Pac-12 MBB Conference Tournament Predictions

March! March is here and the whole sports world turns its attention to college basketball. Before March Madness, conference tournaments make or break bubble teams, determine national seeding, and occasionally birth underdogs known as "bid stealers." In this article, I break down the Pac-12 tournament, featuring projected #1 seed Arizona and many teams looking to become the 2022 version of 2021 Oregon State.

First Round (3/9)

8 Arizona State over 9 Stanford

5 Oregon over 12 Oregon State

7 Washington State over 10 California

6 Washington over 11 Utah

Analysis: Arizona State just beat Stanford less than a week ago, which presents the challenge of beating a team twice in a short period of time. However, the Sun Devils have been on fire, winning eight of their last eleven games (with two of those losses against mighty Arizona and UCLA). On the flip side, Stanford has won only three of their last eleven games. Grad transfer G Marreon Jackson has found his footing in Tempe and I like the Sun Devils to overcome Stanford. Oregon State had a miraculous run to a Pac-12 title and Sweet Sixteen run in 2021, but the 2022 Beavers are very bad. Oregon has struggled as of late, but it would take an incredible performance for the Beavers to actually win the game. I'll go out on a limb and say Oregon State keeps it close, but the Ducks prevail. Cal kept both regular season matchups close with Washington State, but the Golden Bears have one of the worst offenses in all of college basketball. Washington State isn't elite offensively, but I believe the Cougars can easily handle California. Utah has not been a good team this year, but with a big man that can shoot like Branden Carlson, you can't take the Utes lightly. Washington won both regular season matchups, but Utah pushed the Huskies to the brink. For all of this Utah love, Washington G Terrell Brown is one of the best players in the conference and should lead them to a victory.

Quarterfinals (3/10)

1 Arizona over 8 Arizona State

5 Oregon over 4 Colorado

2 UCLA over 7 Washington State

6 Washington over 3 USC

Analysis: Moving on to the quarters, we get the matchup of in-state rivals between Arizona and Arizona State. The Sun Devils competed with the Wildcats in their regular season matchups, and they have been playing great basketball, but Arizona is just too good. Big men Christian Koloko and Azuolas Tubelis can dominate a smaller Arizona State team. ASU has cinderella run all over them, but with such a brutal draw, I have the Sun Devils as a second round exit. Oregon has looked dreadful in March, but this is a talented basketball team. Colorado has (generally) looked great recently, but it's hard to pick against Dana Altman come tournament time. I'm gonna roll with the Ducks in a back-and-forth affair. Washington State has been a solid team, but has struggled to find consistency. Meanwhile, UCLA has been consistently terrific throughout the year, ranking top fifteen in both offense and defense per KenPom. I like the Bruins to rout the Cougars. USC has been a pleasant surprise this season and has the roster to make a run in both this tournament and in the NCAA Tournament. Washington has been a very average team, but with a difference maker like Terrell Brown, I have a gut feeling the Huskies will pull off the upset.

Semifinals (3/11)

1 Arizona over 5 Oregon

6 Washington over 2 UCLA

Analysis: Oregon nearly downed Arizona in Tucson a few weeks ago, but I have a hard time seeing them replicate that (near) success. Oregon is a subpar defensive team and doesn't have the personnel to slow down Azuolas Tubelis and Christian Koloko. Wildcats move on to the title game. In the other semifinal game, Washington draws another LA school in UCLA. UCLA blew out Washington in their regular season meeting, and once again, all signs point to the Huskies losing. However, this team really gives me the vibes of the 2021 Oregon State Beavers, with Terrell Brown being this year's version of Ethan Thompson. I'm going bold and taking Washington to advance to the championship matchup.

Championship (3/12)

1 Arizona over 6 Washington

Analysis: I would love to see Arizona lose and the Pac-12 to steal a fourth bid, but I think Washington's cinderella run ends here. Washington was blown out by Arizona at Alaska Airlines Arena in mid-February as they failed to contain Pac-12 Player of the Year G Bennedict Mathurin. I've raved about Terrell Brown for Washington, but Arizona can stick the Sophomore G/F Dalen Terry, one of the better defenders in the conference, on Brown to slow him down. In a lackluster championship game, I have the Wildcats cutting down the nets in Las Vegas over the Huskies in dominant fashion.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! Can a fourth team steal a bid? Which LA team will have more success? Who do you have winning it all? Let me know in the comments down below!

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Note: Thank you to FanDuel for the graphic provided at the top of the article