Tag: Pac-12 Conference

USC soars 11 spots in USA TODAY Sports women’s college basketball poll

#USC moved from 21 to 10 in one week. The Women of Troy are No. 10 in both this poll and the Associated Press Poll.

The USC Trojans are No. 10 in the USA TODAY Sports women’s college basketball poll.

The Trojans moved up a whopping 11 spots, but the rise in the rankings is entirely deserved after beating Ohio State last week. Ohio State was a top-eight team, and the Trojans handled the Buckeyes 83-74 in a convincing victory. USC went from No. 21 to No. 10 in a hurry.

The Trojans are No. 10 in both the USA TODAY Sports women’s college basketball poll and the Associated Press version of the women’s hoops top 25. It’s quite a rise for a program which is getting the job done on and off the court. Lindsay Gottlieb brought in two five-star commitments this past Saturday for the Class of 2024. USC is stacking elite players and quickly becoming a destination program in women’s college basketball.

Here is the rest of the poll. As you look at the rankings, note how many Pac-12 teams are in the top 10:

Tommy Lloyd and Arizona make a statement with early-season win at Duke

Arizona looks the part. USC has a tough task ahead.

We asked our Pac-12 basketball panelists who is the favorite for Pac-12 Coach of the Year.

Matt Zemek and Zachary Neel identified Tommy Lloyd of Arizona. That choice looks good one week into the season. Arizona went into Cameron Indoor Stadium and beat Duke, 78-73, in a battle of brand-name college basketball powers. Arizona’s Caleb Love, who transferred from North Carolina, came back to a familiar building and made Tar Heel fans happy by beating UNC’s archrival. Love said after the game he is “a Tar Heel for life.” Beating Duke reinforces that, but it’s Arizona who gets an enormous resume win in the first week of the season.

Tommy Lloyd developing Love into an improved player makes Arizona the Pac-12 favorite.

Other members of our Pac-12 basketball panel wondered if other Pac-12 coaches could make a run at 2024 coach of the year.

Matt Wadleigh wrote, “Give me Mark Madsen as a sleeper choice. The Golden Bears won three games, I think they finish around .500, and that’s a huge step in the right direction. But, that might be a bit difficult given the way the votes work, so I think the consensus goes with Andy Enfield.”

Don Smalley went with Dana Altman of Oregon. The Ducks look solid two games in. However, Tommy Lloyd is probably the front-runner. Winning at Duke will do that.

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Pac-12 football predictions for Week 11

Pickin’ the Pac is back!

Th college football season is approaching the final stretch before bowl season. The Pac-12 Conference continues to look like it belongs to the Washington Huskies, although the Oregon Ducks can still make a run over the next few weeks,

Once again, Matt Zemek, Donovan James, and Matt Wadleigh of Trojans Wire — joined by Don Smalley, Zach Neel, and Miles Dwyer of Ducks Wire, and Jack Carlough of Buffaloes Wire — are here to make their predictions for another loaded slate of games.

The final game of the weekend is USC taking on Oregon in Eugene. The Trojans have lost three in a row but just fired Alex Grinch — finally.

Coach Prime not concerned about which conference Colorado resides in

Coach Prime isn’t concerned about which conference Colorado resides in

The Colorado Buffaloes are moving to the Big 12 in 2024, meaning they have only three more regular season football games in the Pac-12.

The 4-5 Buffs finish things off with games against Arizona, Washington State and Utah. Saturday’s clash with the Wildcats also marks the final Pac-12 Conference game at Folsom Field.

However, head coach Deion Sanders isn’t the least bit concerned about which conference Colorado resides in.

“We don’t think about that. We could care less. Whoever is on the schedule, we’re going to play our hardest and we’re going to play to win,” Sanders said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “We don’t care what you call it, what conference you call it. I’m serious, I’m speaking for my staff as well as the young men that I coach: they don’t care of the conferences. They just want to win and play their butts off and prayerfully go to the NFL or be a professional in some form or fashion. They don’t care what package you wrap us up in.”

It’s quite the comment from Coach Prime, although it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. He also went on to elaborate more about how recruits feel about the conference aspect of college football.

