2024 Pac-12 Conference Tournament
Arizona, which ascended to No.1 in the Associated Press poll in December before losing to eventual Big Ten champion Purdue, won the outright regular-season title and will be seeking its third consecutive Pac-12 tournament title. The Wildcats (24-7, 15-5) will try to go out in style before leaving to join the Big 12 next season. The tournament’s eighth year in Las Vegas will be its last because of the Pac-12’s unfortunate demise.
As good as Arizona has been this season, the Wildcats were swept in two games by Washington State, the tournament’s No. 2 seed. The Cougars are in the bottom half of the bracket with third-seeded Colorado, which probably needs to win a game or two this week to get an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Washington State finished alone in second in the conference for the first time since 2007.
USC upset Arizona 78-65 in the regular-season finale Saturday. A rematch could be coming soon — the Wildcats face the Washington-USC winner in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
How to watch the Pac-12 Conference Tournament
When: March 13-16.
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.
Format: Eight teams play in Wednesday’s first round and the top four seeds — Arizona, Washington State, Colorado and Oregon — receive byes into Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Watch: Pac-12 Network will air eight tournament games and the final quarterfinal and semifinal matchups will be broadcast on FS1. The championship game is on FOX.
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Pac-12 Conference Tournament Bracket
Pac-12 Conference Tournament Seeds, Teams and Odds
1. Arizona (-160)
2. Washington State (+500)
3. Colorado (+500)
4. Oregon (10-1)
5. UCLA (45-1)
6. Utah (15-1)
7. California (130-1)
8. Washington (30-1)
9. USC (35-1)
10. Stanford (65-1)
11. Arizona State (160-1)
12. Oregon State (350-1)
(Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook accurate at time of publish)
Favorite to win Pac-12 Conference Tournament
With a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament still a possibility, Arizona has plenty of motivation to run the table in Las Vegas. The Wildcats are odds-on favorites (-160) to win the conference tournament, and they could be looking at a double-revenge situation against Washington State in the championship game. Third-year coach Tommy Lloyd, who owns a record of 85-18 in three years in Tucson, leans on a strong senior class of Caleb Love, Oumar Ballo, Keshad Johnson and Pelle Larsson. Arizona ranks No. 6 overall on Kenpom.com, ranking eighth in offensive efficiency and 15th in defensive efficiency.
Pac-12 Conference Tournament Darkhorse
USC (35-1 odds) has won four of its last five games and will be a popular long-shot pick, but the ninth-seeded Trojans get a tough draw and would have to beat Washington and Arizona just to reach the semifinals. A more realistic darkhorse — if a No. 3 seed qualifies as that is —No. 3 seed Colorado (+500). The Buffaloes are on the NCAA bubble and need a strong showing in the league tournament to solidify their case.
Players to Watch in Pac-12 Conference Tournament
Caleb Love, a senior guard from Arizona, transferred from North Carolina prior to the season and is a candidate for conference Player of the Year. However, Love (18.7 ppg) surely hated his performance against USC on Saturday, when he scored a season-low two points on 1-for-10 shooting and missed all six of his 3-point attempts.
Boogie Ellis, a senior point guard for USC, averages 16.6 points and shoots 41.9% from 3-point range. Ellis is the team’s driving force, even if freshman guards Isaiah Collier and Bronny James are more attractive to the eyes of NBA scouts. Ellis has been hot recently, scoring 30 points versus Colorado, 24 against UCLA and 28 versus Arizona State.
Tristan da Silva, a 6-9 forward for Colorado, is an all-around threat who totaled 27 points and 11 rebounds in a victory over Stanford on March 3. With star freshman Cody Williams out with an injury, da Silva and junior guard KJ Simpson are leading the team.
Betting Pick to Win the Pac-12 Conference Tournament
As tempting as it is to roll the dice on USC at long odds, will the Trojans beat Arizona twice in a week? The top-heavy Pac-12 seems likely to stay that way this week, so the Wildcats are the pick to three-peat as tournament champs. Lay the price, but don’t expect Arizona to be easy money.
Makinen Power Ratings for Pac-12
Check out the other previews in our 2024 College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Guide.
