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Pac-12 Tournament Preview: 12 Teams Battle It Out in Las Vegas

By Sean Bialaszek

Oct 15, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; General view of the Pac-12 100th anniversary logo at Pac-12 Media Day at Pac-12 Studios. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 15, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; General view of the Pac-12 100th anniversary logo at Pac-12 Media Day at Pac-12 Studios. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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12 teams head to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament, looking to prove their supremacy in the Conference of Champions.

The Pac-12 regular season has come to a close, and now the 12 teams that compose the Conference of Champions (Bill Walton‘s three favorite words) head to Sin City looking to prove that they are the true champions of the conference. The bracket is set, and over four days at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, 11 teams will come away with nothing but a trip to the Entertainment Capital of the World. One will stand head and shoulders above the rest as the best in the west.

Home and away records matter no more, with every game being played on a neutral court. That’s not necessarily good news for everyone, as the Cal Golden Bears and Oregon Ducks finished the regular season undefeated at home in 18 games, the Colorado Buffaloes, Arizona Wildcats, and Utah Utes suffered one loss at home, and the USC Trojans lost only twice. But on the other hand, they also don’t have to deal with away crowds either. Cal isn’t completely unfamiliar to playing in Las Vegas, however. They took part in the Las Vegas Invitational earlier in the season, played about 10 minutes away from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Orleans Arena, but lost both contests.

Here is the tournament schedule for the four-day experience in Las Vegas:

Wednesday, March 9th:

All four games on this day will be televised on the Pac-12 Network, and all times listed are Pacific.

12 PM: #8 Washington Huskies vs. #9 Stanford Cardinal

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The Cardinal and the Huskies met once in the regular season, with Washington coming away with a 64-53 win on February 20th. Freshman guard Dejounte Murray scored 25 points to lead the Huskies to victory.

2:30 PM: #5 Colorado Buffaloes vs. #12 Washington State Cougars

These two butted heads twice, with Colorado coming away victorious on both occasions. The second matchup was a double-overtime affair, where Colorado outscored Wazzu 10-3 in the second extra period to send the Cougars to their 10th straight loss.

6 PM: #7 USC Trojans vs. #10 UCLA Bruins

USC and UCLA got together twice this season, with USC taking the first leg by 14 points and the second leg by 19 points. That’s a big turnaround from the 2014-2015 season, when UCLA beat USC three times by an average of 18 points.

8:30 PM: #6 Oregon State Beavers vs. #11 Arizona State Sun Devils

The first day of action concludes with the Beavers and the Sun Devils battling for the final spot in the quarterfinal round. Arizona State put a beating on Oregon State on January 28th, winning by 18 points for their third-biggest margin of victory of the season.

Thursday, March 10th:

The four highest seeded teams will play on Thursday after an earned bye on Wednesday. The first three games of the day will be shown on the Pac-12 Network, and the final game taking place on Fox Sports 1.

12 PM: #1 Oregon Ducks vs. the winner of Stanford/Washington

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Oregon, the Pac-12’s regular season champion, will kick off the second day of the tournament, facing the winner of the eighth seed/ninth seed matchup. The Ducks split the season series with the Cardinal, losing on January 10th but bouncing back with a win on February 13th. Oregon handled Washington for a 13-point win on February 28th, led by senior forward Elgin Cook, who scored 26 points on 8-13 shooting from the field, and 10-11 shooting from the line.

2:30 PM: #4 Arizona Wildcats vs. the winner of Colorado/Washington State

The Wildcats take on the winner of the matchup between the five seed, the highest seed without a bye on day one, and the 12 seed, the last-place finisher in the Pac-12 regular season. Arizona lost to Colorado 75-72 on the Buffaloes’ home court on February 24th. They swept two games against Wazzu, winning by 15 and 24 points, respectively. Senior forward Ryan Anderson scored 45 points in the pair of games, including a college career-high 31 on February 3rd.

6:00 PM: #2 Utah Utes vs. the winner of USC/UCLA

The Utes, a Sweet Sixteen team a season ago, host the winner of the 7/10 matchup. Utah beat USC by 11 points on February 21st, led by 29 points from sophomore forward Jakob Poeltl, his second-best scoring output of the year. Against UCLA on February 18th, Utah nearly blew a 14-point second half lead, but held on to win 75-73.

8:30 PM: #3 California Golden Bears vs. the winner of Oregon State/Arizona State

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    • The Bears, featuring one of the most dramatic home/road record splits in the conference, will be the only top-seeded team guaranteed to play on Fox Sports 1, against either the Beavers or the Sun Devils. Cal could face Arizona State twice in a row if they pull off the upset, and could go for the three-game season series sweep. Cal and Oregon State split the regular season tilt at a game apiece, and the winner of the series will be decided on a neutral court if this is the matchup.

    Friday, March 11th:

    The final four teams will compete on Friday, looking to move on to the championship game the next day. The first game will be shown on the Pac-12 Network, and the second shown on Fox Sports 1.

    6:00 PM: winner of Oregon and Washington/Stanford VS. winner of Arizona and Colorado/Washington State

    This game could potentially feature a rematch of the Pac-12 Tournament Championship game from 2015, when the Ducks and Wildcats met. Arizona dominated the matchup, winning 80-52 to claim their fifth tournament championship.

    8:30 PM: winner of Utah and USC/UCLA VS. winner of Cal and Oregon State/Arizona State

    Utah is one of the two teams, along with Wazzu, to have never been in the conference tournament championship game, but being the highest seed on this side of the bracket gives them a bit of an advantage. Including Utah, four of the five teams that haven’t won a conference tournament are on this side of the bracket, along with Arizona State, Oregon State, and Cal.

    Next: Bears Clinch First-Round Bye by Beating ASU

    Saturday, March 12th:

    On Saturday, the tournament comes to a close when the last two teams standing battle at 7 PM on Fox Sports 1. Along with major bragging rights for the next year, the winner of the tournament earns an automatic bid to compete in the NCAA Tournament. Maybe March Madness can start a little early, and a lower-seeded team can punch their ticket as the champion in the Conference of Champions.

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