Last season, the Pac-12 was horrible.
The league ranked at the last of the seven power conferences in the NET metrics of the NCAA and had a historically poor winning percentage (62%) which 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 previous year was not much better. The league failed to advance a team in the second round of the 2018 tournament – the first time since 1997, a power conference failed to do so.
Many things have changed in a year. The Pac-12 is now tied with the Big East for the second largest team of any power conference in the planned field – trailing only the Big Ten. The league rebounded with a 74% non-conference winning percentage.
While the Pac-12 has only one team on the verge of clinching a seed on selection Sunday (Oregon is a No. 4 seed in today’s bracket), a plethora of bubble teams are well placed to hear their names. Over the weekend, UCLA took command of the conference standings and jumped into the designated 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) are all currently in.
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Although the Pac-12 starting lines for these teams are not favorable, entering half the battle. In March, anything can happen. And if the Pac-12 wins the bubble while it is now 13 days from selection Sunday, it could also be a big winner in the NCAA tournament.
► Seeds n ° 1: Kansas, Baylor, Gonzaga, State of San Diego.
► Last four: UCLA, State of North Carolina, Rutgers, Texas.
► The four first: Richmond, Cincinnati, Rhode Island, State of Mississippi.
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Explanator of the NCAA tournament:
- Quadrant 1 wins: home games against 1 to 30 NET teams; Games on neutral site vs 1-50 NET; Away games against 1-75 NET
- Quadrant 2 wins: home games against 31-75 NET; Games on neutral site vs 51-100 NET; Away games against 76-135 NET
- Quadrant 3 wins, losses: home games against 76-160 NET; Games on neutral site vs 101-200 NET; Away games against 136-240 NET
- Quadrant 4 wins, losses: home games against 161 + NET; Games on neutral site vs 201-plus NET; Away games against 241 and over NET
Other people considered for a general offer (in order): Utah, Arkansas, Purdue, Memphis, Georgetown, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, Clemson.
On keeping alive (in no particular order): Tulsa, Furman, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Syracuse, UNC-Greensboro.
Multi-offer conferences: Big Ten (10), Big East (7), Pac-12 (7), Big 12 (6), ACC (5), SEC (4), West Coast (3), AAC (2).
Leaders or RPI highest of single offer conferences planned – (24 in 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 not eligible to participate: Cal Baptist, North Alabama, Merrimack.
- Forbidden to participate: Georgia Tech, Detroit.
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Note: Most statistical data are used from WarrenNolan.com. The NCAA NET ranking is also a benchmark.
About our parentologist: Shelby Mast has been projecting the field since 2005 on its website, Bracket W.A.G. He joined USA TODAY in 2014. In his seventh season as our national parentologist, Mast finished in the top three parenthologists in the last six follies of March. He is 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 university basketball reporter Scott Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.