Three Pac-12 teams turned on the Selection Show Sunday knowing they’d hear their names called. A fourth turned it on probably expecting to be disappointed. Below we’ll break down those four conference teams, from highest seed to lowest.
Arizona’s Path To The Elite Eight Makes the Wildcats the NCAA’s Unofficial Fifth #1 Seed (USA Today)
Arizona (#2 seed, West Region). The Wildcats certainly have the type of resume that would have landed them squarely on the #1 seed line in most seasons. But in a year with many qualified contenders for the top line, Arizona has no reason to be disappointed. The Wildcats got a #2 seed out West where they’ll play first weekend games in Portland before advancing to the regional in Los Angeles. Fan support in both places will be high, so it’s realistic to view Arizona as this year’s fifth #1 seed. Now that certainly doesn’t mean we can pencil them into the Final Four because, you see, that #1 seed in their region is none other than Wisconsin, a high-caliber team in their own right. Over the weekend in Las Vegas, Sean Miller‘s program exorcised the demon of not having won a Pac-12 Tournament since 2002. For Miller to kill off that other big demon – the tag of being the best head coach to have never made a Final Four – the Wildcats may get a chance to avenge last year’s overtime regional final loss to Wisconsin, again in the Elite Eight.
Utah (#5 seed, South Region). On the morning of Sunday, February 22, the Utes were pretty strongly locked into a #3 seed with a puncher’s chance of improving to a #2 seed — they lost by 11 points that afternoon at Oregon. From that point on they alternated wins and losses, including a regular season-ending defeat at Washington that was probably the final nail in the coffin for a #3 seed. When Delon Wright lost Joseph Young in transition as time ran out in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals on Friday night, hopes for a #4 seed were lost as well. Now the Utes face the very dangerous prospect of playing #12 seed Stephen F. Austin (29-4, KenPom #35) in Portland to open the NCAA Tournament. The Lumberjacks have lost exactly once in their past 29 games and — just ask Northern Iowa — are quite capable of knocking off quality teams. If the Utes make it out of that opening round, they could run into an interesting Georgetown team over the weekend. And if they’re fortunate enough to advance to the second weekend in Houston, they very well could have to face Duke in the Sweet Sixteen. But Utah, don’t let me catch you complaining; you played yourself into the seed you got.
Delon Wright And The Utes Have Played Their Way into a Tough Position (Kelley L. Cox, USA Today Sports)
Oregon (#8 seed, West Region). Getting a #8 seed and being shipped to Omaha to face Oklahoma State isn’t exactly a gift. And should the Ducks knock off the Cowboys in the opener, they’ll almost certainly be rewarded with a date with Wisconsin over the weekend. Here’s the thing about Oregon: When you’ve got a guy like Joseph Young on your team, you have a shooter’s chance at beating just about anybody. Heck, just last year in the Round of 32, the Ducks were very much the Badgers’ equal for just about 40 minutes in Milwaukee. Don’t think for a second that Oregon is afraid of Wisconsin; but at the same time, you can be sure that the Badgers wouldn’t look past such an opponent.
UCLA (#11 seed, South Region). Let’s get this out of the way: UCLA doesn’t deserve to be in this field. An RPI of #51. A record of 5-10 against top-100 RPI teams. No significant road wins. The Bruins had all sorts of chances to build a successful season-long resume and struck out. How about letting a non-Power-Five team(ahem, Colorado State) in ahead of the Bruins every single time? Okay, now that that’s out of the way: UCLA can make a run. SMU is a fine team that’s had a fine year. They’ve got some ballers in guys like Nic Moore and Markus Kennedy. But in no way is a Bruins team with at least two guys – Norman Powell and Kevon Looney – who will be playing in the NBA next season afraid of this team. If UCLA can bring forth the intelligence and intensity with which they played Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals on Friday night, Steve Alford’s team can very much beat the Mustangs. But, as we’ve seen time and time again from this inconsistent team (most recently when it dropped a roadie at Arizona State that could have gone a long way towards making today a whole lot less stressful), UCLA is very much capable of finding ways to lose games.