Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak seemed fairly upbeat last Saturday left the Huntsman Center after losing by 15 points to No. 6 Nevada. Maybe that’s because by the end of the night, Utah’s defeat would become by far the Pac-12′s most acceptable loss.
That's the Utes' rationalization of their entire nonconference showing, after a day when UCLA lost to Liberty, Arizona State fell to Princeton, Washington State was beaten by Santa Clara and California lost to Seattle.
This is the state of the Pac-12, entering conference basketball play this week: UCLA already fired coach Steve Alford and no team is ranked in the Top 25.