PAC-12 has something to prove after rough selection Sunday

By Joey McMurry

For the first time in collegiate basketball, the regular season winner of a major conference will not be going to the Big Dance.

The Washington Huskies, after winning the PAC-12 in the regular season going 21-10 overall and 14-4 in the conference, will not be in March Madness.

After blowing it against Oregon State in a PAC-12 tournament quarterfinals game, the Huskies lost their opportunity to solidify themselves as the true PAC-12 champions. Instead, Colorado went on to win the PAC-12 championship by defeating Arizona.

California, the regular season number two team, also lost in the PAC-12 tournament, but in the semifinals. Cal went 24-9 and 13-5 in the PAC-12. Those conference numbers are worse than the Huskies, yet the Golden Bears got into the tournament with the potential of being a No. 12 seed if they are victorious in one of the "First Four" games.

Call me old fashioned, but the Huskies deserve to be in the tournament simply because they won a major conference in the regular season. Even if this is a down year for PAC-12 basketball, winning the conference is no small feat.

Colorado is the second PAC-12 team in the tournament, and they deserve to be there after the show they put on in the PAC-12 tournament. As  No. 11 seed, that's fine for a team that went 23-11 overall, but with only a mark of 11-7 in the PAC-12, how are the Buffaloes better than the Huskies?

The Buffaloes were very inconsistent all year, and can be described as a "show up for the big one" type team. They could easily make a run in the Big Dance, there's not doubt about that. But the fact is that this team finished fifth in a major conference and just came on hot in the end.

The Huskies were a far better team the whole year, and the case can be made for the Oregon Ducks were as well.

The Ducks lost two one-point games to the Buffaloes, one of which was due to a very debatable foul call in the final seconds. Oregon finished 22-9 overall and, like Cal, went 13-5 in conference play. Although the Ducks are still a bubble team even if they don't lose to Colorado in the PAC-12 tournament quarterfinals, it is difficult to see how teams from lesser conferences get into the Big Dance over the likes of the Huskies and Ducks.

The NIT looks to be a tournament dominated by the PAC-12. Washington and Arizona are both NO. 1 seeds, and Oregon and Stanford are No.3 seeds. The Huskies and Ducks may be squaring off in the semifinals of this season's NIT.

Clearly, these four PAC-12 schools have something to prove. If all four of them can run the table in the NIT, that should be proof that the PAC-12 isn't as bad as everyone thinks.

Tune in to 3 Ducks in a Row tonight to hear the panel's thoughts on the PAC-12 and this year's Big Dance.