Pac-12 may send 7 to NCAA field

The Pac-12 Conference has the potential to get seven teams through to the NCAA Tournament. That would match the past two years combined and equal the conference record set in 2016.

To get there, a few teams may have some work to do at next week’s Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.

No. 13 Oregon (24-7, 13-5) earned its third regular-season title in five years and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with Saturday’s 80-67 victory over Stanford.

NCAA vice president of men’s basketball Dan Gavitt told CBS on Sunday that the NCAA Tournament will go on as planned despite the coronavirus and that the Ducks will be in the bracket no matter what happens in Las Vegas.

Colorado (21-10, 10-8) would appear to be a lock and so would Arizona (2011, 10-8), thanks to steady seasons and marquee wins.

Southern California (229, 11-7) may have popped its NCAA Tournament bubble by beating rival UCLA 54-52 on Saturday.

The loss by the Bruins is likely keep them on the bubble, due to an ugly start to the season. UCLA (19-12, 12-6) did come alive at the right time, winning seven of its last eight games to finish within a halfgame of sharing the conference title with Oregon.

Arizona State (20-11, 11-7) was in position to win the regular-season title just two weeks ago, only to lose three consecutive games, including to last-place Washington. The Sun Devils gave themselves a little bubble cushion on Saturday, withstanding Washington State’s late rally to win 83-74 after a nice bounce-back game by guard Remy Martin.

“I can’t say 100%, but I imagine we are,” Arizona State Coach Bobby Hurley said. “We’ve had a great year, we have a great story, we have one of the most dynamic players in college basketball the rest of the country should get to see — and Remy wants that stage.”

Stanford (20-11, 9-9) missed a massive opportunity to pad its resume with Saturday’s loss to the Ducks. The Cardinal were the surprise of the conference early in the season but lost six of seven during one stretch of the Pac-12 season and dropped its final two regular-season games.

Winning a game or two at the Pac-12 Tournament may be needed for Stanford to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014.