PAC-12
CONFERENCE
T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada
March 7-10
ARIZONA
Record: 24-7, 14-4
There isn’t more that needs to be said about Arizona’s past season. It’s been crazy and that’s it. In the end, the Wildcats will have a full roster and their coach and enter this Tournament as the top seed. They’ve been far from reliable, but there’s no doubting they have the most talent in the Pac-12 with DeAndre Ayton and Allonzo Trier at the top of the list. The problem is putting everything together and being the elite team that many projected ahead of the season. A rematch against UCLA in the semis will be tough since the Bruins won in Tucson in their only meeting this season. More often than not, the best team has won this Tournament and that’s led to Arizona winning two of the last three titles. They aren’t an easy team to trust, but who is in the Pac-12?
USC
Record: 21-10, 12-6
Speaking of teams that are hard to trust, the Trojans just lost at home to UCLA when it could’ve all but locked up a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The path is pretty clear for them to make the championship Game unless something unexpected happens. That unexpected thing could happen in any round since Washington already beat USC in Los Angeles (back in December). With how the Trojans have looked, they should get past Washington (or Oregon State) and then likely Utah, which they just beat 74-58 on the road. USC is a great upset pick, but this team isn’t exactly built to beat Arizona and was already swept by UCLA in two Games.
UTAH
Record: 19-10, 11-7
The Utes have won six of their last seven Games, but that lone loss (as mentioned above), was at home against USC. None of their wins on that streak really stand out and while they have talent at every level, that loss is hard to ignore. The hope is that Sedrick Barefield is the difference after he missed that meeting a little more than a week ago. Barefield could easily change the result given how much he drives and draws fouls for the Utes. Of course, they can’t completely overlook the Ducks in the quarters, which are also fighting for their NCAA Tournament life.
UCLA
Record: 20-10, 11-7
The Bruins are in the same spot as those other teams in that they need a win to impress the NCAA committee. Sweeping USC was nice, but getting swept by Colorado is another story. UCLA will get a hard test with Stanford in the quarters as the Cardinal have won Four of their last five and recently won at Arizona State. UCLA still has more talent than most in the Conference led by Aaron Holiday and that should be enough. The Bruins will be underdogs against Arizona in the semis, but these teams probably aren’t much different in the end, especially with the balanced talent UCLA has. That being the case, UCLA has better value from a betting outlook.
There isn’t another team that has a shot to win the Tournament even if Oregon, Stanford or Washington steal a win along the way. The Cardinal have to get past both UCLA and Arizona, while the other two have to go through USC and Utah, which is a little more attainable. But the favorites usually come through in the Pac-12 Tournament and that should be the case here even if Arizona isn’t as dominant as everyone thought.