The Pac-12 Conference is staring at the final few months of its existence, at least in a full and meaningful sense. Washington State and Oregon State might carry the Pac-12 name in 2024, but we all know those two schools have been stranded on an island. They will play various sports in other conferences — the Mountain West for football, the West Coast Conference for basketball and more.
If the Pac-12 is going to give us a memorable final chapter, women’s basketball could deliver the goods.
We are entering conference play in women’s basketball (as well as men’s basketball). The arrival of the new year means conference college hoops is here.
The Pac-12 hopes to deliver something special in women’s basketball. It has a chance to create the ultimate conference realignment walk-off moment.
Five Pac-12 teams are in the top 10 of the USA TODAY Sports Women’s College Basketball Poll. USC is one of them, at No. 5. UCLA is No. 2, with Colorado at 8, Stanford at 9, and Utah at 10. One way to look at the Pac-12’s chances of making a deep run in March Madness is this: With five top teams, there is a good chance that the Pac-12 will have a top-four seed in each of the four regions. Four Sweet 16 teams is a distinct possibility, and of those teams, at least two might be favored to make the Elite Eight, and one could get to the Final Four.
This doesn’t include the sixth- through ninth-place teams in the league, which could get NCAA Tournament bids and make the second round, maybe even the Sweet 16.
The road begins here. We will see how far that road will go for the Pac-12 in women’s hoops. The possibilities are endless.
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