Projected Pac 12 Basketball Standings

With the regular season of College Basketball season coming to a close, it’s almost clear what the final standings in the Pac-12 Conference will be.  Oregon State will clearly finish in last place, and Arizona, Oregon and UCLA will continue to battle until the last game of the season for the top spot in the Pac-12.  But where will everyone else land in the standings?  Teams like Colorado, Utah, and USC could make solid runs at going up the standings, and could even perform above expectations in the Conference tournament.  On the other hand, teams like California and Arizona State could be passed by other teams on the rise with somewhat easier schedules.  I’ve broken down and finalized my Pac-12 regular season standings predictions, that are filled with hot takes, to give you an idea of where your favorite Pac-12 team will finish going into the Pac-12 Conference tournament.  Of course, we will do predictions for all major Conference tournaments in a little less than a month, but for now here is what I believe will happen up until then. There’s a reason why the Pac-12 is called the Conference of Champions, and because of this I can guarantee that the Pac-12 still has a handful of crazy, in Conference games left before the Pac-12 Conference tournament starts.

Like mentioned earlier, there are some placings in the standings that are locked in.  Oregon State will still finish at the bottom of the Pac 12, but they will win 1 game in the Pac-12 this year, against a simply weak Stanford squad.  Over in Eugene, the Oregon Ducks need to win out to finish on top of the Pac 12 at the end of the regular season.  This is something I honestly believe they will be able to do.  With a combination of easy road games and tough matchups at home in Eugene, the Ducks should be able to win these last 5 games and finish on top of the Pac-12.  Arizona will make a strong run, but will end the season with a loss in their last game of the year vs ASU in their in-state rivalry game in Tempe, Arizona.  This loss will put them and Oregon at 16-2 in the Pac-12 (and also 27-4 overall surprisingly), which will result in Oregon finishing first in the Pac-12 due to a win vs Arizona earlier this season.  UCLA, Oregon, and Arizona will all finish the season with a 27-4 overall record, but UCLA’s 14-4 record will secure them as the 3rd best Pac-12 team this season.  Washington will also finish second to last in the PAC 12 with 1 win left in the season against in state rivals Washington State.

Aside from these sure bets, the rest of the season will be very intense for the remaining teams not mentioned.  For starters, Colorado is having a serious comeback late in the season.  During an interview Tailgate Sports had with Colorado coach Tad Boyle tonight at the Colorado vs Washington State game in Boulder, CO, we asked coach Boyle about what has caused their momentum to shift from an underperforming 0-7 in Conference team to a 5-1 in Conference team.  Boyle responded with, “We’re deep and we’re defending.  Bottom line.  We’re defending, you know,  much better than we did in the first 7 games, and we’re much more active on the floor. And we’re rebounding on a much more consistent basis now.  In the 0-7 stretch there were games where we (rebounded well) and games where we didn’t, and that’s the whole difference.”  Boyle also went on to say later that 4 out of the 7 games they lost to start the season Colorado was winning with 1 minute left in the second half later going on to say “we should be a 4-3 team”.  I completely agree with what coach Boyle has had to say about the CU squad.  Their defense, as I have mentioned in earlier posts, has gotten tremendously better, and has even forced teams to turn the ball over a lot more, like tonight’s performance against a usually offensively strong Washington State, leading to more points from turnovers.  This Conference leading defense, phenomenal rebounding by CU especially Xavier Johnson and Wesley Gordon, and of course Colorado’s motto “It’s not about you, it’s about us” have proven that Colorado is playing like one of the best teams in the Pac-12, and if it wasn’t for the problems they faced early on this season, they would be one of the best teams in the Conference record-wise.  Because of this tremendous turnaround I believe that Colorado will only drop 1 of the next 5 games left on their schedule.  This CU team can without a doubt win at home, even against Cal, but playing a tough Oregon team in Eugene, despite their overpowering win against the Ducks in Boulder, will be the only loss left in their season.  Colorado will finish 9-9 and 19-12 overall, and if they can do well in the Conference tournament, the selection committee will find a spot for them in the NCAA tournament.  Colorado is not the same team we saw during their 0-7 losing streak in Pac-12 play.  They’re a dominant team on both ends of the court and they will refuse to go out quietly.  

Colorado of course isn’t the only team gunning for a last minute tournament push.  Utah and USC will both record 3 wins before the Pac-12 tournament and will move up to 4th and 5th in the Pac-12 respectively, with Utah finishing above USC due to a win over USC earlier this season.  These two teams moving up will be due to a significant amount of losses by California.  I personally believe that Cal will drop 4 of the next 5 games (including what will be a close game against near, in state rivals Stanford), only recording a win against the terrible Oregon State, resulting in the California Golden Bears dropping from 4th to 6th finishing with a 10-8 Pac-12 record.  Stanford will also drop 4 of the next 5, only beating Cal at home, and finishing the season with a terrible 5-13 record as the 9th best team in the Conference.  Lastly, Oregon through California will almost definitely see a NCAA tournament birth with Colorado having a slim, but notable chance of making the tournament.  If Colorado doesn’t make the NCAA tournament, they will have a fairly high seed in the NIT tournament with a chance to go far into the tournament.

The rest of the predictions for the Pac-12 regular season are below listed by school name, final Conference record, and final overall record.  Regardless of where the teams finish, or who makes it to the NCAA tournament or not, I just hope that the schools representing the Pac-12 don’t perform as poorly as they did last year.  Let us know what you think of the predictions and of course, check out our live coverage at Pac-12 and other NCAA basketball games from now until the end of March Madness.  We will have a ton of more content, blog posts, and interviews, and the only way to view this must-see live coverage is through our website, our Twitter (@_tailgatesports), and our Snapchat (@tailgatesports) accounts!  

 
Written by Erik Clark