Pac-12 Tournament Predictions: Arizona is King of the Hill
By Daniel Tran
The Pac-12 Tournament will not have the same star power it possessed last year, and with that comes a three-team competition of the Pac-12 Tournament crown.
Other than the SEC, which sports the best team in the country, the Pac-12 Conference is the biggest formality heading into March Madness. The Arizona Wildcats stand alone as the conference’s best team, winning the regular season Pac-12 Title outright by going 16-2 during conference play and finishing the season with a 28-3 record.
The Utah Utes had the best chance to challenge Arizona on top of the Pac-12 mountain, only to fall when all the chips were on the table, losing three of their last five conference games, including one to the Wildcats. The Oregon Ducks are trending in the opposite direction, winning five straight to close out the conference play, including wins against Utah and Stanford.
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With only those three teams currently slated to make the NCAA Tournament according to the latest Busting Bracketology, the conference has failed to follow up on last years’ performance, which netted them six NCAA Tournament bids. As a result, the conference has become a bread appetizer for the NCAA Tournament: it is not something you really wanted, but if it is there for free, you might as well take it.
Nevertheless basketball brings a certain degree of uncertainty, and truly anything can happen in the Pac-12 Tournament. Here are the statuses of each team going into the one-and-done contest, and where they will be eliminated.
Next: First Four Out