Pac-12 basketball tournament 2013 schedule and bracket: Stanford vs. ASU headlines 1st round

The Pac-12 has taken great strides forward this season after experiencing a down year in 2012. With as many as six teams looking to claim a bid to the NCAA Tournament, fans should expect the unexpected at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas this week.

On Wednesday, the first round of the tournament will commence. Four games are on the slate, with the top four seeds, UCLA, California, Oregon and Arizona, all receiving a bye.

No. 8 seed Stanford and No. 9 Arizona State will meet for the day’s first game. These two teams are considered to be on the bubble for the Big Dance, although they’ll likely need to win the Pac-12’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament to do so. The winner of ASU and Stanford will face UCLA on Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.

The second game of the day, at 5:30 p.m., is No. 5 Colorado vs. No. 12 Oregon State. The Beavers did not play well for most of the regular season, although they managed to defeat Colorado just five days ago in Boulder. Andre Roberson, who missed Saturday’s game with an illness, is expected to start. The winner of this game plays Arizona.

At 9 p.m., No. 7 USC will take on No. 10 Utah. The winner will play California in the next round. The first round will then wrap up at 11:30 p.m. when No. 6 Washington takes on rival No. 11 Washington State. Oregon will take on the victor of this one. Here is a full look at the Pac-12 Tournament bracket.

3 p.m.: No. 8 Stanford vs. No. 9 Arizona State
5:30 p.m.: No. 5 Colorado vs. No. 12 Oregon State
9 p.m.: No. 10 USC vs. No. 10 Utah
11:30 p.m.: No. 6 Washington vs. No. 11 Washington State

3 p.m.: No. 1 UCLA vs. Stanford/ASU (Game 1)
5:30 p.m.: No. 4 Arizona vs. Colorado/OSU (Game 2)
9 p.m.: No. 2 California vs. USC/Utah (Game 3)
11:30 p.m.: No. 3 Oregon vs. Washington/USC (Game 4)

9 p.m.: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
11:30 p.m.: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner

11 p.m.: Semifinals Winners

• Tracking the NCAA Tournament auto-bids

• The latest Bracketology

• Projecting the bracket with Easy Bubble Solver