonzaga reveals 2026-27 roster with several players still in eligibility limbo

This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/gonzaga as Where Gonzaga lands in early Pac-12 basketball power rankings.