Tag: Pac-12 Basketball

Pac-12 men’s basketball bubble watch: Oregon could ruin a lot of bubble teams, including Colorado

If Oregon wins the automatic bid in the Pac-12, that shrinks the bubble, and Colorado could be affected.

The Pac-12 basketball season just took a huge turn on Friday night at the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. The Oregon Ducks, who trailed top-seeded Arizona by 19 points early in the Pac-12 semifinals, stormed back for an absolutely shocking 67-59 win over the regular-season Pac-12 champion. The Ducks are now in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game and are one win away from getting an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Ducks Wire has more on the story, and here’s the bubble overview flowing from Oregon’s win:

Colorado beat Washington State in the second Pac-12 semifinal, with Buffaloes Wire providing complete coverage. Colorado’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament did increase with the win, but they might not have increased nearly as much as the Buffaloes and their fans would have liked.

Why? Oregon can now steal a bid from bubble teams, Colorado being one of them. If Colorado loses to Oregon on Saturday night, the Buffs’ chances of making the NCAA Tournament would be better than 50-50, but they would be far from a lock and could be excluded if other bubble teams succeed or if other surprising automatic bid-holders emerge from conference tournaments. We’ll have one more bubble watch on the morning of Selection Sunday. The Men’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show is Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific, on CBS.

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J’Vonne Hadley earns first career Pac-12 Player of the Week honors

J’Vonne Hadley has been critical to Colorado’s recent turnaround

After Colorado men’s basketball closed the regular season on a six-game winning streak, J’Vonne Hadley became the second Buffs player in the past three weeks to earn Pac-12 Player of the Week honors.

Hadley won the award on Monday following strong performances against Oregon and Oregon State last week, helping the Buffs to two much-needed wins. While the senior guard has continued to be Colorado’s premier defender, his improved offensive numbers is why he’s gaining more respect.

He hit a career-high four 3-pointers on four attempts against the Ducks while totaling 20 points and 12 rebounds in his third double-double of the year. Against the Beavers on Saturday, Hadley added 15 more points and seven rebounds.

With the award going to Hadley, he became the third Buff to receive the conference’s player of the week nod this season, joining Tristan da Silva and KJ Simpson.

Hadley has seen an increase in minutes during his second year with the Buffs, leading to an increase in production as well. As the season has progressed, he has continuously made strides in his game, even after suffering a facial fracture earlier this year.

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Jose Perez’s strange college basketball journey ends with him quitting on Arizona State

The Arizona State Sun Devils will compete in the Pac-12 Tournament without Jose Perez, who abruptly ended his college basketball career after the team’s win over USC.

We should have known Jose Perez’s college basketball career would end with one final confounding headline.

Perez dropped 25 points for Arizona State on Thursday in the loss to USC, and after participating in postgame activities he vanished – like a thief in the night – leaving the Sun Devils short handed in an eventual 59-47 loss to UCLA on Saturday.

‘Personal’ was the reason given by school officials, and Pac-12 Network broadcaster Cavan Malayter was told he is pursuing professional opportunities.

So ends the final season of Perez’s tumultuous college basketball career, which began back in 2018-19 at Gardner-Webb in the Big South – where he posted back-to-back 15 point per game seasons. That led to him spending one season at Marquette, where he only appeared in 10 games due to injury.

What followed was another transfer and an outstanding season at Manhattan (18.9 points per game) and then – you guessed it – another transfer, this time to West Virginia. He left Manhattan due to his coach getting let go, and despite the NCAA normally granting a waiver in these cases he was not, forcing him to sit for the 2022-23 season.

Perez planned to return to WVU and finally see the floor, even after coach Bob Huggins was fired, but a messy academic dispute resulted in Perez suddenly leaving the Mountaineers and ultimately ending up in Tempe with Arizona State in September.

The 6’5 guard finished his final collegiate season averaging 13.5 points for the Sun Devils – second on the team behind Frankie Collins – and some of his final words to the press came after the team’s surprise win over then No. 21 Washington State two weeks ago:

“We gotta go out with pride,” Perez said. “Our pride gotta get in the way. We go, win out, get the best seed possible and see the standings, who we match up with. It’s all about matchups in March.”

Arizona State earned the No. 11 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament and will square off against No. 6 Utah on Wednesday – and they’ll have to make their run without their second leading scorer.

Pac-12 men’s basketball bubble watch: Utah steps on a rake while Colorado boosts its chances

Losing to Oregon State 10 days before Selection Sunday? Not a good move, Utes. You really stepped in it.

