NCAA Basketball: Washington State, Colorado State headlines Sunday Mailbag
By Bryan Mauro
Who else emerges from the Pac 12 as an at-large besides USC, UCLA, and Arizona? – Patrick Madden (@TheSportsJD)
The obvious choice would be Oregon because at some point the Ducks have to start playing better right? I am not overly convinced that Oregon is going to do enough the rest of the way to put together a good enough resume to get an at-large bid. They may still make the tournament as they win the league but that is a different question.
The team that looks the best for the at-large bid at this point is the Washington State Cougars. The Cougars do not have a good win right now, but they also do not have a bad loss on their resume either. They have beaten the teams they were supposed to and have lost to two teams they should have beaten in South Dakota State and New Mexico State, but neither of those games is going to be a bad loss. The Cougars are a capable team in the Pac 12 and are good enough to rack up some good wins that could see them on the bubble come March.
Washington State currently has a net ranking of 60 and that is going to be right on the cut line. Given their schedule the rest of the way they have a tremendous opportunity to find themselves on the right side of the bubble. Arizona, USC, Utah, and UCLA are all Quad 1 wins. The rest of the league outside of Washington and Oregon State are all quad 2 wins.
If Washington State wants to make the NCAA tournament as an at-large they can not lose to Oregon State or Washington. If they can do that and pull off a big win or two they will find themselves right on the bubble.