The Best of the West offers fans a candid assessment of the top teams in the western third of the country — a collection that includes the Mountain West and the former Pac-12 schools now scattered across the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and West Coast Conference.

The rankings will be published on the Hotline weekly throughout the regular season.

Results through Tuesday

1. UCLA (21-0/9-0 Big Ten)

Last week: 1
Results: beat Minnesota 79-53
NET ranking: 4
Up next: vs. Ohio State (Wednesday)
Comment: The top-ranked Bruins took care of business against Minnesota to reach a meaty portion of their schedule: They face No. 8 Ohio State and visit Oregon this week, then have dates with No. 7 USC and No. 20 Michigan State next week. With one more win, they will break the school record for consecutive victories set in 1977-78.

2. USC (19-2/9-1 Big Ten)

Last week: 2
Results: beat Minnesota 82-69, lost at Iowa 76-69
NET ranking: 6
Up next: at Wisconsin (Wednesday)
Comment: Even the talented Trojans were up against it on Caitlin Clark’s jersey retirement day in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes led 18-1, then trailed at halftime and late into the third quarter before ending USC’s 15-game winning streak in front of a crowd of 14,998. The Trojans are home against Ohio State on Saturday.

3. California (19-4/7-3 ACC)

Last week: 3
Results: lost to North Carolina 65-52, beat Pitt 84-53
NET ranking: 35
Up next: at Louisville (Thursday)
Comment: The 13th-ranked Tar Heels pulled away in the fourth quarter, but Cal bounced back to dominate Pitt. The Bears are down two places in the AP poll, to No. 21. Ioanna Krimili broke the school single-season record for 3-pointers against North Carolina and is over 400 for her career, which began at San Francisco.

4. Utah (16-5/7-3 Big 12)

Last week: 4
Results: beat Arizona 67-58
NET ranking: 26
Up next: at Texas Tech (Wednesday)
Comment: Jenna Johnson’s 3-pointer with 54 seconds left helped the Utes close out Arizona for their third straight win and a season sweep of the Wildcats. Gianna Kneepkens scored 28 points, her fourth consecutive game of at least 20. Utah doesn’t play its next ranked opponent until Feb. 18 (Oklahoma State).

5. Oregon (16-6/7-4 Big Ten)

Last week: 5
Results: won at Michigan State 63-59, lost at Michigan 80-48
NET ranking: 36
Up next: vs. Maryland (Thursday)
Comment: After upsetting Michigan State, the Ducks “played tired” (according to coach Kelly Graves) in a lopsided loss to Michigan. The Wolverines led almost the entire game and scored 80 points against a defense that had allowed just 58.5 per game previously. Michigan State was undefeated at home before losing to the Ducks.

6. UNLV (17-5/9-1 Mountain West)

Last week: 6
Results: beat Nevada 68-59
NET ranking: 51
Up next: at Utah State (Wednesday)
Comment: The Rebels rebounded from their one-point loss at San Diego State (Jan. 25) to handle the Wolf Pack. They lead the Mountain West by two games over Wyoming and potentially could win their final eight regular-season games. Meadow Roland is the Mountain West Freshman of the Week.

7. Montana State (20-2/10-0 Big Sky)

Last week: 7
Results: won at Sacramento State 67-45 and Portland State 85-39
NET ranking: 56
Up next: vs. Northern Arizona (Thursday)
Comment: The Bobcats’ winning streak has reached 13 games ahead of their Big Sky rematch against Northern Arizona. Esmeralda Morales scored 20 in the win over PSU, her former team. Montana State is 20-2 for the first time since 1987-88.

8. Grand Canyon (21-2/8-0 WAC)

Last week: 8
Results: won at Seattle 88-50 and at Utah Valley 76-64
NET ranking: 67
Up next: vs. Cal Baptist (Saturday)
Comment: The Antelopes trailed by as many as 11 points in the first quarter at Utah Valley before finding traction and winning a school-record 19th consecutive game. Trinity San Antonio led the way with 21 points and nine assists. GCU remains a game up on UT Arlington for the WAC lead.

9. Colorado (15-6/6-4 Big 12)

Last week: 9
Results: won at Brigham Young 67-66, beat Texas Tech 67-51
NET ranking: 59
Up next: vs. Arizona (Wednesday)
Comment: The Buffaloes had a 39-12 advantage in bench scoring in their narrow win over BYU, including Nyamer Diew’s game-high 22 points. They dominated Texas Tech without leading scorer Frida Formann, who reached 300 career 3-pointers against BYU.

10. Gonzaga (15-8/10-2 WCC)

Last week: 10
Results: beat San Diego 64-48 and Pacific 68-64
NET ranking: 114
Up next: at Saint Mary’s (Thursday)
Comment: Yvonne Ejim (Player of Week) and Allie Turner (Freshman of Week) swept WCC weekly awards for the fourth time. Ejim is the first player in conference history with 2,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds, surpassing the latter milestone against Pacific. She needs 15 points to become the Zags’ career scoring leader. Gonzaga has won nine straight.

11. Portland (20-3/9-3 WCC)

Last week: 11
Results: beat Saint Mary’s 66-58 and Pepperdine 76-52
NET ranking: 71
Up next: at San Diego (Thursday)
Comment: With four straight wins, the Pilots stayed hot on the tail of Gonzaga (one game back of the WCC lead). They have 20 wins for the fourth consecutive season and fifth time in the last six years, and their record is the program’s best through 23 games since 1996-97.

12. Northern Arizona (18-5/9-1 Big Sky)

Last week: 13
Results: beat Northern Colorado 68-52 and Weber State 81-76
NET ranking: 87
Up next: at Montana State (Thursday)
Comment: The Lumberjacks clawed past Weber State on Monday for their sixth consecutive victory and have a chance to pull even atop the Big Sky on Thursday in their third game in six days. Taylor Feldman and Sophie Glancey combined for 50 points against Weber State.

13. Arizona (14-9/5-5 Big 12)

Last week: 12
Results: lost at Utah 67-58
NET ranking: 58
Up next: at Colorado (Wednesday)
Comment: The Wildcats lost for a second time to Utah, although they were more competitive than in the first meeting (a 21-point loss). Arizona has important games this week against Colorado and Arizona State for its NCAA Tournament outlook.

14. Stanford (11-10/3-7 ACC)

Last week: 14
Results: beat Pitt 58-46, lost to North Carolina 69-67
NET ranking: 46
Up next: at Notre Dame (Thursday)
Comment: ESPN’s bracketology dropped Stanford off the NCAA Tournament bubble following its latest loss. Still, the Cardinal have their moments of excellence — for example, the 12-0 fourth-quarter surge against the Tar Heels. Stanford’s NET ranking is high enough that it still could make the postseason by stringing together some wins.

15. Washington (13-9/4-6 Big Ten)

Last week: 15
Results: lost at Ohio State 66-56
NET ranking: 53
Up next: at Penn State (Wednesday)
Comment: The Huskies have lost three straight and five of their last six but still are on the NCAA Tournament bubble per ESPN. They are clinging to the final Best of the West spot for a second week but in danger of falling out with games this week against Penn State and No. 16 Maryland.

Also considered: Hawaii, Washington State and Wyoming

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to [email protected] or call 408-920-5716

*** Follow Metcalfe on the social media platform X: @jeffmetcalfe

*** Follow Jon Wilner on the social media platform X: @WilnerHotline