Pac-12 Tournament 2024: Men's Bracket, TV Schedule, Dates and Predictions
The final Pac-12 tournament field features a clear-cut favorite, only one other guaranteed NCAA tournament team and a lot of programs with potential.
The Arizona Wildcats enter Las Vegas as the No. 1 seed. They should carry a bit more motivation into T-Mobile Arena since they lost their regular-season finale to the USC Trojans.
The loss to USC likely cost Arizona a chance at a top seed in the NCAA tournament, but it can still solidify a No. 2 seed in the next week.
The Washington State Cougars are Arizona's top competition by seed, but the most talented challenger could be USC. The Wildcats and Trojans could meet again in the quarterfinals.
USC and a handful of programs will use the Pac-12 tournament as a last-ditch effort to make the Big Dance.
The Utah Utes and Colorado Buffaloes need wins in Las Vegas to improve their standing. Colorado was the last team in on the latest bracket projection from ESPN's Joe Lunardi, while Utah sat on the "Next Four Out" line.
Pac-12 Tournament Bracket and Schedule
Full bracket can be found here.
Wednesday, March 13
No. 8 Washington vs. No. 9 USC (3 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
No. 5 UCLA vs. No. 12 Oregon State (5:30 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
No. 7 California vs. No. 10 Stanford (9 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
No. 6 Utah vs. No. 11 Arizona State (11:30 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
Thursday, March 14
No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 8/9 winner (3 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
No. 4 Oregon vs. No. 5/12 winner (5:30 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
No. 2 Washington State vs. No. 7/10 winner (9 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
No. 3 Colorado vs. No. 6/11 winner (11:30 p.m. ET, FS1)
Friday, March 15
Semifinal No. 1 (8 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network)
Semifinal No. 2 (10:30 p.m. ET, FS1)
Saturday, March 16
Championship Game (9 p.m. ET, Fox)
Predictions
Arizona is the best team in the Pac-12, but its dealt with some speed bumps throughout the regular season.
The Wildcats lost to Washington State, the No. 2 seed, twice and it stumbled on the road at USC on Saturday after they clinched the top seed in the Pac-12 tournament on Thursday.
The loss to USC may provide a good reset for the Wildcats ahead of the postseason. They will likely have a chance to earn revenge against the Trojans in the quarterfinals.
USC is playing like the team many expected to see in preseason, and it could challenge Arizona again behind Isaiah Collier.
If Arizona gets past USC, it should move into the championship game with ease. Most of the tougher and more desperate teams reside in the bottom half of the bracket.
The potential quarterfinal between Utah and Colorado could serve as an elimination game for the NCAA tournament.
The winner of that contest likely needs to beat Washington State to feel safe about its NCAA tournament prospects.
However, both Colorado and Utah struggled with Washington State away from home. The Colorado-Utah victor could also be drained from that contest to deal with the Cougars for 40 minutes.
Arizona can use the Pac-12 tournament final as a revenge game against Wazzu and it could use that contest as a springboard into the NCAA tournament.
Prediction: Arizona over Washington State