The Pac-12 Conference looks more and more like a league in which three or maybe even only two teams get into the NCAA Tournament field. Right now, UCLA and Arizona are locks to get in, and whoever wins the Pac-12 Tournament. If UCLA or the U of A wins in Las Vegas, the Pac-12 could be a two-bid league.
In Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology on ESPN, he has four Pac-12 teams all right outside the field of 68. Oregon and USC are the closest for the time being as two of the “First Four Out.”
In the “Next Four Out” section, Utah and Arizona State are right there. The Utes have stayed relevant despite the injury to Gabe Madsen, and the Sun Devils have won three of the last four games after a four-game losing streak that put Bobby Hurley’s job in potential danger.
We discussed USC’s remaining schedule and the danger the Trojans are in, but let’s examine the others.
Arizona State faces Colorado, Utah, Arizona, UCLA, and USC to finish the regular season. Defeating one or two of the last three teams should be a significant boost for the Devils.
Utah plays the same teams to end the year, with Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA coming up in addition to USC.
Oregon has a weird pattern going on over the last nine games: Win two, lose one. The Ducks have the easiest remaining schedule of them all with Washington, Washington State, Oregon State, Cal, and Stanford.
Oregon does have the easiest schedule, but the important point about that is that if Oregon loses any of its remaining games, the Ducks will take a big hit on their resume. They really need to win all five of those games. They have already lost to Stanford.
USC and Utah both get to play the Arizona schools. Wins over Arizona would be huge, and wins over ASU would improve their resumes. Arizona State getting to play Arizona, UCLA and USC offers the Sun Devils a chance to boost their portfolio. Oregon doesn’t have any resume-improving games left; the Ducks have to avoid a resume-wounding loss. USC, Utah and ASU all will get their chance to play their way into the field. Let’s see what happens.
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