Pac-12 Thriving After First Round of NCAA Tournament in Last Dance for the Conference

As a whole, college sports is chaos. The unexpected is expected, and surprising results don't necessarily have immense shock value.

Given that setup, perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that an imploding conference is excelling in the 2024 men's NCAA tournament. Sure enough, the Pac-12 has enjoyed a perfect start to March Madness.

Five games, five wins.

And a whole lot of ironic excitement.

Here in March, the Pac-12 is approaching its potentially final days in existence. Administrative failures, poor results in marquee sports—college football and men's basketball—and other factors led to the conference's unceremonious decline as 10 programs leave this summer.

Poor results, you know, until this season.

On the gridiron, the Pac-12 assembled a hugely successful 2023 campaign. Washington ended as the national runner-up, and eight programs played in a bowl for the first time since the 2017 season.

If, for a moment, you can overlook the painful reality of jobs lost, it was hilarious. The clear impetus for conference realignment—money—did not prevent the conference from having a great season. Competitive reasons, while a factor, undoubtedly did not force USC and UCLA to join the Big Ten before Oregon and Washington. Same for Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah to the Big 12.

The same, relatively speaking, is happening in March Madness.

All four of its representatives—Arizona, Washington State, Colorado and Oregon—won their opening game, along with CU's win on Wednesday. The quartet is advancing to the second round of the Big Dance.

David Becker/Getty Images

Now, it didn't happen without plenty of drama.

Colorado began the tournament in a First Four matchup, taking down Boise State but never leading by more than seven points.

Arizona, which lost to 15th-seeded Princeton last season, conjured up some nightmares early in Thursday's clash with Long Beach State. As late as 2:38 to play in the first half, LBSU led the 'Cats. However, their prolific offense caught fire and ultimately rolled to an 85-65 victory.

That's the expected result for the No. 2 seed, of course. The other three programs basically had toss-up games, so a 3-0 finish—although possible—certainly wasn't the expectation.

Washington State trailed 10th-seeded Drake by eight points with seven minutes to play in regulation but recovered for a 66-61 win.

Colorado squandered a 13-point lead against No. 7 Florida in the final five minutes before KJ Simpson's last-second shot rolled around the iron and saved the Buffs in a 102-100 thriller.

Oregon side-stepped the theatrics, holding a comfortable lead on sixth-seeded South Carolina for much of a 87-73 triumph. Jermaine Couisnard provided the highest-scoring performance of any player in the first round, dropping 40 points on his former team.

As a result, the Pac-12 has four programs moving to the weekend for only the second time in the last six NCAA tourneys.

What timing.

One comical part of this situation is that every Pac-12 win pads the pockets of Washington State and Oregon State. Each victory is paid out as a "unit" to the respective conference, and only Wazzu and OSU will remain in the league—the Pac-2, unofficially—to receive the money.

Strictly on the court, nevertheless, this two-day stretch has solidified a respectable end to the conference as we know it.

Arizona needs to make the Sweet 16 to exit March with, at the very least, an adequate feeling. Such is life for a No. 2 seed.

The lower-seeded trifecta, conversely, is playing with house money.

Projected to finish 10th in the league this season, Wazzu has been an awesome breakout story. Picking up the program's first March Madness victory since 2008 is a proverbial cherry on top, no matter what happens in the second round against No. 2 Iowa State.

Colorado had faded from at-large consideration in mid-February, but eight consecutive wins vaulted the Buffs to the proper side of the bubble. Sunday, they'll have a chance to bounce No. 2 Marquette.

Oregon, which is seeking a sixth Sweet 16 appearance in 11 tourneys, rounds out the group with a clash opposite No. 3 Creighton.

What happens from here is subject to the ordinary chaos of college sports—and, in particular, March Madness. Plenty will be surprised if Arizona loses or Wazzu, CU or Oregon wins, but none of those outcomes would be anywhere close to a "shocking" result.

Maybe, just maybe, the Conference of Champions has one more marquee championship in store or a heck of a sleeper run to the Final Four.

Between the college football season and start of March Madness, however, one thing has become abundantly clear.

To the bitter end, the Pac-12 isn't going down quietly.