Group effort

There are freshman stars seemingly everywhere in the Pacific 10 Conference and an impressive record by the league against nonconference teams.

But here is perhaps the best indication of the Pac-10’s resurgence: UCLA is unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the nation a season after playing for the NCAA title, and hardly anyone is giving the Bruins a chance of running the table, least of all UCLA Coach Ben Howland.

“I can’t imagine anyone going through conference without at least three or four losses. That will probably be the winner,” Howland said.

UCLA isn’t even a prohibitive favorite, not with Arizona, Washington and Oregon also in the top 25 -- which by the way, gives the Pac-10 one more ranked team than the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The challenges start quickly for the Bruins with a No. 1-vs.-No. 14 showdown Sunday with Washington at Pauley Pavilion -- not that anyone should dismiss upstart Washington State, which upset a Gonzaga team that had beaten North Carolina.

“It’s going to be a wild ride,” Washington Coach Lorenzo Romar said. “Good luck to those who feel they can predict who’s going to finish where.”

On that cautionary note, here’s a closer look at the teams in the Pac-10, in predicted order of finish:

1. UCLA (11-0)

Take point guard Jordan Farmar, center Ryan Hollins and forward Cedric Bozeman from a Final Four team and you get ... a Bruins team that’s doing fine, save for free-throw shooting problems. Darren Collison is handling the job at the point, and with Josh Shipp back after missing most of last season because of hip surgery, UCLA added something besides a year of maturity for the other players.

2. ARIZONA (9-1)

Chase Budinger -- pronounce it with a hard “g,” as in budding star -- is one of those freshmen we were talking about. The red-haired former volleyball star is averaging 17.4 points, just a sliver behind Ivan Radenovic’s team-leading average. No. 7-ranked Arizona hasn’t lost since dropping a three-point game at Virginia in its season opener and is coming off a victory over Memphis, its first ranked opponent. Point guard Mustafa Shakur, a senior, is finally playing closer to expectations.

3. WASHINGTON (10-1)

Don’t feel sorry for the Huskies with three freshmen and two sophomores in the starting lineup. Seven-foot freshman Spencer Hawes looked like an NBA player when he dominated Louisiana State star Glen Davis last week and finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds with a blend of finesse, drives and defense. Forward Quincy Pondexter, a redshirt freshman, is plenty good too. Aside from a 20-point loss to Gonzaga, this is a team with impressive potential.

“We could possibly take our lumps early,” Romar said. “Hopefully, we grow out of that and mature as the conference develops.”

4. OREGON (11-0)

The 20th-ranked Ducks are off to their best start in 60 years but have only one impressive win, defeating Georgetown.

“In our minds, the only thing we’ve done this season is manage our schedule,” Coach Ernie Kent said.

Guard Malik Hairston has been slowed by nagging injuries, and freshman guard Tajuan Porter -- a crowd favorite at only 5-6 -- is still leading the team in scoring, though he sat out the Ducks’ last game because of a sprained toe.

An aside: Kent’s son, Jordan, also a receiver for the Ducks’ football team, won’t play his senior basketball season but instead will prepare to pursue a professional football career.

5. USC (10-3)

It doesn’t qualify as a “shock,” but USC’s victory over then-No. 8 Wichita State did qualify as an upset. The Trojans have plenty of athleticism and they play defense, holding 12 of 13 opponents to less than 40% shooting. Their Achilles’ heel, however, is turnovers, with an average of 19 a game. When you discuss the Pac-10’s standout freshmen, put an asterisk by the name of USC’s Taj Gibson, who is averaging 12 points and more than nine rebounds a game. He’s already 21.

6. STANFORD (7-2)

Stanford used to have the Collins twins. The new twin towers are Brook and Robin Lopez, 7-footers from Fresno. But the Cardinal is nonetheless struggling after losing its top three scorers, Matt Haryasz Chris Hernandez and Dan Grunfeld, from last season. Sophomore forward Lawrence Hill is averaging 15 points for a team that has lost to Air Force and Santa Clara, each by more than 15 points.

7. CALIFORNIA (8-4)

Injuries are undermining Ben Braun’s team, with center DeVon Hardin expected to sit out eight to 12 weeks because of a stress fracture in his left foot. The Bears already lost center Jordan Wilkes to a season-ending knee injury. Freshman forward Ryan Anderson is one of the unexpected early standouts in the league, averaging 17 points and almost nine rebounds while displaying a three-point touch.

