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Pac-12 Bracketology: Five Bids For Conference?

By Andrew Kahn

It has been three weeks since the last bracket update, and things have changed quite a bit in the Pac-12. At the time, Washington was in contention for a bid; UCLA was not. The Huskies have not won since, while the Bruins have gone 5-1 with wins over Utah and at Stanford. The league’s top two teams have not changed, and we have a clearer sense of the bubble for the rest of the conference, which should be pleased with five total bids.

The locks

Arizona and Utah have each lost just once since the last update, both on the road. The Wildcats are asserting themselves as a dominant team worthy of a 1 or 2 seed (22-3, 10-2), while Utah (20-4, 10-2) has held steady as a 3 seed in most projections. The Utes travel for a pair against the Oregon schools before returning home to host the Arizona schools. So circle Feb. 28 on your calendar, when the best teams in the conference face off for a second time this season. (Arizona won the first game, 69-51.)

Must finish strong

There’s a significant drop off, as far as Tournament résumés, to the next tier of Pac-12 teams. UCLA, Stanford, and Oregon are among the last teams in or out in a majority of brackets. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest bracket has Stanford among the last teams with a bye into the first round, UCLA in a play-in game, and Oregon among the last four out. With plenty of games left before Selection Sunday, none of their fates have been decided. Stanford (16-9, 7-6) has dropped four of five and should sweep its next three against Cal, Oregon, and Oregon State, all at home, in order to stay on the right side of the bubble. UCLA (16-10, 8-5), as mentioned earlier, is hot, but has a tough Arizona State-Arizona road trip this week. Oregon (18-8, 8-5) gets Utah at home on Sunday, a chance for a very nice win.

Must finish really strong

Oregon State’s RPI is 82nd in the country, behind the other aforementioned NCAA Tournament contenders from the Pac-12. But at 7-6 in the conference (16-9 overall), the Beavers have a chance. They’re undefeated at home, where they’ll face Utah and Colorado this week before finishing at Stanford and Cal and back home vs. Oregon. They don’t appear on a single bracket among the 80 or so incorporated into BracketMatrix.com, but that could change with a strong finish. Arizona State (13-12, 5-7) did nothing impressive in the nonconference but plays four of its last six regular season contests at home. If the Sun Devils can win those and pull off a shocker in Salt Lake City, they could find themselves in the Big Dance discussion. At this point in the season for teams like this, difficult games should be viewed not as hurdles but opportunities, so Cal, despite its 6-7 league record, will relish visits to Stanford and Arizona. The NCAA Tournament is a long shot for any team mentioned in this section, but they’re not dead yet.

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Andrew Kahn is a regular contributor to CBS Local who also writes for Newsday and The Wall Street Journal. He writes about college basketball and other sports at AndrewJKahn.com. Email him at andrewjkahn@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @AndrewKahn.

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