Can You Trust the PAC-12 This March?

By Ryan Hammer on February 24, 2017

March Madness is upon us and questions still loom around the PAC-12 teams. Will the west coast teams have real national championship contention or will they be the same as every year?

Well, recent history will tell you no, you cannot trust PAC-12 teams but is this year different? AP’s numbers 4, 5, and 6 are currently occupied by the west so the PAC-12 should get some favorable seeding come Selection Sunday. Right from Joey Brackets (Joe Lunardi, ESPN) himself, five PAC-12 teams will receive bids with two of them being 2 seeds, one being a 4, and two 10 seeds.

The main issue people have with the PAC-12 is the outrageously large score lines, lack of defense, and lack of national experience. What you need to know is that these PAC-12 teams are the strongest they have been in years and you CAN rely on them to do heavy damage in March. These teams have legitimate national championship qualities.

Arizona, 25-3 (14-1), No. 4

Lauri Markkanen handling to the basket vs. Stanford (fansided.com)

Sean Miller’s ball club has been the dominant force since his entrance to the PAC-12 in 2009 but has never been to a Final Four. The Wildcats are a well-balanced squad in terms of their statistics; rebounding, points for, points against, steals, assists, blocks. The Wildcats are not your average or your classic PAC-12 team. PAC-12 teams are known for their triple-digit scoring games, but we have a team who focuses on the fundamentals and rallies behind Wooden finalist Lauri Markkanen (15.7 ppg, 7.5 rpg).

He does it all, one of the most versatile and deadly forwards in the country, leading the Wildcats in points, rebounds, and minutes. The only ranked opponents they played against were west coast teams besides Michigan State on opening day back in November. This is the 20th best defense in the country by the numbers and they are doing that playing against the best offensive conference in the nation. People can say Arizona will not surpass the Elite 8, but do not be surprised when they are playing in Pheonix on April 1st.

Oregon, 24-4 (13-2), No. 6

Dillon Brooks celebrating after hitting buzzer beater to hand UCLA their first loss of the year (si.com)

My personal favorite national championship contender from the PAC-12 simply because they have the attributes that teams historically succeed with in March: good defense, good guard play, good balance, the desire to win, and a star player to rally behind. This is the best defensive team on the west coast not only on paper but simply by watching them play.

Possibly one of the best zone defenses in the country, they force turnovers, do not foul too much, and counter for fast break points. Everyone always says defense wins championships; well Oregon forced 25 turnovers in their two games against the best offense in the country in UCLA. On the flip side, they take care of the ball marvelously averaging less than 10 turnovers per game and they have a sharpshooting guard in Tyler Dorsey (13.0 ppg) and a beast of a rebounder in Jordan Bell (7.9 rpg).

And of course, Dillon Brooks, the star small forward and Wooden finalist averaging 15 points per game. Brooks is not a superstar by the stats, but he is a winner plain and simple. If he needs to make a second pass to find Dorsey outside he will do that, you can find him taking charges, and of course clutch shooting dating back to the home buzzer beater shot vs. UCLA to give UCLA their first loss of the year.

The Ducks proved themselves last year with their first Elite 8 appearance in 10 years and will be out to reach their first Final Four since 1939.

UCLA, 24-3 (11-3), No. 5

Lonzo Ball showing off his range to beat Oregon (collegebasketball.nbcsports.com)

The fan favorite of the year after convincingly launching themselves to the AP top 10 after a 13-0 start to the year and beating some very worthy opponents along the way. By the stats and by their play, this is the best offense in the country averaging 92.3 ppg as a team and 21.7 assists per game, both leading the nation. They won over the fans when freshmen phenom Lonzo Ball led the team to their 9th win of the year over No. 1 Kentucky, 97-92.

From then on they continued to flush out every opponent in their path until their loss at No. 21 Oregon, which by no means is a bad loss. Lonzo Ball (15.4 ppg, 7.5 apg) is the most exciting and lovable player in the United States. Between his outspoken father and his little brothers and future UCLA ballers, Lonzo has made his mark on college basketball.

Alongside Ball is big man TJ Leaf (16.7 ppg, 62.8 FG%) and sharpshooter Bryce Alford (16.2 ppg). This is another well-balanced team that has shown no sign of stopping scoring this season so don’t expect it to in March. The Bruins are an easy team to love especially when people are looking for a non 1/2 seed to pick for their brackets.

The only issue is their defense, letting up 75.7 points per game which could hurt when they come up against another offensive powerhouse, but that does not mean that this team has anything less than national championship aspirations and rightfully so.

The answer is yes, with these three powerhouse teams in the PAC-12, west coast basketball has its best opportunity in decades to make its comeback to prominence, and you better believe it — otherwise, you will be seeing a lot of red lines on your bracket in March. 

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