Bracketology 2024: Gonzaga, Michigan State and Nevada among week's biggest winners

Washington State Cougars

The Bracketology picture in the Pac-12 is both simple and complicated. The Arizona Wildcats are a lock, currently in contention for a 1 seed. No one else is “safe” with four other teams on the bubble. Wazzu is one of them, with a Quad 3 setback to Santa Clara on its resume.

The good news for the Cougars is that they’ve largely handled business in league play, including getting the needed home win over Arizona. They had a recent three-game road trip, getting the needed wins over Oregon State and Washington to avoid another blemish on its resume.

What moved the needle for Washington State was the latest road victory, a 62-56 result over Oregon. Four players had at least 12 points, led by 21 points from freshman Myles Rice. It’s a Quad 1 victory, giving the Cougars a 4-3 record versus Quad 1 teams. With a top-40 NET ranking and just one not-so-great loss, they’ve moved themselves right into the thick of the at-large conversation.

The rest of the schedule is mostly winnable, as long as Washington State doesn’t drop the ball. They have a pair of winnable home games coming up, taking on Cal and Stanford. Both teams have played well as of late but Wazzu needs to find a way to not take a Quad 3 defeat.