The Pac-12 basketball season hasn’t yet become chaotic, but it seems as though some instability could be filtering into the conference. The elite teams had been taking care of business, but not easily. UCLA trailed USC by two in the final 20 seconds before winning on a 3-point shot from Jaylen Clark. Washington led Arizona by 12 on Thursday before the Wildcats rallied for a three-point win. UCLA trailed Washington State for most of a December 30 game in Pullman but rallied to win by one point. The top teams were winning, but it wasn’t easy.
Would the top tier of the conference stabilize or wobble this weekend? Arizona and Utah did not.
Arizona fell to Washington State in a game where the Wildcats were badly outplayed by the Cougars for 30 of the 40 minutes. Utah was clearly outplayed at home by an Oregon team which no-showed at Colorado two nights earlier. Arizona has two Pac-12 losses, and Utah suffered its first loss of the conference season. The teams at the top took some body blows. Only UCLA has been able to avoid the landmines, but again, the Bruins have been very fortunate to avoid disaster on two separate occasions.
USC is not going to win the Pac-12, but the Trojans would love a top-four finish and a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament. That goal is still very attainable, given what we have seen this weekend. It also means that when the Trojans get a crack at Arizona and Utah, their chances shouldn’t be discounted too much, despite their weaknesses and limitations.
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