“I have not met a kid yet that’s said, ‘Man, you know, that Pac-12, or that SWAC,’” Sanders said. “Not yet. They’re concerned with how much they’re going to play, not the schedule. They want to go to the next level. They’re not thinking about who they’re playing against and what they’re playing against and what you call it.”

Playing time is a major focus for recruits, and now NIL money is another big piece of the puzzle, so Coach Prime has a point.

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Pac-12 basketball expert panel predicts the conference’s 2024 NCAA Tournament seeds

Let’s toss out some seeds and see if they get planted in March.

The national consensus on Pac-12 basketball this season is that the conference will get at least five teams to the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Most experts think no Pac-12 teams will make the Final Four, though Arizona will be a team some people predict to make it to Glendale next April.

In terms of the Sweet 16 and the all-important second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, you will generally find that experts think the Pac-12 should get three or four teams in the Sweet 16.

We will see if the league can live up to those expectations.

Part of the process of living up to preseason expectations in the NCAA Tournament is to get a high-enough seed which leads to a good draw and an enviable bracket path in March.

We asked our Pac-12 basketball panel for predictions on which seeds will be earned by the Pac-12 teams which get into the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

Matt Zemek: Oregon 7, UCLA 5, Colorado 4, USC 3, Arizona 2

Zachary Neel:  ASU 12 / UO 7 / Colorado 6 / UCLA 3 / AZ 2 / USC 2

Matt Wadleigh: Arizona 2, USC 3, UCLA 6, Colorado 7, Arizona State 11

Don Smalley: 1 Arizona, 3 UCLA, 4 USC, 6 Oregon, 10 Colorado

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The most interesting storylines in Pac-12 basketball this season

There is no shortage of fascinating plot points in Pac-12 basketball.

As the final Pac-12 basketball season begins, there is no shortage of intrigue. Bronny James is a Pac-12 basketball player, albeit a player who probably won’t play until after Christmas. UCLA brought in a bunch of European players to form the core of its roster under Mick Cronin. Oregon missed the last two NCAA Tournaments under coach Dana Altman. Colorado has assembled a formidable roster. Arizona is a top-tier program once again under Tommy Lloyd. Will any team in the lower half of the conference exceed expectations?

There’s a lot to choose from in terms of plot points worth watching. We asked the members of our Pac-12 basketball panel for the storylines they are most interested in this season.

Matt Zemek: Does Tommy Lloyd figure out how to unlock Caleb Love’s full potential at Arizona? Lloyd has the magic touch with transfers. He has in many ways surpassed Dana Altman in that regard in the Pac-12. If Lloyd maxes out Love, Arizona becomes a Final Four team, but I’m skeptical. Arizona might still win the Pac-12, but in order to be a Final Four team, Love needs to play great.

Zachary Neel: As with most of America, I will be interested to see what type of impact Bronny James has as a true freshman. All of the attention in the world will be on him, and I want to see how he and the USC team handle it.

Matt Wadleigh: The Cody Williams-Bronny James-Isaiah Collier battles. These are three potential top-10 picks in 2024.

Don Smalley: Just the overall season for the Pac-12 being its last. That’s going to be a story throughout. The Conference of Champions is dying. 🙁

I’m also interested to see how good USC really is and if Oregon can break the two-year absence from the NCAA tourney.

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How many Sweet 16 teams will Pac-12 basketball deliver in its final season?

Getting to the second weekend separates the high-quality programs from the ordinary ones.

Everyone wants to make the Final Four and hit the big time in college basketball, but the reasonable standard of excellence for a larger number of programs is not the Final Four. It’s the Sweet 16. The blue-blood programs such as North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke, UCLA, and Connecticut aim for Final Fours and national championships.

For the vast majority of Power Five conference schools, the Final Four isn’t a realistic annual expectation. The Sweet 16 is much more attainable. Getting to the second weekend of March Madness lifts a basketball program above several dozens of competitors — those inside its own conference and those in other Power Five leagues across the country.

As we embark on the last Pac-12 basketball season, we asked our Pac-12 basketball panel how many Sweet 16 teams the Pac-12 will generate this season:

Matt Zemek: three – Colorado, USC, Arizona

Zachary Neel: Two, USC and Arizona

Matt Wadleigh: I’ll go with three: USC and Arizona, then one of UCLA or Colorado.

