Everything to know ahead of final Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament
It’s the last dance for the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament.
For a brief period in the late 1980s and since 2002, the ‘Conference of Champions’ has sent its tournament winner to the NCAA tournament, but this year will be the most sentimental edition yet with the conference essentially ceasing to exist after this season. So as of now, all 12 teams will vie to be known as the team to win the 26th and final Pac-12 tournament.
There have been plenty of teams worthy of making the NCAA tournament in the more that two decades, but this year the conference doesn’t present many teams qualified to hear their name called on Selection Sunday. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a team capable of stealing an automatic bid (look at Oregon in 2019 and Oregon State in 2021). Even with the lack of contending teams, the Pac-12 still has squads capable of making noise in March with Washington State and defending back-to-back Pac-12 tournament champion Arizona, who could boost their tournament résumés with wins. So, expect anything to happen when the Pac-12 meets in Las Vegas one last time.
Pac-12 tournament bracket, schedule, scores
At T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
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First round
Wednesday March 13
Southern California vs. Washington, 3 p.m.
UCLA vs. Oregon State , 5:30 p.m.
Stanford vs. California, 9 p.m.
Arizona State vs. Utah, 11:30 p.m.
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 14
Arizona vs. Southern California-Washington winner, 3 p.m.
Oregon vs. UCLA-Oregon State winner, 5:30 p.m.
Washington State vs. Stanford-California winner, 9 p.m.
Colorado vs. Arizona State-Utah winner, 11:30 p.m.
Semifinals
Friday, March 15
Arizona-Southern California-Washington winner vs. Oregon-UCLA-Oregon State winner, 8 p.m.
Washington State-Stanford-California winner vs. Colorado-Arizona State-Utah winner, 10:30 p.m.
Championship
Saturday, March 16
Semifinal winners, 9 p.m.
Pac-12 tournament favorites
Arizona is the clear favorite to win its third consecutive conference tournament as the Wildcats have national championship aspirations after finishing first in the regular season standings. But lurking behind them is resurgent Washington State who is the only team to complete a season sweep of Arizona in the Tommy Lloyd era.
Pac-12 tournament top players
Caleb Love, G, Arizona − The North Carolina transfer has made Arizona an even bigger national title contender, averaging 18.7 points per game for the regular season conference champions.
Myles Rice, G, Washington State − Rice has done it all for Washington State in its resurgent year, averaging 15.3 points per game while ranking top five in the conference in assists (3.9) and steals (1.5) per game.
KJ Simpson, G, Colorado − Simpson carried the Buffaloes into a hot end of the regular season. He’s second in the Pac-12 in scoring (19.6 ppg), but he averaged 23.2 in the last six games.
Branden Carlson, C, Utah − An elite scorer, rebounder and 3-point shooter, the 7-foot Carlson was hurt in the regular-season finale and will need to be healthy to come up big if Utah wants to be among the last four teams in the tournament.
Isaiah Collier, G, Southern California − The Trojans could be a surprise team as the offense has been in sync in recent weeks. The No. 1 recruit in 2023 has been part of that, averaging 16.6 points and 4.2 assists per game.
NCAA tournament bubble storylines for the Pac-12
The Pac-12 has two locks in the NCAA men’s tournament, but that could be the only teams it sends with only a couple of teams on the bubble. Colorado caught fire recently and heads into the tournament as the No. 3 seed with a six-game winning streak, and winning another in Las Vegas likely would guarantee a spot on Selection Sunday. Its fellow Mountain school Utah has been shaky after a great start to the season, and likely needs a championship game appearance to boost its chance of making the tournament.