Pac-12 Tournament 2015: Bracket, TV Schedule, Dates and Predictions

Oh, hey, look. It's another Pac-12 tournament where the Arizona Wildcats show up as the favorites.

Under head coach Sean Miller, the Wildcats have become the clear power atop the conference, winning their second straight regular-season championship in 2014-15 and finishing the campaign as a national title contender.

For the second straight year, they will also walk into the MGM Grand Garden Arena as prohibitive favorites to sweep the titles. This time around, though, they'll hope to actually pull it off.

Arizona's road was halted in the final by second-seeded UCLA last season, an upset Miller hopes will serve as motivation this time around. The Wildcats coach has yet to even win a conference tournament in his reign in Tucson, so it'll be interesting to see how the latest cast of opposition fares.

Utah and Oregon sit as the most obvious roadblocks. One of the nation's most pleasant surprises, the Utes spent part of the regular season ranked inside the Top 10 but have a so-so resume against elite opponents.

The Ducks have largely been unstoppable at home—and at times scary bad on the road.

But in the end, this has been a disappointing year for the Pac-12. We'll see if the tournament can ignite some excitement on the West Coast.

Game	Date	Time (ET)	Matchup	Television
1	March 11	3 p.m.	Cal vs. Washington State	Pac-12 Networks
2	March 11	5:30 p.m.	Arizona State vs. USC	Pac-12 Networks
3	March 11	9 p.m.	Oregon State vs. Colorado	Pac-12 Networks
4	March 11	11:30 p.m.	Stanford vs. Washington	Pac-12 Networks
5	March 12	3 p.m.	Arizona vs. Winner of Game 1	Pac-12 Networks
6	March 12	5:30 p.m.	UCLA vs. Winner of Game 2	Pac-12 Networks
7	March 12	9 p.m.	Oregon vs. Winner of Game 3	Pac-12 Networks
8	March 12	11:30 p.m.	Utah vs. Winner of Game 4	ESPN
9	March 13	9 p.m.	Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 6	Pac-12 Networks
10	March 13	11:30 p.m.	Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8	ESPN
11	March 14	11 p.m.	Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10	ESPN

(Note: You can view the full bracket on the Pac-12's official website.)

Tournament Preview

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The game we're playing here is basically Arizona or anyone else. Arizona should win this tournament.

The Wildcats are among the nation's best defenses and boast an offense that's surprisingly effective, given how many players they lost from last season.

Stanley Johnson has established himself as a lottery pick during his freshman campaign, leading the team in scoring and showing major strides as a defender. His effectiveness on the offensive end can wildly vary from night to night, but he's a good starting spot whenever the team needs a bucket.

T.J. McConnell helps along the litany of limited scorers with his elite passing ability, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is always making athletic plays near the basket and merely having Brandon Ashley is an upgrade over last year, period.

"Brandon has been a big part of our success," Miller said, per Steve Rivera of Fox Sports Arizona. "He's a double-figure scorer most of the year. If he were making free throws at a better rate—that's something we're working with him on, and he's working on it himself—he might be our leading scorer. That says a lot about how important he is to our team."

While this team may not be as (collegiate) star-laden, it's beginning to look every bit as good as its predecessor.

The same cannot be said for Oregon or Utah. At this time in 2014, the Utes were preparing for an NIT berth. Now, they're one of the nation's best teams.

Led by a strong defense and a group of above-average scoring threats, Utah has at times looked like the strongest Pac-12 outfit.

Then there were times when they looked like Utah.

Those times typically came against strong opponents. The Utes went a combined 0-3 against Oregon and Arizona and did not defeat a ranked team all season long. Their nonconference strength of schedule, which ranks better than Arizona's and Virginia's, wouldn't be a problem if we could find a signature win.

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The same goes for Oregon, which counts Utah as its most notable victory.

The Ducks' nonconference schedule, by contrast, also makes Arizona and Utah look like they played juggernauts. It's not a good look at all for head coach Dana Altman's team, which may struggle to get a single-digit seed in the Big Dance without a strong performance in this tournament.

The only other Pac-12 team with a legitimate chance of getting into the NCAA tournament is UCLA, which will probably need a run to the finals to clinch a spot. The Bruins closed their regular season with three straight wins but have a five-game losing streak and four different instances of back-to-back losses on their resume.

Head coach Steve Alford's team has shown moxie in getting past last season. This outfit is far thinner in terms of talent and lost by double digits in its lone regular-season matchup with Arizona.

I'm having a more difficult time by the second finding teams worth delving into other than the Wildcats.

Prediction: Arizona

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.