Pac-12 Men's Basketball to cap bounce-back season this week in Las Vegas
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.
1 - OREGON secured the Pac-12 regular-season title outright and claimed the No. 1 seed for this week’s Pac-12 Tournament. UO became the first school in Conference history to win league titles in football, women’s basketball and men’s basketball in the same academic year, doing so in part by going 39-0 in Eugene across the three sports this season.
• Las Vegas has been kind to the No. 1 seed as the top team has advanced to the title game every year since the event moved to the city in 2013. In fact, the Ducks’ remarkable run to the title as the No. 6 seed last year marked the first time the championship game in Las Vegas did not feature the top two seeds
• The Bruins’ six-spot betterment tied for the fourth-best since the league began conducting preseason polls in 1984-85 (WSU +8 2006-07, ASU +7 1992-93, ARIZ +7 1985-86).
• Seven bids would match the league record set in 2015-16. It would mark the sixth time the league secured six berths (2001-02, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2013-14).
• The only other league with more 20-win teams in the 2019-20 regular season was the Big Ten (eight)
• It is the tourney’s eighth year in Las Vegas and fourth in T-Mobile Arena.
PAC-12 TIPOFF
NON-CONFERENCE REBOUND: The Pac-12 enjoyed one of its best non-conference seasons in recent history in 2019-20.
• .739 Division I non-conference win percentage, best for the league since 2015-16.
• Seven teams with 10+ non-conference wins, tied for the most nationally (Big East).
• 11-8 non-conference record (.579) in true road games, the best mark by percentage among major conferences.
CALL IT A COMEBACK: 21 times in Pac-12 play this season did a team overcome a double-digit deficit to win. Below are the number of times a team accomplished the feat:
Three times: ORE, UCLA
Twice: ASU, CAL, COLO, OSU, USC, UTAH
Once: STAN, WASH, WSU
TRACKING LEAGUE PLAY: Over the course of 108 league games, the average scoring margin was 11.1 points.
• 59 games have been decided by single digits.
• 18 games has been decided by one possession (3 pts. or less).
• 11 overtime games (12 total OT periods).
• 8 games decided on a team’s final possession
• 2 games decided on game’s final possession
CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings)
Teams | Pac-12 Record | Overall Record |
Oregon | 13-5 | 24-7 |
UCLA | 12-6 | 19-12 |
USC | 11-7 | 22-9 |
Arizona State | 11-7 | 20-11 |
Colorado | 10-8 | 21-10 |
Arizona | 10-8 | 20-11 |
Stanford | 9-9 | 20-11 |
Oregon State | 7-11 | 17-13 |
Utah | 7-11 | 16-14 |
California | 7-11 | 13-18 |
Washington State | 6-12 | 15-16 |
Washington | 5-13 | 15-16 |
2020 PAC-12 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (All Times Pacific - Expanded Schedule)
Wednesday, March 11 | TV | Time |
No. 8 OREGON STATE vs. No. 9 UTAH | P12N | 12:00 p.m. PT |
No. 5 ARIZONA vs. No. 12 WASHINGTON | P12N | 2:30 p.m. PT |
No. 7 STANFORD vs. No. 10 CALIFORNIA | P12N | 6:00 p.m. PT |
No. 6 COLORADO vs. No. 11 WASHINGTON STATE | P12N | 8:30 p.m. PT |
Thursday, March 12 | ||
No. 8/9 winner vs. No. 1 OREGON | P12N | 12:00 p.m. PT |
No. 5/12 winner vs. No. 4 USC | P12N | 2:30 p.m. PT |
No. 7/10 winner No. 2 UCLA | P12N | 6:00 p.m. PT |
No. 6/11 winner vs. No. 3 ARIZONA STATE | FS1 | 8:30 p.m. PT |
Friday, March 13 | ||
Semifinal 1 | P12N | 6:00 p.m. PT |
Semifinal 2 | FS1 | 8:30 p.m. PT |
Saturday, March 14 | ||
Pac-12 Championship | FS1 | 7:30 p.m PT |
PAC-12 POSTSEASON AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Payton Pritchard, Sr., G, OREGON
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Zeke Nnaji, F, ARIZONA
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Tyler Bey, Jr., G/F, COLORADO
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Chris Smith, Jr., G, UCLA
SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR: Alonzo Verge Jr., Jr., G, ARIZONA STATE
JOHN R. WOODEN COACH OF THE YEAR: Mick Cronin, UCLA
Click here for the full 2019-20 All-Conference Teams and annual awards release.
PAC-12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
NATIONAL HONORS
- Arizona Men's Basketball
- Arizona State Men's Basketball
- California Men's Basketball
- Colorado Men's Basketball
- Oregon Men's Basketball
- Oregon State Men's Basketball
- Stanford Men's Basketball
- UCLA Men's Basketball
- USC Men's Basketball
- Utah Men's Basketball
- Washington Men's Basketball
- Washington State Men's Basketball
- Arizona
- Arizona State
- California
- Colorado
- Oregon
- Oregon State
- Stanford
- UCLA
- USC
- Utah
- Washington
- Washington State
- Men's Basketball
- Pac-12 Conference