The last Pac-12 football season was spectacular. Washington made the College Football Playoff National Championship Game after beating Texas in a playoff semifinal. Oregon made a New Year’s Six bowl and had a strong season, basically the same season USC football had in 2022 (11 regular-season wins and two losses to one team). Michael Penix and Bo Nix were both Heisman Trophy finalists. Yet, as great as Pac-12 football was, Pac-12 men’s basketball has been awful in its final season.
You know that USC and UCLA have had disastrous seasons and can only make the NCAA Tournament by winning the Pac-12 Tournament. Beyond the Los Angeles schools and their own woes, however, the problems run a lot deeper for the conference which is about to die.
Believe it or not, the Pac-12 could very realistically have only two NCAA Tournament teams. We say that because of what happened on the weekend relative to the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Let’s dive into the details: