2017-18 was not a memorable season for the Pac-12 in any positive way. While it certainly did not end well, the bad momentum started very early – as in, before the season – and continued all along.
College basketball was rocked by an FBI investigation into corruption that was low-lighted by several arrests in September. Two of the coaches arrested were in the Pac-12 – former USC assistant Tony Bland and former Arizona assistant Emanuel “Book” Richardson. This threw a cloud around both programs, both of whom were thought of as teams capable of making a Final Four run.
While the Wildcats and Trojans finished first and second in the conference, neither looked like the kind of teams most thought they would be. Arizona went to the Battle 4 Atlantis as one of the favorites and came away 0-3, capped off by an 89-64 trouncing at the hands of Purdue. Then they barely beat UNLV (granted, on the road) and just did get past Texas A&M in Phoenix. USC, meanwhile, lost three straight at one point (although none to bad teams) and then lost to Princeton at home in a Diamond Head Classic campus game. While they won the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii, they didn’t exactly out-class a field that was good, not great.
Non-conference set the stage for the conference as a whole. Pac-12 teams finished with a winning percentage below .700 for the first time since the 2011-12 season, when they had just two teams in the NCAA Tournament. But that’s only the beginning. Cal lost to UC Riverside to open the season, was annihilated by Chaminade 96-72 in the Maui Invitational to close out three double-digit losses in three days there, and Portland State clobbered them 106-81 to close non-conference play. Stanford lost to Eastern Washington, Portland State and Long Beach State.
Despite this, the conference somehow placed eight teams – which ties a conference record – in postseason play. But even that turned into a big flop. None of the three NCAA Tournament teams won a game – the first time that has happened with a Power 5 conference since the Big 12 was formed – and that included Arizona’s embarrassing blowout to No. 13 seed Buffalo (even though the Bulls were a lot better than most people realized). Additionally, all but one of the five NIT teams was done before the quarterfinals. (It is worth noting that the five NIT teams were a record as well.) And while Utah reached the NIT final, it was small consolation. Ironically, Utah was also the only Pac-12 team to win a bowl game in football a couple of months earlier.
About the only plus at the end of the season is the apparent coaching stability, but even that can be fleeting. The FBI investigation still looms, and one wonders how much more leeway Ernie Kent has at Washington State and Wayne Tinkle has at Oregon State. Steve Alford seems to be perpetually on the hot seat at UCLA as well.
How soon it gets better for the Pac-12 is tough to figure. Most of the All-Pac-12 players will not be back next year, but on the team level, the questions are bigger. Arizona will have a gutted roster, as their best players are leaving early or graduating, though they rebounded later in the spring to add some players that might help them fight for an NCAA Tournament bid next season. USC is in a similar boat, while UCLA is losing at least Aaron Holiday early although they look good for next year. Oregon has an elite recruiting class coming in, Arizona State has good additions but also loses key players, Cal should be better but that isn’t saying much, and Washington will get a boost. And Stanford, who has been showing signs of contending for an NCAA bid again before long, took a hit when Reid Travis graduated and transferred.
No matter what happens, though, next year is sure to be a better year than 2017-18 was.
Final Standings
| Arizona | ||
| USC | ||
| Utah | ||
| UCLA | ||
| Stanford | ||
| Oregon | ||
| Washington | ||
| Colorado | ||
| Arizona State | ||
| Oregon State | ||
| Washington State | ||
| California |
Conference Tournament
In a season where the conference was intensely competitive and at times unpredictable, it was a little surprising to see the conference tournament have just two games go to the lower seed.
The first round was a study in contrasts for the two sessions. No. 8 Colorado took care of No. 9 Arizona State 97-85, which had the Sun Devils sweating it out on Selection Sunday, then No. 5 Stanford handled No. 12 Cal 76-58. The evening session was a wild one as both games went to overtime. No. 10 Oregon State beat No. 7 Washington 69-66, then No. 6 Oregon survived 64-62 over No. 11 Washington State.
The quarterfinals had three double-digit games and then a squeaker to close the day. No. 1 Arizona took care of Colorado 83-67, then No. 4 UCLA kept their NCAA Tournament hopes alive by knocking off Stanford 88-77. In the evening, No. 2 USC took care of No. 10 Oregon State 61-48, then Oregon kept alive hopes of snagging the automatic bid by eking out a 68-66 win over No. 3 Utah that sent the Utes to the NIT.
The semifinals were a pair of double-digit games, though Arizona’s 78-67 win over UCLA went to overtime, where the Bruins were shut out in the extra session. USC handled Oregon 74-54 in the other semifinal.
That set up the championship game, where as we would later learn, USC was playing for a bid. Tournament MVP Deandre Ayton was dominant with 32 points on 14-20 shooting and 18 rebounds, and Arizona took over the game in the second half after trailing by three at the break to win their seventh Pac-12 Tournament title by a score of 75-61.
Postseason Awards
Player of the Year: Deandre Ayton, Arizona
Freshman of the Year: Deandre Ayton, Arizona
Coach of the Year: Mike Hopkins, Washington
Defensive Player of the Year: Matisse Thybulle, Washington
Most Improved Player: Robert Franks, Washington State
Sixth Man of the Year: Dominique Collier, Colorado and Remy Martin, Arizona State
All-Pac-12 Team
Deandre Ayton, Fr. C, Arizona
Justin Bibbins, Sr. G, Utah
Noah Dickerson, Jr. F, Washington
Tra Holder, Sr. G, Arizona State
Aaron Holiday, Jr. G, UCLA
Jordan McLaughlin, Sr. G, USC
Chimezie Metu, Jr. F-C, USC
Tres Tinkle, So. F, Oregon State
Reid Travis, Jr. F, Stanford
Allonzo Trier, Jr. G, Arizona
Season Highlights
- Arizona State went undefeated in non-conference play, including double-digit wins over Xavier, St. John’s, Kansas and Vanderbilt and a close win over Kansas State.
- Pac-12 teams won four non-conference in-season tournaments. Arizona State won the Las Vegas Invitational, Colorado won the Paradise Jam, Washington State won the Wooden Legacy and USC won the Diamond Head Classic.
- Arizona was fourth in the country in field goal percentage (50.4 percent)
- Arizona freshman Deandre Ayton tied for the national lead in double-doubles with 24.
- UCLA guard Aaron Holiday became the sixth player in conference history to average at least 20 points and five assists per game, and just the second since the expansion to 12 teams. He joins some heady company, as the others to do it are Gary Payton, Terrell Brandon, Damon Stoudamire, Jason Terry and Markelle Fultz.
What we expected, and it happened: Arizona was the top team in the conference, even in its diminished state this year. In fact, in that respect, they were pretty much a microcosm of the conference.
What we expected, and it didn’t happen: USC was not a national title contender by a long shot. The Trojans were thought of as a big snub from the NCAA Tournament, but the reality is that they did not beat a lock NCAA Tournament team all year and had a bad loss (Princeton, at home) to boot.
What we didn’t expect, and it happened: Arizona State had the best non-conference performance and parlayed that into an NCAA Tournament bid. The Sun Devils were widely thought of as an also-ran, but their undefeated non-conference run – featuring wins over Kansas State, Xavier and Kansas – was one of the best of any team nationally. As they went 8-10 in Pac-12 play , consistently alternating wins and losses (including winning three straight and then losing three straight), their NCAA Tournament bid is clearly the result of their non-conference performance.
Team(s) on the rise: Washington and Oregon. Mike Hopkins is already setting the stage for bigger and better things in Seattle, while Oregon was good but just not good enough to be an NCAA Tournament team this time around. Both will get a boost from newcomers, though the Ducks figure to get the bigger one as they have one of the nation’s best classes coming in.
Team(s) on the decline: Arizona. Though better than the day the season ended, the picture in Tucson has rarely if ever been this bad in decades. The Wildcats are losing every player of consequence and don’t have much coming in to replace them, although they ultimately got Brandon Williams to re-commit. The cloud over the program from the FBI investigation has hit hard thus far, but it will be most noticeable next year.
2018-19 Pac-12 Outlook
About the only way to describe the Pac-12 next season at first glance is a two-word description: wide open.
Oregon will probably have the most talent given the recruiting class they bring in, but will they be ready? UCLA will have plenty of talent as well with the class they bring in, but replacing Aaron Holiday will be the big key. Getting Kris Wilkes and Jaylen Hands back after they declared for the NBA Draft without an agent helps immensely. Washington looked better than expected in year one under Mike Hopkins and will have most players of consequence back.
But can any of them be realistically tabbed the favorites just yet?
Oregon State brings back a lot, but they also watch Drew Eubanks walk out the door early while adding a lot of size with their incoming recruits. They might be a sleeper, but then, they might have been that entering this past season, too. Stanford had some bad moments in non-conference but looked like a team on the rise by the end of the season. With Travis gone, Daejon Davis has to make a leap next year and bring up others with him. Arizona may have regrouped enough to have at least a postseason team next year, which will really test Sean Miller and his staff. USC and Colorado are tough to figure. USC might have the biggest shoes to fill in the conference as Jordan McLaughlin is done and will be very tough to replace. For Colorado, McKinley Wright is a future star, but George King won’t be easy to replace right away. Utah has quietly reloaded every year of late and should still be competitive, but where do you slot them in the pecking order?
Washington State will regroup, as will Cal, as both lose multiple significant pieces. Given what both teams did in 2017-18, that might not be the worst thing that could happen, though there might be some big growing pains at first.
And one thing is for sure: the conference as a whole should be better next season. Considering 2017-18 was one to forget, accomplishing that should not be all that difficult.
