Pick an NBA mock draft … any NBA mock draft … and you’re likely to see six Pac-12 players in the first round: Nico Mannion, Josh Green, Zeke Nnaji, Isaiah Stewart, Jaden McDaniels and Onyeka Okongwu.
All six are freshmen.
All six are from the one-and-done cloth.
None of them play for the team currently residing in first place.
Or the other team currently residing in first place.
Or the team in third place.
None of them can win the regular-season conference championship.
If there’s one storyline in the Pac-12 this season, it’s this:
The conference is better than it has been since 2017 — maybe not at the top but certainly in the middle and at the bottom.