The Pac-12 is excellent at stepping on a rake, slipping on a banana peel, and doing anything it can to turn a promising situation into a crisis.
Earlier this season, it seemed the Pac-12 had a chance for five NCAA Tournament bids. In late January, it seemed that four teams was still a reasonable scenario.
This past week, the consensus was that the Pac-12 was on course for three bids, with USC being the third team from the conference.
Then the Trojans lost to Oregon State. Yikes.
Then Oregon lost at home to UCLA. Cringe.
Arizona State barely beat Stanford and Cal to stay alive. Utah beat Colorado to give itself at least a hint of a chance heading into a must-win week in the state of Arizona. However, USC and Oregon losing hurt the Pac-12’s foremost bubble contenders. USC is first in line, Oregon second, ASU third, Utah fourth. All four teams, though, are in the same position in the sense that they all need to do something significant to make the tournament.
All four teams will need at least four wins in the next few weeks, probably five and possibly six. USC will have to beat ASU or Arizona if not both. ASU will have to beat Arizona or UCLA. Oregon definitely has to win its next five games, since none of them are against top teams. One loss would be very damaging to the Ducks. Utah has to go 3-1 in its next four against the Arizona schools and the Los Angeles schools.
The Pac-12 is considering the additions of San Diego State and SMU while it pursues a media rights deal in which no one seems to be willing to pay top dollar with USC heading out the door. The conference needs all the revenue streams it can get.
Putting only two teams into the NCAA Tournament would be a total nightmare.
It’s so Pac-12 it hurts.
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