Pac-12 Basketball Tournament Schedule And Predictions
Jan 2, 2014; Boulder, CO, USA; A general view of the Pac 12 logo before the start of the game between the Oregon State Beavers and the Colorado Buffaloes at Coors Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Guess what time it is? TOURNAMENT TIME! The Pac-12 season is over and the seedings are set. Here is the schedule for the next week’s tournament taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada.
First Round, Wednesday, March 12, All Times PT
12:00 p.m., 9 Washington Vs. 8 Utah
2:30 p.m., 12 USC Vs. 5 Colorado
6:00 p.m., 10 Oregon State Vs. 7 Oregon
8:30 p.m., 11 Washington State Vs. 6 Stanford
Second Round, Thursday, March 13
12:00 p.m., 1 Arizona Vs. UW/Utah winner
2:30 p.m., 4 Cal Vs. USC/Colorado winner
6:00 p.m., 2 UCLA Vs. OSU/Oregon winner
8:30 p.m., 3 Arizona State Vs. WSU/Stanford winner
Semifinal Round, Friday, March 14
Game1, 6:00 p.m.
Game 2, 8:30 p.m.
Final, Saturday, March 15
Pac-12 Championship Game, 3:00 p.m.
So there is your schedule, but who is going to go all the way? Let us dive right into those predictions now.
First Round:
Utah defeats Washington
Colorado defeats USC
Oregon defeats Oregon State
Stanford defeats Washington State
Second Round:
Utah vs Arizona
Utah has definitely improved this season, but they will have to go through the top team in the conference to have a shot at the Pac-12 Tournament Championship and at this point, that does not seem likely.
Utah 57 Arizona 76
Colorado vs Cal
Colorado has been hanging on for dear life since losing Spencer Dinwiddie and has some noble efforts this season in doing so. Luckily they get Cal in the second round who has been more inconsistent than the Buffaloes. We call Colorado in this one.
Colorado 66 Cal 59
Oregon vs UCLA
UCLA lost to Oregon last week with starters Jordan Adams and Kyle Anderson suspended for the game. Oregon may be on a 7-game win streak, but they looked horrible in 2OT win against the Bruins. Do not expect the same thing as the UCLA starters will be ready for their first post-season game looking for revenge.
Oregon 62 UCLA 74
Stanford vs Arizona State
These two teams split the season series and in the end, ASU had what it takes to get that top 4 seeding. This could be the most interesting game of the 2nd round as both ended their conference with a 10-8 record, but ASU has the distinct win against Arizona on their resume. Still, this is a whole new ball game.
Stanford 72 ASU 66
Semifinals:
Colorado vs Arizona
If Colorado was 100%, this would be the game of the weekend. These two teams have started a bit of a rivalry in the early stages of the Pac-12, but right now, Arizona is the team to beat. Without Dinwiddie, Colorado does not have the best chance to defeat Arizona.
Colorado 63 Arizona 77
Stanford vs UCLA
This prediction might need to be made with a coin-flip. These two teams split their games this year and looked to dominate the other in their respective wins. UCLA has not won the second game of a two-game road trip all year, which is a bit concerning, seeing as all UCLA will do in the NCAAs is play two-games away from home. Still…
Stanford 54 UCLA 67
Championship Game:
UCLA vs Arizona
This is the game everyone wants to see, especially since the Pac-12 schedule only allowed these two teams to play once this season. That game was a fight to the finish at Pauley Pavilion with Arizona winning by only four points. This is UCLA’s time to show that they can run with big-time programs, the question is, “can they?” This Arizona program is indeed one of the best in the nation and they will prove it by the end of this tournament.
UCLA 65 Arizona 81
Your 2014 Pac-12 Tournament Champion: Arizona Wildcats
Mike W.R.
Twitter: @TheBigDisco