Four Pac-12 Teams Get into NCAA Tournament
Two weeks ago, it looked like the Pac-12 would get just two teams into the men's NCAA tournament, which would have been an embarrassing way to end the Pac-12 basketball conference as we know it.
But the events of the last 14 days changed all that as four teams -- Oregon, Arizona, Washington State and Colorado all received berths in the 68-team field, which was announced Sunday.
However, Colorado just barely made it. The Buffaloes were one of the last four teams to get into the field and will play a preliminary-round game, known as the First Four, against Boise State on Wednesday.
Oregon got the automatic berth as the conference champion, and Arizona and Washington State were shoo-ins for at-large berths, as Arizona landed the No. 2 seed in the West, and Washington State was seeded No. 7 in the East.
The only debate surrounded Colorado, which lost to Oregon in Saturday's conference tournament championship game. When that Pac-12 title game ended it was assumed the Buffaloes would get an at-large NCAA berth, but that opinion changed as a number of upsets in conference tournaments across the country pushed a number of teams on borderline of getting at at-large berth out of the NCAA tournament picture.
Tournament selection committee chairman Charles McClelland said unexpected results in conference tournaments across the country resulted in five NCAA tournament spots being stolen from teams that would have earned at-large berths without those upsets. That's the most stolen spots ever.
Sunday morning, ESPN's Joe Lunardi had Colorado as one of the last four teams in the 68-team field, while CBS Sports' Jerry Palm placed Colorado as one of the first four teams out of the tournament.
Colorado is in but must play an extra game.
Here are the matchups for the four Pac-12 teams, and three of them are favored to win their opening games:
---Arizona -- Seeded No. 2 in the West Regional, faces No. 15 seed Long Beach State in the first round on Thursday in Salt Lake City. (Arizona is favorite by 21.5 points.) If the Wildcats win that game they would face Dayton of Nevada in the second round.
---Washington State -- Seeded No. 7 in the East, faces 10th-seeded Drake in the first round in Omaha, Nebraska, on Thursday. (Washington State is favored by 1.5 points.). WSU would probably play second-seeded Iowa State in the second round if the Cougars beat Drake.
---Oregon -- Seeded No. 11 in the Midwest Regional, faces No. 6 seed South Carolina in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Thursday. (South Carolina is favored by 1.5 points.) If the Ducks win that game, they would probably face third-seeded Creighton in the second round.
---Colorado -- Seeded No. 10 in the South Regional, faces Boise State in a First Four preliminary-round game on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio. (Colorado is favored by 2 points.) If Colorado wins that game, the Buffaloes will play No. 7 seed Florida in a first-round game on Friday in Indianapolis.
Click here for the entire tournament bracket.
Cover photo by Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports
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