With the final day of the Pac-12 regular season in the books, the bracket for the Pac-12 Tournament is set! It had been known since Wednesday what seeds 1-4 would be, so it was just a matter of waiting for the results for the remaining games to place the last eight seeds. Those final eight will all play in the first round which starts on Wednesday, March 11 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. #1 Arizona, #2 Oregon, #3 Utah and #4 UCLA have a bye and will start their tournament games on Thursday, March 12.
Pac-12 Tournament bracket (Tips-off Wednesday from Las Vegas): pic.twitter.com/uZX41MFc85
— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) March 8, 2015
The UCLA Bruins are in both a good place and a bad place right now. They locked up the #4 seed this past Wednesday with an 85-74 win over the USC Trojans. That win guaranteed them a first round bye, but also put them on the side of the bracket with #1 Arizona.
UCLA Bruins
Why is that bad? Well considering the Bruins need to take down the top team in the conference to advance to the championship game, getting that far might be the only way UCLA can prove they belong in the NCAA Tournament.
But first things first, the Bruins have to worry about Game 1 in the tournament. They will be facing the winner of the #12 USC and #5 Arizona State opening round game.
The Bruins should be able to take care of the Trojans if they happen to win, seeing as they beat them twice this season, but should not be considered an easy win, it is March Madness you know.
Yet if the Sun Devils win, UCLA will have a tougher time against them, not only because the Bruins lost in their only match-up, but because ASU is on a bit of a roll as they have won five of their last seven games to end the regular season.
If UCLA loses in that second round, then they can kiss the NCAA Tournament good-bye. At least at that point the Bruins should be available for an invite to the NIT. If the Bruins want to get as far as possible the only thing they need to do is win.
Go Bruins!
Jan 8, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins forward Tony Parker (23) reacts after a dunk in the second overtime of the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA won 86-81 in double overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports