Pac 12 Basketball: Who wins regular season crown?

Mar 12, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Detail view of the Pac-12 Wilson basketball on top of the Pac-12 logo court decal during the first half between the Stanford Cardinal and the Washington State Cougars in the first round of the Pac-12 Conference Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Cardinal defeated the Cougars 74-63. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Pac 12 basketball is always competitive, and this season is certainly no exception, with several teams in the running to win the conference.

After Saturday’s slate of games, Oregon and Arizona – who are both ranked in the Top 25 in both polls – sit atop the conference standings at 10-4. However, Utah is breathing right down their necks at 9-5 with a match-up against USC on Sunday afternoon, while USC and Cal are right behind Utah at 8-5 in the conference.

The Pac 12 is pretty much a five team race between those schools, but the odds are it will boil down to either Arizona or Oregon. Unfortunately these two teams won’t face off anymore in the regular season, but might meet up in the Pac 12 Tournament. Oregon did beat Arizona in their lone match-up earlier this season, where the Ducks won 83-75 in Arizona.

Oregon will take on Washington State and Washington at home before finishing the season on the road against UCLA and USC. Arizona might have a little tougher finish to their season, with remaining games against Colorado and Utah on the road, then finishing up at home with games against Cal and Stanford before the start of the PAC 12 Conference Tournament.

With a win over USC on Sunday, Utah will improve to 10-5 in the Conference and move just a half game behind the two leaders, but USC is no easy task. The Trojans defeated Arizona earlier this season in a thrilling quadruple-overtime game at home before losing to Arizona on the road just last Sunday.

Utah finishes the season with games against USC, Arizona State, Arizona and Colorado, while USC has games against Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Oregon, after Sunday’s game against Utah.

Feb 21, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Utah Utes forward Jakob Poeltl (42) scores past USC Trojans forward Chimezie Metu (4) in the second half of the game at Galen Center. Utah won 80-69. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

In short, the Pac 12 race is wide open.

Utah has played well all season and has a signature win against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, while USC has been a big surprise in the always dangerous PAC 12. The Trojans have key wins against Wichita State and Arizona to add to their resume. It is safe to say the PAC 12 will get all five of these teams in the NCAA Tournament, and quite possibly Colorado as well, who sits at 19-9 overall with huge wins against Oregon and Cal.

UCLA might have the most impressive non-conference resume with wins against Kentucky and Gonzaga, but have sputtered down the stretch in conference play. The Bruins are 6-8 in the Pac 12 and their overall record sits at 15-12. The Bruins have lost six of their last ten games, and are tied with Stanford and Oregon State for fifth in the conference

More busting brackets: Busting Bracketology 2.0

The Pac 12 Conference never fails to disappoint, and this year might be one of the best in recent memory. Who will come out on top and get the number 1 seed for the PAC 12 Conference Tournament?

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