2021 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament explained
The 2021 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament was a postseason men's basketball tournament for the Pac-12 Conference, which was played March 10–13, 2021, at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada.[1] The winner was Oregon State,[2] which was the first for the Beavers in the history of the tournament.[3] They received the conference's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.[4] The 2020 Tournament had been cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 tournament was played, but with only family of student-athletes as spectators in attendance.[5] [6]
Seeds
Eleven of the 12 Pac-12 teams competed in the tournament. The Arizona Wildcats did not compete in the tournament; the university self-imposed a postseason ban for the 2020-21 season due to ongoing NCAA investigations into corruption within the program.[7] Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with tiebreakers in place to seed teams with identical conference records.[8] The top five teams received a bye to the quarterfinals.
| Seed | School | Conference | Overall | Tiebreak 1 | Tiebreak 2 |
|---|
| 1 | Oregon†# | 14–4 | 19–5 | | |
| 2 | USC | 15–5 | 21–6 | | |
| 3 | Colorado | 14–6 | 20–7 | | |
| 4 | UCLA | 13–6 | 17–8 | | |
| 5 | Oregon State | 10–10 | 14–12 | 1–1 vs. Stanford | 1–1 vs. Oregon |
| 6 | | 10–10 | 14–12 | 1–1 vs. Oregon State | 0–2 vs. Oregon |
| 7 | | 8–11 | 11–12 | | |
| 8 | | 7–10 | 10–13 | | |
| 9 | | 7–12 | 14–12 | | |
| 10 | | 4–16 | 5–20 | | |
| 11 | | 3–17 | 8–19 | | |
† – Pac-12 Conference regular season champions
# – Received a first round bye in the conference tournament. | |
Schedule
| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance |
|---|
| First round – Wednesday, March 10 |
|---|
| 1 | 1:00 pm | No. 8 Arizona State vs. No. 9 Washington State | 64–59 | Pac-12 Network | N/A^ |
| 2 | 4:00 pm | No. 7 Utah vs. No. 10 Washington | 98–95 |
| 3 | 7:00 pm | No. 6 Stanford vs. No. 11 California | 58–76 |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 11 |
|---|
| 4 | 11:30 am | No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Arizona State | 91–73 | Pac-12 Network | N/A |
| 5 | 2:30 pm | No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 5 Oregon State | 79–83 OT |
| 6 | 5:30 pm | No. 2 USC vs. No. 7 Utah | 91–85 2OT | N/A |
| 7 | 8:30 pm | No. 3 Colorado vs. No. 11 California | 61–58 | ESPN |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 12 |
|---|
| 8 | 5:30 pm | No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 5 Oregon State | 64–75 | Pac-12 Network | N/A |
| 9 | 8:30 pm | No. 2 USC vs. No. 3 Colorado | 70–72 | ESPN |
| Championship – Saturday, March 13 |
|---|
| 10 | 7:30 pm | No. 3 Colorado vs. No. 5 Oregon State | 68–70 | ESPN | N/A |
| Game times in PT. Rankings denote tournament seed. | |
^According to the Pac-12, family members were allowed to attend, but the general public was not allowed. As a result, the Pac-12 has not released official attendance numbers.
Bracket
* denotes overtime period** denotes double overtime period
Game statistics
Championship
Awards and honors
Team and tournament leaders
| Team | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Minutes |
|---|
| style= width=125 | Arizona | — | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― | ― |
|---|
| style= width=75 | Arizona State | Verge Jr. | 54 | Verge Jr. | 14 | 2 tied | 7 | House | 6 | 3 tied | 1 | Martin | 72 |
|---|
| style= width=75 | California | Bradley | 29 | 2 tied | 11 | Brown | 7 | 2 tied | 2 | Kelly | 2 | Bradley | 67 |
|---|
| style= width=75 | Colorado | Wright IV | 52 | Battey | 19 | Wright IV | 14 | 5 tied | 2 | Walton | 2 | Wright IV | 103 |
|---|
| style= width=75 | Oregon | Figueroa | 35 | Richardson | 14 | Richardson | 15 | Omoruyi | 7 | 2 tied | 2 | Richardson | 75 |
|---|
| style= width=75 | Oregon State | 2 tied | 42 | Alatishe | 29 | Thompson | 11 | Thompson | 4 | 2 tied | 2 | Lucas | 104 |
|---|
| style= width=75 | Stanford | Delaire | 14 | Kisunas | 7 | O'Connell | 3 | Wills | 3 | 2 tied | 1 | Wills | 32 |
|---|
| style= width=75 | UCLA | Bernard | 19 | Bernard | 10 | Campbell | 5 | Singleton | 2 | Riley | 3 | Campbell | 43 |
|---|
| style= width=75 | USC | E. Mobley | 52 | E. Mobley | 18 | Eaddy | 8 | Eaddy | 3 | E. Mobley | 10 | 2 tied | 78 |
|---|
| style= width=75 | Utah | Allen | 44 | Allen | 24 | Allen | 7 | Allen | 3 | 2 tied | 2 | Allen | 87 |
|---|
| style= width=75 | Washington | Green | 31 | 2 tied | 6 | Green | 7 | Bajema | 3 | 2 tied | 1 | 2 tied | 37 |
|---|
| style= width=75 | Washington State | Bonton | 19 | Kunc | 9 | 2 tied | 4 | Bonton | 2 | 3 tied | 1 | Bonton | 39 | |
|---|
All-Tournament Team
| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Team |
|---|
| F | | 220 | | Oregon State |
| F | | 210 | | USC |
| F | | 260 | | Colorado |
| G | | 200 | | Colorado |
| G | | 205 | | Oregon State |
| G | | 195 | | Oregon State | |
Tournament notes
- Five teams were extended invitations to the 2021 NCAA tournament: Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, and USC.[9] The five bids marks the most for the Conference since securing a record seven in 2015-16.[10] Oregon State was not expected to be invited to the tournament, and changed the number of predicted bids of the Pac-12 from four to five.[11] The team first out originally predicted in the field was Louisville.[12] [13]
- No teams from the Pac-12 were invited to the 2021 National Invitation Tournament, which was reduced in size.
- In the NCAA tournament, UCLA won the 11 seed play-in game, and then all five teams advanced to the round of 32 on the opening weekend.[14] Four teams advanced to round of sixteen.[15] Three teams advanced to the round of eight: Oregon State, UCLA, and USC.[16] USC and Oregon played each other for the final Elite 8 spot. UCLA reached the Final Four as a 11-seed First Four team.[17]
- Each win in the NCAA tournament by a conference team gains a payout "unit" for the conference over six years.[18] The Pac-12 team wins in the 2021 tournament gained a record 19 units, which will cause almost US$40 million to be paid to the conference by 2027.[18]
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: Pac-12 Men's Basketball releases reorganized inaugural 20-game 2020-21 league schedule. https://web.archive.org/web/20201031095917/https://pac-12.com/article/2020/10/28/pac-12-mens-basketball-releases-reorganized-inaugural-20-game-2020-21-league. dead. October 31, 2020. 2021-01-06. pac-12.com. en.
- Curtis, Jake - Oregon State Pulls Off Another Upset, Wins Pac-12 Tournament Title - SI.COM (Sports Illustrated), March 14, 2021 Beavers, picked to finish last in Pac-12, top Colorado in championship game to earn NCAA tournament berth
- Mickanen, Dylan - Oregon State wins the Pac-12 Tournament for the first time in program history. NBC Sports, March 13, 2021
- Dashel, Nick - Oregon State Beavers narrowly beat Colorado to win Pac-12 tournament, earn automatic bid to NCAA Tournament. Portland Oregonian, March 13, 2021
- Newman, Josh - The Pac-12 is pushing ahead with its conference basketball tournaments. Is this a good idea?. Salt Lake Tribune. February 8, 2021
- https://web.archive.org/web/20210413203548/https://pac-12.com/article/2021/02/24/pac-12-update-attendance-policy-2021-mens-womens-basketball-tournaments Pac-12 update on attendance policy for 2021 Men's & Women's Basketball Tournaments
- Web site: Arizona self-imposes one year postseason ban due to NCAA investigation following FBI bribery probe. 2021-01-06. CBSSports.com. en.
- Web site: Men's Basketball Standings. https://web.archive.org/web/20150801071702/http://pac-12.com/mens-basketball/standings. dead. August 1, 2015. 2021-01-06. pac-12.com. en.
- Wilner, Jon - NCAA tournament best bets: Pac-12 sends five teams into the Madness. How many survive the first weekend?. San Jose Mercury News, March 18, 2021
- https://pac-12.com/news/2021/3/14/pac-12-mens-basketball-send-five-teams-2021-ncaa-tournament.aspx Pac-12 Men’s Basketball to send five teams to 2021 NCAA Tournament
- Mast, Shelby and Scott Gleeson - NCAA Tournament bracketology: Final March Madness projection on Selection Sunday USA Today, March 14, 2021
- Kercheval, Ben - NCAA Tournament 2021: Michigan State, UCLA among last four in, Louisville among first four replacement teams - CBS Sports, March 14, 2021
- Sweeney, Kevin - Bracket Watch: Time Running Out Heading Into Regular Season's Final Weekend - SI.COM (Sports Illustrated) March 5, 2021
- Wilner, Jon - Saturday Night One: Pac-12 unbeaten through first round, in range of record-breaking NCAA cash haul. East Bay Times, March 20, 2021
- Forde, pat - The Pac-12's Unexpected Dominance Highlights an Endearingly Weird Men’s Sweet 16. March 23, 2021. Sports Illustrated
- Odom, Joel - Pac-12 will have 3 teams among the Elite Eight at the men’s NCAA Tournament. Portland Oregonian, March 28, 2021
- https://web.archive.org/web/20211015205921/https://pac-12.com/article/2021/03/30/ucla-reaches-final-four-continue-pac-12-mens-basketballs-historic-2021-ncaa UCLA reaches Final Four to continue Pac-12 Men's Basketball's historic 2021 NCAA Tournament run
- Wilner, Jon - The Pac-12’s killer cash haul: UCLA win caps the most lucrative NCAA Tournament in conference history, San Jose Mercury News, March 31, 2021
