Pac-12 Tournament 2012 Schedule, Bracket: Washington Huskies Clear Favorites

In the weakest major conference in recent history, there is only one team that stands out.

The No. 1-seeded Washington Huskies (21-9, 14-4 Pac-12, 53 RPI) won the conference outright and clearly have the best talent with the three-headed monster of Tony Wroten (16.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.0 SPG), Terrence Ross (15.3 PPG, 6.6 RPG) and C.J. Wilcox (13.9 PPG, 3.3 RPB).

No team in the Pac-12 can match that sort of production.

Looking at the bracket for Day 1, only No. 5 UCLA (18-13, 11-7 Pac-12, 117 RPI) has a prayer of winning four games in four days. Yet the Bruins' struggles have recently been put on display for the entire country to read, thanks to George Dohrmann of Sports Illustrated, and they have a miserable 3-7 record away from home.

This team has NIT written all over it.

That leaves three teams in the Huskies' way.

No. 4 Arizona (21-10, 12-6 Pac-12, 77 RPI) is another bland team with zero big wins of note. It's already lost to Washington twice and is fresh off a loss to Arizona State, a team with the 247th-best RPI in the country. This team is not capable of winning three games in three days.

That leaves No. 3 Oregon (22-8, 13-5 Pac-12, 50 RPI) and No. 2 Cal (23-8, 13-5 Pac-12, 37 RPI). Both teams won’t meet Washington until the finals and both have a shot to win, yet both have fatal flaws.

Oregon may have crushed Washington 82-57 for by far its most impressive win of the year, but the Huskies beat the Ducks by 16 earlier in this season. That tells me Washington fell asleep and paid the price. So how do you think the Huskies will play in Round 3 with the memories of that embarrassing game only a month old? The extra motivation to beat the Ducks is high.

Not to mention the ridiculous rebound advantage Washington holds. The Huskies are fifth in the nation, pulling down 40.2 per game while Oregon is a less-than-stellar 198th in the country (34.1).

That leaves Cal.

The team with the best RPI in the conference is certainly a formidable foe with a team shooting percentage of 48 (22nd in NCAA). The Bears also defeated Washington in their only previous meeting 69-66.

So why will Washington win this potential matchup?

The Bears have a 5-6 road record, looked awful in their last two games (both losses) and the first match had the flukiest of X-factors emerge. Walk-on Robert Thurman, who averages 3.8 points and 1.8 rebounds, exploded for 16 points in far and away the best game he has ever played in his Cal career. In a game decided by three, he made all the difference.

Call me crazy, but I don’t see that happening again.

The Huskies have more depth than any other team in contention for a title and have the best resume entering the NCAA tournament. They have won 10-of-12, are battle tested and have the most talent. A Pac-12 tourney win would do wonders for their seeding, potentially giving them a path to the Sweet 16 and beyond.

Every other team is fighting for the right to be a 12-seed, only to get bounced by another mediocre bubble team.

The Pac-12 was wide open in Year 1 with Colorado and Utah, but as the year dragged on it became crystal clear who the best team is.

This is Washington’s tournament to lose. 

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