8. WASHINGTON STATE (11-1)

Tony Bennett took over as coach after the retirement of his father, Dick, and the Cougars have picked up the pace a bit and own an upset of Gonzaga.

“I don’t know that there are big changes. We’ve just got guys who are more mature and have been here a little longer,” Bennett said. “We’re scoring a few more points at times, but we’re just trying to be as good as we can defensively in the half-court and not let teams run on us.”

9. OREGON STATE (8-5)

Coach Jay John takes solace in such statistics as holding LSU to 60 points. But overall the program has not progressed dramatically in four-plus seasons under the former Arizona assistant, who called his team “the worst shooting team we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

10. ARIZONA STATE (6-5)

Arizona State made a good hire in former North Carolina State coach Herb Sendek, but he probably got his biggest win of the season when he signed Lakewood Artesia star James Harden. It didn’t hurt that Sendek hired former Artesia coach Scott Pera as director of basketball operations. Freshman Christian Polk has taken over as the leading scorer after Kevin Kruger transferred to Nevada Las Vegas to play for his father, Lon.

robyn.norwood@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

PAC-10 BASKETBALL

The conference has been strong in non-conference play, winning 81% of its games:

UCLA: 11-0

OREGON: 11-0

WASHINGTON ST.: 11-1

WASHINGTON: 10-1

ARIZONA: 9-1

STANFORD: 7-2

USC: 10-3

CALIFORNIA: 8-4

OREGON STATE: 8-5

ARIZONA STATE: 6-5

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The Times’ rankings

Robyn Norwood’s college basketball rankings and comments:

Rk. ; Team; Comment

1. UCLA

(11-0) ; Apologies to Bruins. Ohio State is no No. 1.

2. NORTH CAROLINA

(10-1) ; Fired football coach Bunting could have used a record like this.

3. FLORIDA

(11-2) ; Don’t count out champs yet: Win over Ohio State was most impressive.

4. WISCONSIN

(12-1) ; Road game at Georgia on Sunday is a decent test.

5. OHIO STATE

(10-2) ; Credit Florida’s Horford, Noah for the education of Greg Oden.

6. DUKE

(11-1); Back to Coach K’s roots: Blue Devils holding teams to 53.5 points.

7. ARIZONA

(9-1) ; Pronounce school name with emphasis on the “O.”

8. CONNECTICUT

(10-0) ; Huskies finally leave state for Big East opener at West Virginia on Saturday.

9. ALABAMA

(11-1); Deaths of Davidson’s girlfriend and now brother make for heart-wrenching season.

10. WASHINGTON

(10-1) ; You couldn’t spell Hawes without a-w-e versus LSU.

11. KANSAS

(10-2) ; Secret weapon: Jayhawks went zone versus Boston College.

12. OKLAHOMA STATE

(12-1) ; Mario Boggan averages 21 points, seven rebounds.

13. PITTSBURGH

(11-2) ; Maybe easy early-season schedule didn’t help Panthers get ready.

14. WICHITA STATE

(9-2); Bright lights of Vegas -- and New Mexico, USC -- too much for Shockers.

15. LOUISIANA STATE

(7-3) ; Washington ended Glen Davis’ streak of 48 games in double figures.

16. TEXAS A&M;

(10-2); Aggies play upset-hungry Winthrop on Tuesday.

17. BUTLER

(12-1); Bulldogs have seven players from state of Indiana.

18. MARQUETTE

(12-2) ; Jan. 10 game at UConn should sort some things out.

19. OREGON

(11-0); There’s a chance Ducks, Bruins will be battle of unbeatens Jan. 6.

20. NOTRE DAME

(10-1) ; Only loss by Irish was by two to Butler.

21. AIR FORCE

(11-1); Best defense against Falcons: Postponement by winter weather.

22. CLEMSON

(12-0); ACC play will take care of this undefeated record.

23. TENNESSEE

(10-2) ; Wins over Memphis, Oklahoma State, Texas make happy holidays.

24. NEVADA

(10-1) ; Man in the stands at Akron game: LeBron James.

25. GONZAGA

(9-4); Only team to beat North Carolina and Washington keeps a spot in our 25.