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Bracketology: How many Pac-12 teams will make the NCAA Tournament?

By Patrick Schmidt

PALO ALTO, CA - FEBRUARY 01: Oregon Ducks guard Payton Pritchard (3) during the NCAA men's basketball game between the Oregon Ducks and the Stanford Cardinal at Maples Pavilion on February 1, 2020. (Photo by Cody Glenn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CA - FEBRUARY 01: Oregon Ducks guard Payton Pritchard (3) during the NCAA men's basketball game between the Oregon Ducks and the Stanford Cardinal at Maples Pavilion on February 1, 2020. (Photo by Cody Glenn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Bracketology update for the Pac-12 which might be the worst of all the major conferences. How many Pac-12 teams will make the NCAA Tournament?

Pac-12 perception problem persists.

The downward turn for the former conference of champions continues as the Pac-12 is at the bottom of this week’s conference power rankings. It might also leave the conference with as little as two teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Colorado is atop the Pac-12 standings after winning three straight and Oregon dropped two straight. The Buffs are the closest thing to a lock in the Pac-12 entering Thursday’s showdown with the Ducks in Eugene.

Oregon is still a lock despite struggling in the last week. Peyton Pritchard is one of the top players in the country but the lack of support he’s received this year could cost the Ducks in March. That said, Pritchard is fully capable of turning into a superhero and carrying the team on his back to the second weekend.

These two teams are most likely looking at a five or six seed depending on how the next month shakes out.

On the outside looking in

Arizona – The Wildcats used to run this conference and you could pencil them in for a trip to the Sweet 16 nearly every year. That’s not the case anymore. Arizona has had some curious losses (St. John’s, Oregon State and a 13-point home loss to a pedestrian UCLA) but the rest of their resume should still be good enough to qualify for a No. 10 or No. 11 seed. That could put them in jeopardy of having to play in the First Round games to get to the real first round on that Thursday or Friday. Arizona has some talent and a coach who has won in the Tournament before, but there’s not a lot of optimism around the program they’ll amount to anything other than first round fodder.

USC – The Trojans are 17-7 overall but haven’t impressed in the conference (6-5) and their remaining schedule doesn’t have many opportunities to enhance their resume. Winning out and making the Pac-12 Championship Game might be enough to move the Trojans off the double-digit seed line to a more comfortable spot on the eight or nine-line.

Stanford – The Cardinal have dropped five of their last six games to drop to 5-5 in the Pac-12 but the saving grace is the win in that span was against Oregon. Stanford has games with Arizona and Arizona State upcoming and a sweep of those could be the boost they need to secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens in the Pac-12 Tournament.

Arizona State – Is Bobby Hurley‘s team going to have to sweat out another Selection Sunday? It’s looking that way after the Sun Devils picked up three straight wins to get to 6-4 in the conference and 15-8 overall. There is still work to do in order to lock up a bid and avoid playing in one of the play-in games. Games at Stanford and Cal this week will go a long way toward determining their bubble fate.

Pac-12 Bracketology tally

Five. Colorado, Buffalo, Arizona and Stanford make the cut.

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