Pac-12 Tournament Odds: Super Powers UCLA and Arizona Expected to Meet in Title Game

Can Southern California or Oregon Pull Off an Upset to Reach the Pac-12 Title Game?

High Hopes for Bruins, Wildcats Heading Into Postseason

The Pac-12 tournament has the feel of a two-team tournament with top-seeded UCLA and No. 2 Arizona expected to advance to the title game according to the Pac-12 tournament odds.

Both teams get byes into the quarterfinals along with third-seeded Southern California and No. 4 seed Oregon.

The tournament begins on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with Washington and Colorado kicking things off followed by Washington State meeting California and the Utah-Stanford and Arizona State-Oregon State games. The Colorado-Washington matchup is the only one in the first round featuring two teams with winning records so that could be one of the best college basketball games to bet on today.

UCLA (+900) is fourth in the odds to win the national title. Arizona (+1400) is sixth in the championship odds. USC (+15000) and Oregon (+25000) are well back.

UCLA moved up two spots to No. 2 in the Associated Press poll. Arizona is ranked eighth while USC is also receiving votes.

UCLA is fourth and Arizona 11th in the NCAA NET rankings as UCLA is in the conversation to be a No. 1 seed in the March Madness bracket. Arizona could certainly help its seed in the NCAA tournament by winning the Pac-12 title. There is a huge gap after the top two teams with USC 45th and Oregon 47th in the NET rankings, so it is quite possible that only two Pac-12 teams will be in the NCAA tournament.

Favorites

UCLA has an experience with Jaime Jaquez Jr., Jayen Clark and Tyger Campbell leading the way while Amari Bailey has made an immediate impact as a freshman.

UCLA has won 10 straight games with six of them being decided by single digits, so the Bruins know how to win tight games. The Bruins split their six games against ranked opponents with three of the four losses having come against ranked teams.

Arizona is 5-1 against ranked teams this season so keep that in mind when the tournament moves along.

The Wildcats did fall to UCLA in the regular-season finale with Jaquez leading the way with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Still, they lead the away when it comes to the Pac-12 tournament odds.

Azuolas Tubelis had 24 points and 25 points in the last two games with double-doubles in both games. UCLA led the Pac-12 with an 18-12-1 record against the college basketball spread and will be a popular team when it comes to the March Madness bracket contest.

Outsiders

Southern California is priced at +750 to win the tournament according to the Pac-12 tournament odds. If all the top seeds advance, the Arizona-USC semifinal could be quite the battle. The last time they played, Arizona held on for a six-point win. The teams combined for 19 3-pointers in the game.

Southern California leads the Pac-12 in field-goal percentage defense and finished the regular season by winning five of its last six games. Veteran guards are invaluable at this time of the year so keep an eye on USC’s Boogie Ellis in the tournament. Ellis led the Pac-12 with 81 3-pointers.

Oregon (+1200), Arizona State (+1400), Washington State (+1800), Utah (+2200) and Colorado (+2500) are 7-20 against ranked teams. Can those teams make tournament runs?

Oregon opened more than a few eyes with a 19-point win over visiting Arizona in mid-January. N’Faly Dante had four double-doubles in his last five games. Jermaine Couisnard had 27 points in the Arizona win.

Arizona State is looking to get Oumar Ballo going as he has a total of 23 points and 13 rebounds over the last three games. He averaged 16.5 points and 10 rebounds in wins over ranked Indiana and Tennessee teams.

Washington State has won six games in a row and TJ Bamba had 36 points in the Cougars’ final regular season game.

Utah is reeling a bit with five straight losses, while Colorado hung with both UCLA and Arizona late in the regular season.

Not much is expected from Washington, Stanford, Oregon State and California. Cal has lost 15 straight games and is without leading scorer Devin Askew.

Projected Championship Matchup

More than any of the other Power-5 conferences, the front-runners are expected to be the last two teams standing. Few NCAAB matchups could be as compelling as one between UCLA and Arizona with the Pac-12 title on the line.

UCLA and Arizona rank first and second in the Pac-12 in scoring margin. Arizona is the top-scoring team in the conference and UCLA leads the way in scoring defense. The Wildcats get to the foul line more than any team in the conference and are second in 3-pointers made.

Tubelis leads the way as he led the Pac-12 in scoring (19.9 points) and rebounding (9.2) during the regular season.

UCLA sets the pace in steals and turnover margin. If it is Arizona and UCLA going head to head for the title, it would be worth the price of admission. It would also mark the first time that the same two teams met in back-to-back Pac-12 title games after Arizona topped UCLA 84-76 in the 2022 championship matchup.
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