We saw two entirely different Pac-12 bubble results emerge on Thursday night. One team played its way off the bubble, while another team took a good step forward. Utah ruined its bubble existence by eating a decisive loss at Oregon State, while Colorado secured a vital bubble win by prevailing at Oregon.

Let’s go through these bubble situations and evaluate where the Utes and Buffs stand with just one regular season game left before the Pac-12 Tournament, keeping in mind that other bubble teams across the country are also going to be in action on Saturday and are part of the larger bubble calculus. The bubble is a study in moving parts, which means some wiggle room can exist. However, certain outcomes can carry more weight than others:

A bubble team cannot afford to lose at Oregon State, but that’s exactly what Utah did on Thursday night in Corvallis. Utah still has just one road win in Pac-12 play this year. Winning against Stanford and Cal at home last week merely kept Utah alive. Those wins did not increase Utah’s chances of getting into the NCAA Tournament; they merely prevented Utah from a downward fall on the bubble. The Utes needed to continue to win the games they were supposed to win, but winning was merely going to maintain Utah’s position, not improve it. After losing to Oregon State, Utah has clearly lost at least five or six slots in the bubble pecking order, if not more. It’s a very bad loss at a time when the Utes had very little — if any — margin for error.

Utah goes to Eugene on Saturday to face the Oregon Ducks. This much is clear: Utah has to win that game to stay alive in the bubble conversation. A loss means Utah would have to win the Pac-12 Tournament or — at the very least — reach the final by winning three straight games. We doubt Utah would win four straight in Vegas, so if we’re being realistic, this is Utah’s last best chance. A win wouldn’t put Utah in the field, but it would keep the Utes alive … barely.

We told you days ago that Utah needed three wins to make the NCAA Tournament. It might now be four, but let’s assume Utah does win in Eugene. It would now need at two wins at the Pac-12 Tournament, possibly three. Utah cannot make the NCAA Tournament with merely one win next week in Vegas. The Utes greatly increased their degree of difficulty by losing to Oregon State. Three wins is the absolute minimum right now. Four might be needed.

Oregon isn’t an NCAA Tournament team, but Colorado’s win in Eugene is still a solid win which will move the Buffaloes up a few spots in the bubble pecking order. Colorado is, one would think, in that “last four in or first four out” group right now. Winning at Oregon State on Saturday is essential. If the Buffs do that, they go to Las Vegas knowing that if they can win one game, they will be in the conversation on Selection Sunday. If they win two games in Vegas following a win over Oregon State, they should be in. Given how bleak everything looked for CU a week ago, it would be a Harry Houdini-style escape if they can make March Madness. Now they have a decent chance.

Rick Pitino’s St. John’s Red Storm have surged in the past two weeks, putting themselves in the NCAA Tournament hunt. Colorado could really use a St. John’s loss. However, while some bubble teams have helped themselves, others have not. Wake Forest, Ole Miss, Utah, and Cincinnati have played their way out of the field the past week, so that’s why Colorado still has a decent chance of getting in, provided it can do the job in the coming days. Stay with Buffaloes Wire for complete Colorado coverage.

Breaking down Colorado’s tricky path to winning the Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament

Colorado’s path to winning the Pac-12 Tournament isn’t an easy one

After failing to secure a top-four seed, Colorado’s path to winning the Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament will require four wins in five days. It has been done before — Washington State did it last year as a No. 7 seed — but the fifth-seeded Buffs will need some Las Vegas magic.

Colorado’s first-round game comes Wednesday against a 12th-seeded Oregon team that fell to the Buffs by 33 points last month. With a win there, CU head coach JR Payne and Co. will face a much more challenging Oregon State squad that swept the Buffs during the regular season. The No. 4 seed Beavers held Colorado to under 63 points in both matchups.

If the Buffaloes’ offense can figure out Oregon State, top-seeded Stanford will likely be CU’s semifinal opponent. While both teams have gone in opposite directions since, Colorado beat the Cardinal, 71-59, in their only regular season matchup on Jan. 14.

On the other side of the bracket, I see the JuJu Watkins-led USC Trojans reaching the championship game. Stars step up on the biggest stages and Watkins is certainly capable. The freshman superstar scored 42 points while leading USC to an 87-81 win over the Buffs on Feb. 23.

From a wider perspective, if the Buffs can do enough this week to earn a top-four seed in the subsequent NCAA Tournament, their trip to Las Vegas should be viewed as successful.

