UCLA Basketball: Pac-12 Tournament Schedule and Preview

The UCLA Basketball team is looking to continue their late season success as the Pac-12 Tournament starts this week. Here is the schedule and outlook for the Bruins.

March Madness is here and the #3 UCLA Basketball (28-3, 15-3) team is rolling into the Pac-12 Tournament as one of the hottest teams in the nation.

The Bruins might have missed out on a regular season conference championship, but they are just getting started and looking to get some hardware by winning the Pac-12 Tournament.

Though the Bruins have defeated every team in the conference, it will still be a tough task to get through this year’s conference tourney, especially with Pac-12 Co-Champions Oregon and Arizona looking to do the same.

Let see what lies ahead for the UCLA Basketball team as they enter the Pac-12 Tournament.

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First Round, Wednesday, March 8 (all times PT)

#9 Stanford vs #8 Arizona State (12:00 p.m.)

#12 Oregon State vs #5 Cal (2:30 p.m.)

#10 Washington State vs #7 Colorado (6:00 p.m.)

#11 Washington vs #6 USC (8:30 p.m.)

Quarterfinals, Thursday, March 9

#1 Oregon vs Stan/ASU winner (11:30 a.m.)

#4 Utah vs OSU/Cal winner (2:00 p.m.)

#2 Arizona vs WSU/CU winner (6:00 p.m.)

#3 UCLA vs UW/USC winner (8:30 p.m.)

Semifinals, Friday, March 10

Winner of Oregon game vs winner of Utah game (6:00 p.m.)

Winner of Arizona game vs winner of UCLA game (8:30 p.m.)

Championship Game, Sunday, March 11, 8:00 p.m.

UCLA Basketball Pac-12 Tournament Preview

The UCLA Basketball team is in an interesting situation. They are on a 9-game win streak and probably one of the toughest teams to beat right now, just ask Oregon and Arizona.

The Bruins are entering this year’s tournament, which is once again being held in Las Vegas, with a first-round bye. That is in stark contrast to last season when they were ousted in the first round by USC. It was the Trojan’s third-straight win over the Bruins that season as they demolished UCLA, 95-71.

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Well it looks like the Bruins might be able to get a little payback, again. The last time UCLA lost this season was against USC at the Galen Center. After that is when things changed and the Bruins started their winning streak, which included a 32-point beat down at Pauley Pavilion where the Bruins destroyed Troy.

Now if USC beats UW, UCLA will have a chance to avenge their early tourney loss from last year. Prediction: it will happen, but it will be tough. With the Trojans as a bubble team, they need a strong showing in the Pac-12 Tournament to prove they belong in the Big Dance, but it will not happen against the Bruins.

UCLA will then, most likely, face Arizona. though the Bruins recently silenced the Wildcats in their own home a few weeks ago, don’t expect Arizona to be timid in this game. They are also looking to get a top seeding in the NCAA Tournament, as well as another conference tournament championship. Still, I have UCLA winning this one.

On the other side of the bracket, Oregon should take out the Stanford/ASU winner just before running through Utah, so it seems almost likely that it will be a UCLA-Oregon final.

So who do we have wining the Pac-12 Tournament? UCLA of course!

Next: ESPN's Joe Lunardi Has Facts for UCLA Basketball Fans

For more information on the Pac-12 Tournament, visit Pac-12.com. For tickets, click HERE.