PAC 12 Preview: 2026-27 College Basketball Predictions & Best Bets Recap
Ryan McIntyre (@Moneyline_Mac), Noah Bieniek (@NoahB77_) and Troy Chewning (@Troychewning) break down the Pac-12 basketball preview for the new nine-team league. Nobody is brave enough to dethrone Gonzaga, but Noah Bieniek sprinkles Colorado State at plus 1500 and Troy Chewning rides Utah State to win the conference tournament.
The Pac-12 Is Back With Nine Teams
The Pac-12 is back with nine teams and a whole lot of coaching pedigree. Ryan McIntyre starts on the sidelines, and his point is simple. Mark Few and Brian Dutcher have both coached deep into March, and both came within one game of a national title. Dutcher fell to UConn, and Few has now lost two title games. Then Noah Bieniek lays out the real offseason story, and it lives in Logan. Utah State swept the Mountain West titles last season and knocked off Villanova in the 8-9 game. So when Jared Calhoun left for Cincinnati, the Aggies pried Ben Jacobson away from Northern Iowa after 20 seasons. That was maybe the most surprising hire of the offseason. Noah also pegs this as the sixth best conference in college basketball.
Troy Chewning already has a new rivalry circled. Ali Farokhmanesh now runs Colorado State, and his former coach from Northern Iowa is running Utah State. That shot he hit in the NCAA Tournament is still a high school projector classic, so this one should be fun. Mac is more fired up about Gonzaga against San Diego State. He calls them the two premier mid-major plus programs of the last decade. And the conference tournament sits in an MGM arena in Vegas, so the Aztecs will travel. Noah points out that Utah State will have a fan base in Vegas too. Mac thinks the Zags and Aggies could get chippy, since both programs own loud home courts. The one gripe is St. Mary’s, which is nowhere near this league and isn’t even on Gonzaga’s nonconference schedule.
Gonzaga’s Rough March And A New Coach In Corvallis
Noah’s second storyline is Gonzaga’s last March, and it wasn’t pretty. The Zags lost the regular-season finale to St. Mary’s and split the WCC title. Then they won the tournament in Vegas, partly because St. Mary’s got upset by Santa Clara. Kennesaw State, a 14 seed, only lost to them by about nine. After that, Texas knocked off the three-seeded Zags. So an underachieving team now faces a much deeper league every single week. The last storyline is Justin Joiner at Oregon State. He was on Michigan’s national championship staff last year. He also comes from the Randy Bennett coaching tree, which Noah calls super successful over the last couple of years.
Colorado State Is The Stock Up Pick
There was no Pac-12 last year, so the guys grade stock up and stock down off conference win totals and finishes. Noah takes Colorado State, his second-place team. The Rams finished seventh in the Mountain West at 11-9 in league and 21-13 overall. But Farokhmanesh brings back the most minutes in the league. That means four returning starters and six guys who played double-digit minutes. Then he replaced his point guard with Justin Menard, a defensive specialist who can also distribute. The Rams opened 9-2 with three top-75 KenPom wins. Then they fell flat early in league play before winning eight of their last nine conference games. Troy has the Rams as his stock up pick too.
Mac signs off on Colorado State, though he floats Boise State as the only other real case. That would be a blind bet on Leon Rice. Rice has had one losing season, in 2018-19, and won 20-plus games every other year. Boise tied for fifth last season with a lot of banged-up pieces. But the Broncos lost production, and Ty Rogers got hurt in the offseason. Troy looked it up mid-show, and the hope is a December return after a groin issue. Noah expects Rogers back by conference play, so he baked him into his standings. Washington State also got floated as a flag plant for anyone who loves its portal grab bag. Nobody bit.
The Stock Down Votes Split Three Ways
Nobody agreed on stock down. Noah goes Texas State, which finished in a six-way tie for second in the Sun Belt at 11-7. He actually likes the roster, headlined by Kelron House out of Southern Illinois. But the Bobcats get outclassed on program pedigree in this league, so Noah has them seventh. Troy takes Fresno State, because he doesn’t love the roster even with Bay Fall coming over from Rutgers. Mac fades Oregon State. The Beavers went 9-9 last year and 10-8 the year before. Tinkle finished in the top four and still got fired, which Mac calls ridiculous. So a first-year head coach against veterans like Few, Dutcher and Rice means below .500 for Mac.
