Pac-12 Tournament upset threats
A pair of heartbreaking losses were the mirror image of fellow mountain school Colorado's weekend. It started with a 7-point loss at Oregon State before the heartbreaker in Eugene. Utah could have also sealed up an NCAA tournament berth (and a bye week in the Pac-12 tournament) with a pair of road wins here. Instead, the Utes fall short and will need an outright dominant performance in three out of four games
Next week: Utah will look to straighten themselves out against an Arizona State squad that just lost its second-leading scorer.
Washington earned something to hang their hats on when the Huskies rolled into Pullman and stunned their ranked rivals. The relatively convincing 8-point win underscored what has become more apparent over the back half of the season: the Huskies can get it going on offense. This team is inconsistent though — more so than Utah — and even winning the championship game may not bode well for the NCAA Tournament. It's "wait and see" with the Huskies as they try to send Mike Hopkins out on a high note.
Next week: Washington will look to give Hopkins one last ride when they face a rolling USC squad in the first round.
UCLA finally stopped the bleeding, but it was against a relatively subpar Arizona State team. The Bruins have been facing a tough stretch as of late, but they show signs of being the perfect "cornered dog" game. UCLA will bite back hard against Oregon State, and it's simply a matter of how they hold up against Oregon. Unless the Bruins go on a miracle run, a March Madness bid is not in this team's future, no matter how blue the blood runs.
Next week: UCLA will look to get back on track and contend for the conference title against a heavily struggling Oregon State squad.