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2011 Pac-10 Tournament

Next year, the Pac-10 Tournament will become the Pac-12 Tournament. Four first-round games will be played in this event instead of the two opening-round contests that currently litter the Wednesday night landscape in the City of Angels. Based on this Pac-10 season (not to mention the 2010 campaign), having more first-round games is not something the natives ought to be excited about.

Yes, it simply has to be said: For the second straight season, Pac-10 basketball has been nothing to write home about. It’s true that last year’s Pac-10 makes this year’s league look like the Big East, but on an absolute scale, the 2011 version of the Pac has still underwhelmed to a considerable degree.

Conference champion Arizona did not beat a single opponent of distinction outside the league. The Wildcats, though deserving of the highest accolades for their performance in 2011 after missing the NCAA Tournament the year before, did not claim a bigger non-conference scalp than North Carolina State. Washington, the third-place team in the league, can’t point to a better non-conference win than Long Beach State. Only UCLA (BYU), Washington State (Baylor, Gonzaga) and USC (Texas and Tennessee) got some work done beyond the West Coast. Moreover, USC – the team with the best collection of non-conference wins in the Pac-10 – is also the team that accumulated the worst assemblage of losses, falling to TCU, Rider, Bradley, and Oregon (twice).

The Pac-10 is looking at only three bids for the NCAA Tournament unless USC or Washington State make the final, and even then, it’s not really likely that the Trojans or Cougars can steal an at-large bid under those circumstances. Coach Kevin O’Neill’s USC crew and bench boss Ken Bone’s Wazzu roster need to approach this event with a “championship or bust” attitude. Only a victory in Saturday afternoon’s final will enable a team outside the top three to feel safe about its NCAA chances on Selection Sunday.

In looking at the bracket, there are two primary points of intrigue. The first is USC. The Trojans won this event as a No. 6 seed in 2009, stealing a bid from an at-large team after a regular season of failure. The Trojans will be playing in front of a Los Angeles crowd, so if the Men of Troy can get past Cal in the 4-5 quarterfinal, they’ll have a raucous crowd behind them in the semifinals, most likely against Arizona. USC is a real threat in the top half of the bracket. We’ll see if that old black magic from 2009 will re-emerge.

The other mysterious team in this event is indeed Washington State. The Cougars swept Washington during the regular season and will have to beat the Huskies again in order to make the semifinals. If Wazzu can somehow do the deed, the Cougars – with reinstated scorer Klay Thompson (who was suspended for marijuana possession last week) – will be full of confidence heading into the semifinals.

This tournament has historically been a wide-open affair. Only three top seeds have won the event since 2001, and this year, a youthful Arizona squad will be hard-pressed to carry its No. 1 seed to the winner’s circle. USC is a good bet to make the final, but the UCLA Bruins – who are playing their best defense of the year – will stop their crosstown rival in the championship gave to preserve an at-large bid somewhere else in the United States.

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Tournament Schedule

All Games At Staples Center – Los Angeles, CA

All Games On Fox Sports Net Unless Noted Otherwise

Wednesday, March 9 – First Round

6 PM PT/9 PM ET -- No. 8 Stanford Cardinal (15-15, 7-11) vs. No. 9 Oregon St. Beavers (10-19, 5-13)

8:30 PM PT/11:30 PM ET -- No. 7. Oregon Ducks (14-16, 7-11) vs. No. 10 Arizona St. Sun Devils (12-18, 4-14)

Thursday, March 10 - Quarterfinals

12 PM PT/3 PM ET -- No. 4 USC Trojans (18-13, 10-8) vs. No. 5 California Golden Bears (17-13, 10-8)

2:30 PM PT/5:30 PM ET -- No. 1 Arizona Wildcats (25-6, 14-4) vs. Stanford/Oregon St. winner

6 PM PT/9 PM ET -- No. 2 UCLA Bruins (22-9, 13-5) vs. Oregon/Arizona St. winner

8:30 PM PT/11:30 PM ET -- No. 3 Washington Huskies (20-10, 11-7) vs. No. 6 Washington St. Cougars (19-11, 9-9)

Friday, March 11 - Semifinals

6 PM PT/9 PM ET -- Cal-USC winner vs. Arizona--Stanford/Oregon St. winner

8:30 PM PT/11:30 PM ET -- UCLA--Oregon/Arizona St. winner vs. Washington-Washington St. winner

Saturday, March 12 – Championship, CBS Television

3:10 PM PT/6:10 PM ET – Semifinal Winners

By Zach Bloxham
DFN Sports Staff Writer