UCLA Basketball: What needs to happen to get a Pac-12 Tournament bye

The UCLA basketball team put themselves in a good position to get a Pac-12 Tournament first-round bye after beating USC, but a few things need to happen first.

BOOM! Did you see that game on Thursday night? That was indeed a wild one. The UCLA basketball team was able to outlast the USC Trojans in a game that was neck and neck from tip-off to the end of overtime.

With the Bruins beating their crosstown rival, they have now increased their win streak to three matching their longest conference win streak, and keep themselves in position for that coveted fourth place spot in the Pac-12 Standings.

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That last item might be the most important because as you may know, the Bruins need all the help they can get to book a trip to the NCAA Tournament and the only way that will happen is if they win the Pac-12 Tournament. Getting that 4th place spot will give UCLA a first-round bye, making the path to a tourney championship that much easier. But they aren’t there just yet.

Currently, the Bruins are in 5th place, just a half a game back from Utah. On Saturday, the Utes play Colorado and if the Buffaloes win, that puts Utah in a tie with UCLA. Still, the Utes would have the upper hand as they hold the tie-breaker with their win over the Bruins a few weeks ago.

But luckily for UCLA, they have a chance to break that tie-breaker as both Colorado and Utah are the last two teams on their regular season schedule. So let us say Utah loses on Saturday, and then loses to USC in their next game, UCLA could technically lose to Colorado (and not lose any ground in the standings) and then beat Utah to claim the 4th place spot. But for all intents and purposes, UCLA does not want to lose any more games, especially if Utah beats Colorado and USC.

Now let us say that Utah beats Colorado, which would put them a game up on UCLA, the Bruins would need USC to beat Utah and then the Bruins would have to beat Utah to get that 4th spot. In the event of a 4th place tie, UCLA would have the advantage as they have a better record against the top three teams in the Pac-12. UCLA is 1-3 against Washington, Oregon State, and Arizona State, while Utah is 1-4.

The bottom line, as stated above, is that the Bruins need to win their last two games and hope Utah loses at least one of their three remaining. This will be a difficult task as the Bruins lost convincingly to both Colorado and Utah when they visited Pauley Pavilion a few weeks ago.

Additionally, UCLA has not been great on the road, especially in a conference as they are 3-4. On top of that, this would require the Bruins to get a road sweep, which is something that this team does not do. But there might be another way the Bruins get into the top 4.

Let us look past Utah at second place Arizona State (10-6) and third place Oregon State (9-6). Both of these teams play each other on Saturday. If OSU falls, they are in a tie with UCLA, which could be troublesome as their next games are at Washington and Washington State. Whether a potential loss to UW and a win at Wazzu, UCLA would need to win at least one on the road next week to stay in contention with Oregon State.

Now if ASU falls to OSU, they would be a game above UCLA. Their final two games are against Oregon and Arizona. If ASU wins both, then second place is out of the question, but if they lose both and UCLA wins their last two, the Bruins could land a 2-4 spot, depending on what OSU and Utah do.

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In this weird season with the Conference of Champions, anything can happen and with that being said, UCLA still has a good chance to get that bye. Though they are coming on late with their momentum and several players emerging late in the season, the Bruins are a team that should be feared. Or they could fall into old habits and lose, making this article completely null and void.