With Oregon men’s basketball eliminated from March Madness, there are three teams in the conference that have a solidified spot in the bracket.
On its senior night last Saturday, No. 2 Arizona defeated California to become the 2021-22 Pac-12 conference champion. About a week later, they took down UCLA in the finals of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas. The Wildcats will hold the No. 1 seed in the South region when the tournament kicks off this week.
Arizona was consistent from start to finish this season, going 31-3 with losses at No. 9 Tennessee, at No. 11 UCLA and at Colorado. The Wildcats were a perfect 20-0 at home and held a stellar 18-2 conference record.
Freshman guard Benedict Mathurin was the Wildcats’ star throughout the campaign, averaging 17.3 points per game off 46.8% shooting in the regular season. Games like his 30 point performance against Illinois helped him to be one of the 15 nominees for the Wooden Award for most outstanding college basketball player.
Forward Azuolas Tubelis also averaged 14.7 points off 55% shooting, and center Christian Koloko went for 11.8 points on 61.5% shooting this season.
The Wildcats will be on everyone’s radar heading into the tournament, as they finished the regular season with three blowout wins, including a 20 point rout at USC. A few games later, they capped off the season with a 28 point win over Cal.
Last year, UCLA was one of March’s Cinderella stories, making it to the final four after beginning the tournament as a play-in 11 seed. This year, the Bruins are expected to make some noise in the tournament, seeded at 4 finishing the season ranked No. 11 with a 25-7 overall and 15-5 conference record.
The Bruins were ranked in the top-5 for a majority of the season, going 16-2 in their first 18 games before hitting a rough patch in early February, losing three in a four-game stretch.
Even with two losses to Oregon and one against Arizona State this season, UCLA has still managed to build a strong resume.
On every metric of the NCAA team sheet, the Bruins rank in the top 16, including a top-10 ranking in both KenPom and BPI. Big wins against No. 2 Arizona and No. 8 Villanova also boosted their profile, as they don’t have any losses lower than quadrant 2. They are 11-6 against quadrants 1 and 2.
The Bruins are getting healthy and into rhythm at the right time. They’ve won eight of their last ten and got their star Johnny Juzang back after he missed three of five games before returning against USC in their final regular season game.
Juzang leads the team in points per game with 16.7. Jaime Jaquez Jr. is second, with 13.3 points per game off 48% shooting. Tournament experience makes UCLA dangerous, with returning players like Juzang, Jaquez Jr. and Tyger Campell trying to replicate last year’s run.
No. 22 USC will also be in the tournament, but seem to be sliding at the wrong time. The Trojans started the season 13-0 and finished with a 26-7 overall record, going 14-6 in conference play.
The last four regular season games are a show of concern for USC’s tournament hopes. After going to overtime against the 3-27 Beavers and defeating Oregon by 1, the Trojans lost to both No. 2 Arizona and No. 11 UCLA to finish third in the Pac-12. They then fell to UCLA again in the semi finals of the Pac-12 tournament.
Going only 1-4 against ranked teams this season, USC still has a good foundation to be successful in March.
Forward Isaiah Mobley is a force in the paint, averaging 14.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Along with Mobley, guard Drew Peterson has proved to be a big time player with 12.5 points per game off 46.4% shooting.
Peterson has shown his ability to shine in big time moments, hitting a game winning 3 in a hostile environment in Eugene to cap off a 20 point performance.
USC secured a 7 seed in the bracket and will face 10 seed Miami in the round of 64.
Compared to other power conferences, the Pac-12 doesn’t have the volume in terms of tournament teams. The three that got a bid will try and represent the conference with deep runs into the bracket.