Nobody Is Dethroning Gonzaga
Nobody on the panel will pick against Gonzaga, but Noah thinks this is a vulnerable Zags team. It is one of Mark Few’s more inexperienced rosters in a while, because Super Mario went back to Spain. So the backcourt hinges on eligibility for Javon Bennett from Dayton and Xavian Lee from Florida. If both get cleared, Noah has Gonzaga as a top-10 team. The frontcourt is the easy part. Braden Huff averaged 18 points alongside EK last year on 66% shooting from the floor. Now he’s the top option, and Noah expects him in the 20s. Chauncey Wiggins from Florida State would also push Masamba Johp to the bench if he gets eligible. And Troy still won’t pick Utah State over the Zags, even with Falslev and Templin back.
The Pac-12 Basketball Preview Standings, Two Through Nine
Gonzaga is first on all three ballots, so the real fight starts at two. Troy and Mac both take Utah State there. Troy likes the A.J. Bates pickup from Louisiana Tech, and Will Hornsby followed Jacobson from Northern Iowa. Mac calls the program coach proof, since Sprinkle, Ryan Odom and Craig Smith all had it rolling too. Noah flips it, with Colorado State second and Farokhmanesh as his Coach of the Year. He has the Aggies third and wants Falslev’s number in the rafters for sticking through three coaches. He also loves the Bates and Solomon Callahan backcourt and has them contending for an at-large bid. Then Troy and Mac both slot the Rams third.
San Diego State goes fourth on every ballot. The Aztecs lose nine players who logged double-digit minutes, and the Magoon Gwath injury flat-lined last year’s team. But Noah sees breakout candidates in LZ Harrington, Latrell Davis and Jeremiah Cherry, the big man they call Bear. The X factor is Chance Gladden, a point guard jumping up from a slow Boston University team. Troy also notes Nick Anderson is done for the year. Mac just banks on Dutcher, because his teams always guard. Then Boise State lands fifth across the board. Mac sees a 10-6 or 9-7 floor over 16 league games. And Noah wants Lamar Washington, a fifth-year Georgia Tech transfer, eligible to fix the ball distribution.
Troy calls the bottom of the league a crap shoot, and the ballots prove it. Noah and Troy both put Oregon State sixth behind Daniel Freitag, who took the MAC to the woodshed at Buffalo. Mac instead calls for a Wazzu overachiever season under David Riley and slides the Beavers to seventh. Noah backs Oregon State with its fall scrimmage against Michigan, a 98-92 game. Putting up 92 with bench players against a defense that’s been top 15 nationally two years running is very good. Noah then has Texas State seventh, partly because Paul Jobet shot 41.5% from three at Nebraska Omaha. He finishes with Washington State eighth and Fresno State ninth. Troy goes Fresno State seventh, then Texas State eighth and Washington State last.
Colorado State At Plus 1500 Is The Futures Bet
All three guys landed on Gonzaga to win the regular season, but the Zags are minus 280. So Noah goes shopping. That Rams number is his sprinkle, and it’s the right one for a team returning this much. For the conference tournament in Vegas, Mac refuses to pick against Gonzaga in that building. But Troy and Noah both take Utah State. Noah also sees a three-bid league, with Colorado State as an at-large and the Aggies winning the conference tournament. Noah and Troy both give Coach of the Year to Farokhmanesh. Mac takes Mark Few if Gonzaga goes wire to wire. Then Noah and Troy land on Braden Huff for Player of the Year, because his usage rate will be ridiculous.
Sixth Best League And A Three-Bid Ceiling
The last debate is where this league ranks nationally. Troy says sixth is the right spot, though he thinks they sit closer to seventh than fifth. Mac leans the other way and says five. Troy concedes this is a good year to argue it, because Colorado State returns so much. On bids, Noah says three, and Troy only sees a fourth if Dutcher runs through the tournament. Then the guys head straight into the Big Ten, with Colby Dant (@thecolbyd) joining later tonight for the ACC. This was episode 22 of the conference preview run, so there are 21 more already on the feed.
2026-27 College Basketball Conference Previews
| MEAC | AMERICA EAST | NEC |
| MAAC | BIG EAST | SOCON |
| PATRIOT LEAGUE | OVC | ASUN |
| UAC | BIG SOUTH | SWAC |
| SOUTHLAND | SUMMIT LEAGUE | SUN BELT |
| BIG SKY | HORIZON LEAGUE | IVY LEAGUE |
| CUSA | BIG WEST | CAA |
| PAC 12 |
Podcast Chapters
00:00 Download the SGPN App Today!
01:00 The Pac-12 Is Back
03:39 Coaches, Rivalries & Storylines
12:38 Stock Up & Stock Down: Colorado State, Texas State
21:23 Does Anybody Dethrone Gonzaga?
24:39 Who You Got Two: Utah State, Colorado State & San Diego State
38:50 Tournament Winner, Coach of the Year & Player of the Year
42:37 Is the Pac-12 the Sixth Best League?
44:31 Sign-Off & Socials