Here’s a full look at the 2024 Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament bracket:

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Pac-12 men’s basketball bubble watch: Oregon’s bubble bursts, Utah stays alive

Remove Oregon from any bubble discussions or lists. The Ducks must win the Pac-12 Tournament to go dancing.

The Oregon Ducks, if they are going to make the 2024 NCAA Tournament, will need to win the Pac-12 Tournament in a few weeks. The Pac-12 bubble no longer includes Oregon after the Ducks excluded themselves by losing to Arizona on Saturday in Tucson. Oregon had to pick up a high-end win over Arizona and then win a few more games to make an at-large case. That possibility no longer exists after the Wildcats drubbed Dana Altman’s athletes.

Ducks Wire has more:

For a few minutes to start the game, the Ducks traded baskets with the Wildcats, but then Arizona quickly went on a run, and the Ducks lost control of the game. At the half, the Ducks were down 30-51.

In the second half, there were points where it looked like Oregon might crawl back, but the Wildcats always responded and re-extended their lead. Jermaine Cousinard came alive for the Ducks in the second half, scoring 33 second-half points on 75% shooting, but it wasn’t enough to give Oregon a chance to win.

We’ll look at the new Pac-12 bubble with Oregon no longer being a part of it. Here’s what you need to know:

2024 Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament schedule, seeds, tip times, and TV networks

We have the full Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament schedule for you, complete with start times and TV notes.

It’s the final Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament, at least for the next several years. USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon are heading to the Big Ten. Utah, Colorado, Arizona State, and Arizona are going to the Big 12. There won’t be a Pac-12 Conference in any meaningful sense next year. This is the last true Pac-12 gathering for the conference tournament in Las Vegas. We have the Pac-12 Women’s Tournament schedule for you.

Let’s go through the matchups, the seedings, the start times, the television assignments, and more for the big gathering which begins on Wednesday, March 6, in Vegas, with USC having the No. 2 seed:

Silver medal: USC women’s basketball finishes 2nd in final Pac-12 hoops season

USC won’t have to play on Wednesday at the Pac-12 Tournament. The Trojans secured an important first-round bye.

The USC women’s basketball team has done it. The Women of Troy beat Arizona State on Saturday, 70-55, in a game which was never particularly close. USC clinched the No. 2 seed for next week’s 2024 Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas. USC finished second in the last season of Pac-12 women’s basketball before the Trojans move to the Big Ten next season. It’s a terrific achievement for a team which has impressed, inspired, and regrouped countless times over the past four months.

Let’s look at some of the highlights of Saturday’s lunchtime win over Arizona State in Tempe, plus some seeding and bracketing scenarios for the Pac-12 Women’s Basketball Tournament, which we will cover extensively in the coming week here at Trojans Wire:

Pac-12 women’s basketball report: Stanford wins last conference title, three bubble teams all lose

Tara VanDerveer and Stanford were supposed to have a down year. Instead, they won the Pac-12 convincingly.

On Thursday night, the Stanford Cardinal — already assured of a share of the Pac-12 women’s basketball championship — clinched the outright title in the final season of Pac-12 women’s hoops by beating Oregon State in Corvallis. Stanford winning the Pac-12 women’s basketball title is a very regular and common occurrence. The Cardinal have won 27 Pac-10 or Pac-12 titles dating back to 1989. Legendary coach Tara VanDerveer has won 26 of those titles. Yet, this most recent title is special.

We will explain why this latest Pac-12 championship for Stanford is so remarkable, and we’ll also go through the Pac-12 women’s basketball bubble watch, in the slides below:

USC Pac-12 championship hopes receive fatal blow, but Trojans still 2nd in the conference

If you had been told before the season USC would finish 2nd in the Pac-12, you probably would have been elated.

The USC Trojans’ Pac-12 women’s basketball championship hopes lasted about 42 hours. From the end of the Colorado game late Friday night to the end of Sunday afternoon’s loss to Utah, USC harbored realistic aspirations of being able to win a share of the last Pac-12 regular season title in women’s hoops. That dream died with the 74-68 defeat dealt by the Utes in a hard-fought game in the Galen Center.

Is the immediate result disappointing? No question. Yet, the larger picture is that USC made a great run at a conference championship which seemed out of the question for a good portion of the season. Let’s gain some perspective on the current balance of power in the Pac-12, but also on the journey USC took to get to this point: