Pac-12 Tournament preview: Can Stanford reign supreme?

The Pac-12 tournament kicks off this week. Stanford looks to get the clean sweep by winning the regular season title and the conference tournament.

The 2024 Pac-12 Tournament tips off on Wednesday, Mar. 6 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. On Sunday, Mar. 10, the final Pac-12 conference tournament champion will be crowned.

The Pac-12 will finish off with a bang with six of the 12 tournament participants ending the regular season in the AP Top 25. Stanford won the conference and is the No. 1-seed in the tournament. Along with the Cardinal, No. 2-seed USC, No. 3-seed UCLA and No. 4-seed Oregon State all earned a first-round bye and automatically qualify for the quarterfinals.

All games will be on the Pac-12 Network, except for the title game which will be on ESPN. Many teams have a fair shot at winning it all but let’s take a look at the top contenders.

Stanford’s to lose?

With Cameron Brink playing in her final collegiate season, Stanford has dominated on a consistent basis all year long. They dropped only three games in the conference, but two were against USC and Colorado—teams they’ll likely have to face to win it all this weekend.

They’ve been the team to beat all year and knocking them out will require their opponent to play a complete game. There are quite a few teams that can get that done, but it will take someone’s best effort.

Is this JuJu Watkins’ moment?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: JuJu Watkins is going to enter another level of stardom come tourney time. Now, I mainly was referring to the main tournament, not the conference one. But could the added attention of the final Pac-12 Tournament bring in more viewers to watch Watkins destroy opponents?

As a freshman, her list of accomplishments is as long as the state of California. So I won’t list them all, but I’ll leave you with this: you don’t want to play her even if you think your team is far better than hers. She’s good enough when she gets hot to just say, “I’m going to outscore your entire team and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

I stress that basketball is a team game; you still need a deep team and multiple elite players to be a serious contender at any level. Watkins is the exception. She is enough. And until they are eliminated, every game USC plays in will be must-see TV.

UCLA is ready

All season long, UCLA has been good. Lauren Betts has been sensational, leading the Bruins by averaging 14.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Their guard trio of Kiki Rice, Charisma Osborne and Londynn Jones is the envy of the conference. They’ve beaten the best in Pac-12—minus Stanford—but that’s also true for most teams in the conference. If you’re picking UCLA to win it all, you probably feel good about your chances.

Best of the rest

With the Pac-12 being so elite, plenty of other teams can make noise, regardless of their seed. Oregon State has a first-round bye and has improved throughout the season, rising up to the No. 4-seed. Colorado has taken a dip, but, with Jaylyn Sherrod on the team, they’ll always be dangerous.

Utah, Washington and Arizona are all sneaky teams that can upset the top-four teams. And every tourney has upsets, so don’t sleep on these sleepers this weekend.

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Pac-12 Tournament schedule

All games at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV.

First round — Wednesday, Mar. 6

Game 1: No. 12 Oregon vs. No. 5 Colorado, 3 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)

Game 2: No. 9 Washington State vs. No. 8 California, approx. 5:30 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)

Game 3: No. 10 Washington vs. No. 7 Arizona, 9 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)

Game 4: No. 11 Arizona State vs. No. 6 Utah, approx. 11:30 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)

Quarterfinals — Thursday, Mar. 7

Game 5: No. 4 Oregon State vs. winner of Game 1, 3 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)

Game 6: No. 1 Stanford vs. winner of Game 2, approx. 5:30 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)

Game 7: No. 2 USC vs. winner of Game 3, 9 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)

Game 8: No. 3 UCLA vs. winner of Game 4, approx. 11:30 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)

Semifinals — Friday, Mar. 8

Game 9: winner of Game 5 vs. winner of Game 6, 8 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)

Game 10: winner of Game 7 vs. winner of Game 8, approx. 10:30 p.m. ET (Pac-12 Network)

Championship — Sunday, Mar. 10

Game 11: winner of Game 9 vs. winner of Game 10, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN)