Bracketology: Bubble Watch, Conference Tournament Week One

Pac-12

Lead-Pipe Lock: Arizona, Oregon, UCLA

Some Perspiration: None.

Better Double-Up on the Deodorant: USC, California

USC Trojans, 21-8 (8-8): The Trojans are on a downwards spiral right now. The team that started this season 14-0, is now just 7-8 since, which is including a stretch of four consecutive losses. It is one thing to lose in back-to-back-to-back games against top-10 opponents, but then the Trojans needed to follow that up by taking advantage of a weak opponent in Arizona State. But, they didn’t. In fact, USC lost to Arizona State, and they fell even further, now firmly on the bubble as a team that is awfully close to dropping out of the projected field. They have a very easy final two games and they cannot afford to drop either one.

Record vs. RPI top-50: 2-5          Record vs. RPI 50-100: 3-2

Monday seed: 11      RPI: 39     SOS: 63

Bad losses: at Utah, at Arizona State

Remaining schedule: vs. Washington State (3/1), vs. Washington (3/4)

California Golden Bears, 19-9 (10-6): The major thing going against Cal on their resume is their lack of quality wins. The team lacks that one signature win that a bubble team needs, so it is vital that the Golden Bears get one of those in the Pac-12 tournament. However, if they can’t go 2-0 to finish the regular season, they might need two of those signature wins to stay in the projected field.

Record vs. RPI top-50: 1-7          Record vs. RPI 50-100: 3-2

Monday seed: 12      RPI: 51     SOS: 46

Bad losses: @ San Diego State, at Stanford

Remaining schedule: at Utah (3/2), at Colorado (3/4)