How many Pac-12 Basketball teams made the 2023 NCAA Tournament?

Pac-12 Basketball was good at the top with Arizona and UCLA, but after that, it was a bunch of middling resumes that in the end saw the conference earn just four bids to the NCAA Tournament. The conference has sent just one team to the Final Four since 2008, UCLA back in 2021 when they began their journey in the First Four. The “Conference of Champions” has struggled to make an impact in the NCAA Tournament over the last two decades. This year the conference has two teams on the No. 2 seed line looking to make a deep run. Let’s take a look at the teams who made the 2023 field.

Arizona Wildcats – No. 2 seed South Region

The No. 2 seed in the South region is the Pac-12 champions Arizona Wildcats who exacted some revenge on the UCLA Bruins to take home the title. They begin their quest for a bigger title with a game against Ivy League champion Princeton. If you like offense, you are going to love Arizona. The Wildcats put up 83 points per game, shooting 50% from the field and 38% from three-point land. With Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo they have a top 1-2 combo in the frontcourt and a guard trio of Kerr Kriisa, Pelle Larsson, and Courtney Ramey they have deadly balance. Metrically, they rank 14th or better in offensive efficiency, effective field goal percentage, and three, and two-point percentage.

UCLA Bruins-No. 2 seed West Region

The Pac-12 runners-up UCLA Bruins are the No. 2 seed in the West region and have a first-round game with UNC-Asheville. The Bruins got some bad news during the conference tournament when one of the best defensive players in the country Jaylen Clark went down with an injury. Prior to the loss in the finals to Arizona, Mick Cronin’s team had won 12 in a row and creeping into the conversation for a No. 1 seed. With Clark’s injury look for freshmen Adem Bona and Amari Bailey to step into more prominent roles in the tournament. Keep an eye on the Bruins defensively as they are the No. 1 team in the country in defensive efficiency thanks in large part to active hands that has them 3rd in the country in steal percentage.

USC Trojans –  No. 10 seed East Region

The No. 10 seed in the East Region is the USC Trojans who will do battle with the Michigan State Spartans. Defense is the calling card for the Trojans who are in the top 10 in both effective field goal percentage defense and two-point defense. They are also one of the tallest teams in college basketball which lends itself to success in those categories. Offensively Drew Peterson and Boogie Ellis average nearly half of the team’s 73 points per game and the 6’9 Peterson leads the team in rebounding, pulling down over six per game.

Arizona State Sun Devils – No. 11 seed West Region

The final Pac-12 team to make the field is the No. 11 seed in the West, Arizona State. The Sun Devils were one of the last four teams to make the field so their first game will be in Dayton against Nevada, with the winner taking No. 6 TCU. On Feb. 2 Arizona State beat Oregon State to move to 15-3 and 6-1 in the Pac-12, but since then they finished 7-9 over their last 16 games.

They say everything matters in a resume, but for Arizona State, their tournament life could’ve come down to one shot, a halfcourt heave from Desmond Cambridge to beat Arizona.  On offense, they don’t score a bunch of points at 70 per game, but they are balanced as six guys put in at least nine per game, but if they are to face TCU, it’ll be their defense that gets them by Nevada.