The Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas came on the heels of an all-in-all underwhelming year for the league. Arizona was the favorite despite the NCAA and legal chaos that surrounds Sean Miller’s program. Miller briefly sat out before the end of the regular season, after a report said he’d discussed a $100,000 payment to likely All-American center Deandre Ayton.
Pac-12 Tournament 2018: Bracket, schedule, scores, teams, and more
All the essentials about the Pac-12’s men’s basketball tournament are here.
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The budding scandal hasn’t affected the Wildcats’ play, and it was Ayton who dominated throughout, including 32 points and 18 rebounds to beat USC in the conference championship game.
UCLA, fighting for the chance to earn a spot in the big dance, has suffered through an up-and-down season, and a weakened Pac-12 has given them limited opportunities to notch quality wins. The Bruins gamely took Arizona to overtime in Friday’s semifinal matchup, but were outclassed by the Wildcats 11-0 in the extra period.
No. 2 seed USC, whose spot in the NCAA Tournament is even more perilous than UCLA’s, beat Oregon by 20 points in the semifinals and now await their NCAA fate.
The Stakes
The league entered the tournament with just one NCAA tournament lock, Arizona. USC and UCLA were likelier than not to make the field, while Arizona State and Utah were squarely on the bubble. That bubble may have burst for the Sun Devils, who lost in the opening round to Colorado Buffaloes. ASU was ranked as high as No. 3 in the country this season but lost five of their last six games.
Every team except the Wildcats will play the tournament without knowing for sure if they’ve got a place in March Madness. That could lead to some urgency and make for a fun tournament in what’s been the worst power conference during the 2017-18 season.
Arizona figures to be somewhere in the 3-5 seed range, entering the tournament with seven losses. A tournament win could bump the Wildcats up a few lines. SB Nation bracketologist Chris Dobbertean had the Cats as a No. 4 on the eve of the league tournament.
The Format
Every game is at a neutral site — specifically, T-Mobile Arena in Vegas. The top four seeds get byes into the quarterfinals, while eight teams play first-round games on Wednesday for the right to join them. There are games every day from Wednesday through Saturday, when the tourney wraps up with a late-night-on-the-East Coast championship game.
The Bracket and Schedule
A full bracket is here, with TV information enclosed. Bracket times are Pacific:
Times in the schedule below are Eastern:
Round 1: Wednesday, March 7
- No. 8 Colorado 97, No. 9 Arizona State 85
- No. 5 Stanford 76, No. 12 Cal 58
- No. 10 Oregon State 69, No. 7 Washington 66
- No. 6 Oregon 64, No. 11 Washington State 62 (OT)
Quarterfinals: Thursday, March 8
- No. 1 Arizona 83, No. 8 Colorado 67
- No. 4 UCLA 88, No. 5 Stanford 77
- No. 2 USC 61, No 10 Oregon State 48
- No. 6 Oregon 68, No. 3 Utah 66
Semifinals: Friday, March 9
- No. 1 Arizona 78, No. 4 UCLA 67 (OT)
- No. 2 USC 74, No. 6 Oregon 54
Final: Saturday, March 10
- Championship game: No. 1 Arizona 75, No. 2 USC 61
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