Don Smalley: Three — Arizona, UCLA, and Oregon

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How many NCAA Tournament teams will the Pac-12 create this basketball season?

Our Pac-12 basketball panel continues its preseason predictions for the conference.

As the Pac-12’s last basketball season begins, we’re all wondering if the conference, which put UCLA in the 2021 Final Four and Oregon in the 2017 Final Four, has one last bit of magic to offer in March Madness. Arizona, UCLA, and USC are all viewed as teams which have a chance to make a deep NCAA Tournament run this season. Colorado and Oregon might be in that category as well. The conventional wisdom is that the Pac-12 will get at least five teams into the Big Dance this season, but one wonders if a sixth or seventh team can enter the mix and give this conference even more depth when the brackets are revealed on Selection Sunday.

We asked our Pac-12 basketball panel how many NCAA Tournament teams the Pac-12 will get this season, and which ones.

Matt Zemek:

FIve – Oregon, UCLA, Colorado, USC, Arizona
Zachary Neel: I think you get six teams, ASU/UO/CU/UCLA/AZ/USC
Matt Wadleigh: I have five tourney teams, but MAYBE six: Sun Devils, USC, UCLA, Arizona, and Colorado. Oregon is on the fence.

Don Smalley: My top five — Arizona, UCLA, USC, Oregon, Colorado — with Utah on the bubble.

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Pac-12 basketball has lots of good teams, but does it have any Final Four teams?

Arizona and USC are seen as the Pac-12’s best chances to create a Final Four team this season.

The Pac-12 should have several good to very good teams this season. Arizona, USC, UCLA, Colorado, and Oregon are all expected to be good. All five teams are expected to not only make the NCAA Tournament, but win at least one game in the tournament and get decent seeds (8 or higher) in March Madness. They’re not expected to be bubble teams on Selection Sunday. They’re all supposed to comfortably get into the brackets next March.

However, of those five really good teams, does any team have enough quality to be considered a favorite for the Final Four? USC and Arizona might have a chance at making the Final Four, but being a favorite and having a chance are two different things. We asked our Pac-12 basketball panel if there are going to be any Final Four teams in this conference this season.

Matt Zemek: None
Zachary Neel: None
Matt Wadleigh: I have one Final Four team, but I don’t know who it’ll be. It could be ANY of USC, UCLA, or Arizona. If Bronny James is healthy, the Trojans are a scary team.

Don Smalley: Arizona

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Ducks Wire and Trojans Wire predict the Pac-12 basketball standings

We joined @Ducks_Wire in predicting the #Pac12 basketball standings.

College basketball season is here. The last Pac-12 basketball season begins on Monday, November 6. We’re rolling out our preseason predictions in several different installments this week. Let’s start with the regular-season conference champion and the predicted order of finish in the standings, one through 12.

Our Pac-12 basketball panel, consisting of Trojans Wire and Ducks Wire writers, took a crack at these predicted Pac-12 standings. You can see that the top three teams are generally (though not fully) agreed upon. The top five teams are also generally shared by most members of the panel. It gets a lot more fluid from spots 6 through 10, and it’s clear which teams are expected to finish at the bottom of the standings.

Matt Zemek:

12 – Oregon State
11 – Cal
10 – Washington State
9 – Stanford
8 – Washington
7 – Utah
6 – Arizona State
5 – Oregon
4 – UCLA
3 – Colorado
2 – USC
1 – Arizona
Zachary Neel:
12 – Oregon State
11 – Cal
10 – Washington State
9 – Stanford
8 – Washington
7 – Utah
6 – Oregon
5 – Arizona State
4 – Colorado
3 – UCLA
2 – Arizona
1 – USC
Matt Wadleigh:
12: Washington State 
11: Oregon State
10: Washington
9: Stanford
8: Utah
7: Cal
6: Oregon
5: Arizona State
4: Colorado
3: UCLA
2: USC
1: Arizona
Don Smalley:
12: Cal
11: ASU
10: WSU
9: OSU
8: Stanford
7: Washington
6: Utah
5: Colorado
4: Oregon
3: USC
2: UCLA

1: Arizona

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