INSIDE PAC-12 MEN'S BASKETBALL PODCAST:
The Inside Pac-12 Men's Basketball Podcast hosted by Mike Yam provides a new level of detail and nuanced insight into all things Pac-12 hoops, deep-diving into current conference play, Pac-12 alumni in the NBA, professional potential of current Pac-12 student-athletes, and much more. All-time Pac-12 scoring leader Don MacLean offers a unique perspective on the collegiate and professional basketball landscapes, stories from his career, and projections on student-athletes around the conference.

 

#PAC12HOOPS STARTING FIVE:
3 - Three Pac-12 teams remain in the hunt for the regular-season league title.
• UCLA, which is the only team to have secured a first-round bye for the Pac-12 Tournament, can clinch at least a share of the crown with a win over USC on Saturday, or a loss to the Trojans along with any loss by Oregon. It would be the Bruins’ 32nd all-time Conference title, first since 2012-13.
• OREGON will need two victories with a UCLA win or at least one win and a UCLA loss this week to secure a share of the title, while a sweep coupled with a UCLA loss would earn the Ducks an outright championship. It would mark UO’s seventh all-time Conference crown, including the third in the last five seasons.
• ASU needs two wins, a UCLA loss and at least one Oregon loss to earn a share. It would be the Sun Devils’ first-ever Conference title, and their first in any league since 1974-75.

 

6 x 50 NET - As of March 3, the Pac-12 boasts six teams ranked inside the top 50 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) - tied for the third-most in the nation.
• The Pac-12 had a combined 71 Quadrant 1 opportunities in 2018-19. So far this season, it has had 125 Q1 contests with a combined 12 opportunities this week as well as next week's Pac-12 Tournament.

 

7 - According to BracketMatrix.com, an aggregator of 108 bracketologies, the Pac-12 is currently slated for seven NCAA Tournament bids.
• The seven bids would match the league record set in 2015-16.

 

7 x 19 - The Pac-12 currently has seven teams with 19-or-more victories, tied for the most of any conference in the country with the Big Ten.
• The Conference’s record for 20-win teams in the regular season is six (2012-13, 2013-14, 2015-16, 2017-18).

 

20.2/5.5 - OREGON’s Bob Cousy Award finalist Payton Pritchard currently leads the Pac-12 in both scoring (20.2 ppg) and assists (5.5 apg), 1-of-5 players nationally to pace their conference in both categories.
• Pritchard would join Gary Payton (OSU, 1989-90), Damon Stoudamire (ARIZ, 1994-95) and Jason Terry (ARIZ, 1998-99) as the only players in Conference history to accomplish the feat. All three were consensus First Team All-Americans and Payton (SI) and Terry (SI, BT, CBS/Chev) were National Players of the Year.

 

PAC-12 TIPOFF
DUCKS DYNASTY?: With Pac-12 titles already secured in football (North & FCG) and women’s basketball (regular season), the men’s basketball team could make it a historic haul for OREGON this season.
• Should the Ducks earn a share of the league title, it would mark the first time in Conference history one school swept league titles in football and men’s and women’s basketball in the same athletic year.
• UO would also become just the second school, for the fourth time, to accomplish the trifecta among the power conferences: Ohio State (2005-06, 2006-07, 2009-10).

A TITLE BRUIN?: It has been a remarkable run by UCLA over the final two-thirds of Conference play as the Bruins have won seven straight games and 11 of their last 13 contests.
• UCLA was tied for last place on Jan. 15 after starting 1-3 in league play. It enters the final week in sole possession of first place at 12-5 and up 77 spots in the NET rankings.
• Picked eighth in the Pac-12 preseason media poll, UCLA could match Arizona in 1985-86 for the lowest preseason predicted finish to win the league title.

ROAD SWEEPS: They have proven difficult - only five so far in 2019-20 and just 57 in total in 428 tries since the Pac-12 expanded for 2011-12.
• ARIZONA leads the league with a pair of road sweeps this season (Bay Area & Washington). UCLA (Mountains), ARIZONA STATE (Bay Area) and STANFORD (Washington) have one each, including the first ever in the Pac-12 era for the Sun Devils and the second ever for the Cardinal.
• Pac-12 home teams have compiled a 68-30 record during league play through March 2, the third-toughest conference to win on the road in 2019-20 (MVC - 64-26, Summit - 50-22).

CALL IT A COMEBACK: 19 times in Pac-12 play this season has a team overcome a double-digit deficit to win.

Arizona State vs. Arizona (22)
USC vs. Stanford (21)
Colorado vs. Stanford (16)
Oregon at Washington (16)
Colorado vs. USC (14)
California vs. Washington State (14)
Oregon vs. Colorado (14)
Arizona State vs. USC (13)
Oregon State at Colorado (12)
Stanford vs. Washington (12)
UCLA vs. Washington (12)
UCLA vs. Washington State (12)
Utah vs. Washington (12)
California vs. Stanford (11)
Oregon vs. Arizona (11)
Washington State vs. UCLA (11)
Oregon State vs. Oregon (10)
UCLA vs. Arizona State (10)
USC vs. Utah (10)

TRACKING LEAGUE PLAY: Through 98 league games as of March 3, the average scoring margin is 11.0 points.
• 53 games have been decided by single digits
• 15 games has been decided by one possession (3 pts. or less)
• 10 overtime games (11 total OT periods)
• 6 games decided on a team’s final possession
• 1 games decided on game’s final possession