Pac-12 in NCAA Tournament: Arizona State Is In; UCLA Barely Misses No. 1 Seed

The Pac-12 got four teams into the NCAA tournament field, which was announced Sunday. The conference had three NCAA tournament representative last year and five in 2021. The record for the Pac-12 was the seven NCAA teams it had in 2016.

--Arizona State sneaked into the Big Dance by the skin of its teeth and will play a play-in game Wednesday against Nevada. Arizona State starters Warren Washington and Desmond Cambridge Jr. played for Nevada lst season.

--UCLA was the No. 5 overall seed, which means if Purdue had lost to Penn State Sunday, UCLA might have been a No. 1 seed. No. 2 seeds Arizona and UCLA both open play in Sacramento on Thursday, and UCLA was placed in the West Region

--USC is in the East Region, but has a decent draw.

--Oregon did not make the 68-team field, although that is not a surprise.

That's the overview. Here is a look at each of the four Pac-12 teams in the NCAA tournament:

UCLA (29-5)

--The Bruins are the No. 2 seed in the West Region. Kansas is the top seed in the West

--The Bruins face UNC-Asheville (27-7) in their first-round game on Thursday in Sacramento. UNC-Asheville won the Big South Conference by four games and has won nine games in a row and 18 of the past 19. In its only game against a Power Six basketball conference team, UNC-Asheville lost to Arkansas by 34 points. Drew Pember, a 6-foot-10 forward, leads the team in scoring (21.2 points) and rebounding (9.2 boards)

--If UCLA wins its opener, it will face the winner of the game between Northwestern (21-11) and Boise State (24-9) in the second round on Saturday.

--UCLA could play a Sweet 16 game against third-seeded Gonzaga, and those two teams played a thrilling game in the 2021 national semifinals won by the Zags.

--The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games of the West Regional will be played at T-Mobile Area in Las Vegas, the venue at which UCLA lost to Arizona on Saturday.

--There is a good chance 6-foot-10 freshman Adem Bona will play in the NCAA tournament, but Jaylen Clark will not.

---The Bruins were the No. 5 overall seed, which means that if Purdue, the No. 4 overall seed, had not pulled out its two-point win over Penn State in the Big tournament title game on Sunday, UCLA might have been a No. 1 seed. Also, if Dylan Andrews had made this three-pointer (video below), UCLA might be a No. 1 seed.

Arizona State (22-12)

--The Sun Devils are the No. 11 seed in the West Region. Kansas is the No. 1 seed in the West.

--ASU was one of the last four teams to make it into the 68-team field, and the Sun Devils will face Nevada (22-10) in a play-in game on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio. The Wolf Pack finished fourth in the Mountain West Conference and has lost its last three games. Jarod Lucas, who played the previous three seasons at Oregon State, is Nevada's leading scorer at 17.3 points per game.

--Arizona State starters Desmond Cambridge Jr. and Warren Washington were starters on Nevada's 2021-22 team. Cambridge averaged 16.2 points and Washington averaged 10.5 points for last year's Wolf Pack squad, which finished with a 13-18 record.

--If the Sun Devils win their opener, they will play a first-round game on Friday in Denver against sixth-seeded TCU (21-12). TCU finished tied for fifth in the Big 12, but several of its losses came when Mike Miles (17.3 points) was out of the lineup. The Horned Frogs have wins over Kansas, Texas, Kansas State and Baylor.

--We can assume that Desmond Cambridge Jr.'s 60-foot buzzer basket to beat Arizona and the Sun Devils' win over USC in the Pac-12 tournament got ASU into the field of 68.

Arizona (28-6)

--The Wildcats are the No. 2 seed in the South Region. Alabama is the No. 1 seed in the South.

--Arizona will play its opening game on Thursday in Sacramento against No. 15 seed Princeton (21-8). Princeton finished tied for first place in the Ivy League and beat Yale in the conference tournament title game played on Princeton's homecourt. The Tigers did not face any teams from the Power Six basketball conferences and suffered losses to Delaware and Navy.

--If Arizona wins its opener it will face the winner of the game between Missouri (24-9) and Utah State (26-8) on Saturday in Sacramento.

--If Arizona gets to the Sweet 16 in Louisville, Ky., it might face No. 3 seed Baylor (22-10), which finished tied for third in the Big 12 and had wins over UCLA, Gonzaga and Kansas this season.

USC (22-10)

--The Trojans are the No. 10 seed in the East Region. Purdue is the No. 1 seed in the East

--USC will play its first game on Friday in Columbus, Ohio, against Michigan State (19-12). The Spartans finished fourth in the Big Ten and beat Oregon by four points early in the season. Michigan State is one of the top three-point shooting teams in the country.

--If it wins that game, USC would face the winner of the game between second-seeded Marquette (28-6) and Vermont. Marquette is the Big East regular-season and tournament champion and has won nine games in a row.

--If it gets to the Sweet 16 USC would play a March 23 game at Madison Square Garden in New York, possibly against third-seeded Kansas State.

Cover photo of Bobby Hurley by Joe Rondone, The Republic, USA TODAY NETWORK

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