Juwan Howard disappointed in his team’s defense in Michigan’s 77-63 loss to Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio on March 1, 2020.
Detroit Free Press
Last season the Pac-12 was awful.
The league ranked last of seven power conferences in the NCAA’s NET metric and had a historically bad non-league winning percentage (62%) that was worse than several mid-major conferences. Washington was a No. 9 seed, Arizona State was a No. 11 seed and Oregon was a No. 12 seed in the NCAA tournament. The year prior wasn’t much better. The league failed to advance a team to the second round of the 2018 tournament — the first time since 1997 a power conference failed to do so.
Much has changed in one year. The Pac-12 now is tied with the Big East for the second-most teams of any power conference in the projected field — only trailing the Big Ten. The league bounced back with a 74% winning percentage in non-conference.
Tom Izzo saw ‘fire from the opening get-go’ in Michigan State’s impressive 78-66 win over No. 8 Maryland in College Park, Md. on Feb. 29, 2020.
Detroit Free Press
While the Pac-12 only has one team poised to land a top seed on Selection Sunday (Oregon is a No. 4 seed in today’s bracket), a plethora of bubble teams are well positioned to hear their name called. Over the weekend UCLA took command of the conference standings and vaulted into the projected field for the first time. The Bruins are a No. 12 seed this week, while Stanford (No. 11), Southern California (No. 10), Arizona State (No. 8), Colorado (No. 7) and Arizona (No. 7) all currently are in.
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Although the Pac-12’s seeding lines for these teams aren’t favorable, getting inis half the battle. In March, anything can happen. And if the Pac-12 wins the bubble as it is now 13 days from Selection Sunday, it could also be a major winner in the NCAA tournament.
► No. 1 seeds: Kansas, Baylor, Gonzaga, San Diego State.
► Last four in: UCLA, North Carolina State, Rutgers, Texas.
► First Four out: Richmond, Cincinnati, Rhode Island, Mississippi State.
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NCAA tourney explainer:
- Quadrant 1 wins: Home games vs. 1-30 NET teams; Neutral-site games vs. 1-50 NET; Away games vs. 1-75 NET
- Quadrant 2 wins: Home games vs. 31-75 NET; Neutral-site games vs. 51-100 NET; Away games vs. 76-135 NET
- Quadrant 3 wins, losses: Home games vs. 76-160 NET; Neutral-site games vs. 101-200 NET; Away games vs. 136-240 NET
- Quadrant 4 wins, losses: Home games vs. 161-plus NET; Neutral-site games vs. 201-plus NET; Away games vs. 241-plus NET
Others considered for at-large bid (in order): Utah State, Arkansas, Purdue, Memphis, Georgetown, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, Clemson.
On life support (in no particular order): Tulsa, Furman, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Syracuse, UNC-Greensboro.
Multi-bid conferences: Big Ten (10), Big East (7), Pac-12 (7), Big 12 (6), ACC (5), SEC (4), West Coast (3), AAC (2).
Leaders or highest RPI from projected one-bid conferences — (24 total): Atlantic 10 – Dayton, America East – Vermont, Atlantic Sun – Liberty, Big Sky – Eastern Washington, Big South – Radford, Big West – UC Irvine, Colonial – Hofstra, Conference USA – North Texas, Horizon – Wright State, Ivy – Yale, MAAC – Siena, MAC – Akron, MEAC – North Carolina A&T, Missouri Valley – Northern Iowa, Mountain West – San Diego State, Northeast – Saint Francis (PA), Ohio Valley – Belmont, Patriot – Colgate, Southern – East Tennessee State; Southland – Stephen F. Austin, SWAC – Prairie View A&M, Summit – South Dakota State, Sun Belt – Little Rock, WAC – New Mexico State
- Transition schools ineligible to participate: Cal Baptist, North Alabama, Merrimack.
- Banned from participating: Georgia Tech, Detroit.
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Note: Mostly all statistical data is used from WarrenNolan.com. The NCAA’s NET rankings are also a reference point.
About our bracketologist: Shelby Mast has been projecting the field since 2005 on his website, Bracket W.A.G. He joined USA TODAY in 2014. In his seventh season as our national bracketologist, Mast has finished as one of the top three bracketologists in the past six March Madnesses. He’s also predicted for The Indianapolis Star, collegeinsider.com and is an inaugural member of the Super 10 Selection Committee. Follow him on Twitter @BracketWag.
Follow college basketball reporter Scott Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.
