Pac-12 NCAA Tournament Projections: Are Utah, Colorado In or Out?
The March 17 announcement of the 68-team field for the NCAA tournament is closing in, but there remains a lot of uncertainty regarding the Pac-12, specifically Colorado and Utah.
This week seven reputable sites that projected the NCAA tournament field have very different opinions about the Pac-12’s status. Five of the sites we cite – ESPN, NCAA.org, Fox Sports, USA Today and Bleacher Report – have just two Pac-12 teams in the tournament. But The Sporting News has three Pac-12 teams in the field and CBS Sports has four.
Arizona (20-5, 11-3 Pac-12) is a No. 1 seed at all seven sites, and Washington State (20-6, 11-4) is safely in with a seeding between No. 7 and No. 9. Arizona is a significant favorite in Thursday’s game against Washington State in Tucson, and a Wildcats win probably would not change the seeding of those two teams. A Washington State upset, however, would probably move the Cougars up and take Arizona out of the No. 1 seed slot.
The uncertainty revolves around Utah (16-10, 7-8) and Colorado (17-9, 8-7), which kept themselves in the discussion with road wins over UCLA and USC, respectively, over the weekend, but have not done enough to be in the field according to most of the experts.
Colorado seems to be the most confusing. The Sporting News has the Buffaloes in the field with room to spare as a No. 8 seed, but Bleacher Report does not have Colorado in the field or even among its First Five Out. The other five sites have Utah and Colorado somewhere on the cusp, either just in or barely out.
Utah and Colorado will play a pivotal game against each other on Saturday in Boulder, Colorado.
Oregon (17-8, 9-5) is hanging around the perimeter, but has some work to do to earn an at-large berth.
By the way, while the Pac-12 has just two teams in the field in most projections, the Mountain West has six of its teams in the NAA tournament field at all seven sites.
Here are the seedings of the five Pac-12 teams in contention at each of the seven sites we cite.
.
Pac-12 teams in: 2
Arizona – 1
Washington State – 8
Utah – First Four Out
Colorado – Next Four Out
Oregon – Not Included
.
Pac-12 teams in – 4
Arizona – 1
Washington State – 7
Utah – 11
Colorado – 11 (Last Four in)
Oregon – First Four Out
.
Pac-12 Teams In – 2
Arizona – 1
Washington State – 8
Utah – First Four Out
Colorado – First Four Out
Oregon – Not Included
.
Pac-12 Teams In – 2
Arizona – 1
Washington State – 9
Utah – Not Included
Colorado – Not Included
Oregon – Not Included
.
USA Today (Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, Eddie Timanus)
Pac-12 Teams In – 2
Arizona – 1
Washington State – 9
Utah – First Four Out
Colorado – Next Four Out
Oregon – Not Included
.
The Sporting News (Bill Bender)
Pac-12 Teams In – 3
Arizona – 1
Washington State – 7
Colorado – 8
Utah – First Four Out
Oregon – Not Included
.
Bleacher Report (Kerry Miller)
Pac-12 Teams In – 2
Arizona – 1
Washington State – 8
Utah – First Five Out
Colorado – Also Considered
Oregon – Also Considered
Cover photo by Rob Gray, USA TODAY Sports
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