The Pac-12 tournament starts on Wednesday with four games in Las Vegas before a winner is crowned on Sunday.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the conference teams ranked by their tournament seed:
1) Arizona (28-3, 16-2 in Pac-12): The Wildcats won the regular season championship because they have the most balanced roster in the conference. Freshman phenom Stanley Johnson led Arizona in scoring and rebounding with 13.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
2) Oregon (23-8, 13-5 in Pac-12): Joseph Young led the conference in scoring at 19.8 points per game. The emergence of Elgin Cook (14.8 ppg in conference) and Dwayne Benjamin (13 ppg and 8.6 rpg last five games) has the Ducks playing at a high level.
3) Utah (23-7, 13-5 in Pac-12): After losing three of its last five games, Utah – a team once ranked in the top-10 – needs to turn things around.
4) UCLA (19-12, 11-7 in Pac-12): Norman Powell (16.3 ppg) and Bryce Alford (15.5 ppg) make up the highest scoring backcourt in the conference but it’s their post play that should decide UCLA’s outcome. The Bruins have been inconsistent all year, but three straight wins is a good start.
5) Arizona State (17-14, 9-9 in Pac-12): The Sun Devils won five of their last seven games to finish fifth in the conference after a porous start. Shaq McKissic is averaging 15 points over his last seven games to lead Arizona State.
6) Stanford (18-12, 9-9 in Pac-12): Chasson Randle is one of the conference’s most dynamic guards and his 19.2 ppg is second best in the Pac-12. Anthony Brown and Stefan Nastic provide a great two-three punch for the Cardinal but finding help elsewhere will be the key for a tournament run.
7) Oregon State (17-13, 8-10 in Pac-12): Arguably the surprise team of the Pac-12, head coach Wayne Tinkle has done a great job of getting his group to play defense. Gary Payton II, the Beavers do-it-all guard, averages 13.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.1 steals per game.
8) California (17-14, 7-11 in Pac-12): The Golden Bears have lost five of their last six games but the emergence of Jordan Matthews (13.8 ppg) as a sidekick to Tyrone Wallace (17 ppg) gives Cal a fighting chance.
9) Washington State (13-17, 7-11 in Pac-12): Josh Hawkinson averages 14.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game and combined with DaVonte Lacy’s 17.2 ppg, the Cougars could make a little bit of noise. The trouble for them is going to be finding a third option on offense.
10) Colorado (14-16, 7-11 in Pac-12): Colorado has three very good players in Askia Booker, Josh Scott and Xavier Johnson but no one else to support them. The Buffaloes have enough experience to make a deep tournament run and be the surprise team.
11) Washington (16-14, 5-13 in Pac-12): Ever since opening the season at 11-0, the Huskies have been downright bad. Nigel Williams-Goss has the potential to win a game by home himself but in order to win the tournament, he’s going to need help.
12) USC (11-19, 3-15 in Pac-12): There’s always next year for the extremely young Trojans squad but the experience they get in this year’s tournament could be invaluable for next year.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter: @Ryan_Kostecka
Pac-12 Rankings: Arizona and Oregon take top two seeds of upcoming tournament
Ryan Kostecka
March 7, 2015
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