Pac-12 Tournament 2015: Quarterfinals Schedule, Live Stream, Bracket Predictions

The Pac-12, as competitive as it often is in many sports, hasn't been one of the deeper conferences in men's college basketball this season. With just six schools in the RPI top 100 heading into tournament play, Round 1 of the 2015 Pac-12 tournament figured to have some matchups that seemed unfair on paper.

Of course, this being March, the script was indeed flipped in a couple of contests, setting up a fine slate of quarterfinals competition.

No. 12 seed USC pulled off an upset to beat fifth-seeded Arizona State 67-64 on Sunday, setting them up for a contest against old rival UCLA. A (finally) healthy 10th-seeded Colorado proved to be more dangerous than its record indicated and defeated No. 7 Oregon State 71-78.

No. 6 Stanford needed a clutch three-pointer from Chasson Randle to slip past upstart No. 11 Washington, 71-69, to survive and advance to the next round. No. 8 Cal demolished No. 9 Washington State 84-59 on Wednesday, a result that should have top-seeded Arizona on notice. The Golden Bears are ready to play.

There is plenty more action to come from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Here's a look at the viewing info for the quarterfinals, along with some predictions and the one matchup hoops fans can't afford to miss in this round.

2015 Pac-12 Tournament Quarterfinals: Schedule, Viewing Info, Matchup Predictions

Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV	Live Stream	Prediction
March 12	No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 8 Cal	3 p.m.	Pac-12 Networks	Pac-12.com/Pac-12 Now	Arizona
March 12	No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 12 USC	5:30 p.m.	Pac-12 Networks	Pac-12.com/Pac-12 Now	Oregon
March 12	No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 10 Colorado	9 p.m.	Pac-12 Networks	Pac-12.com/Pac-12 Now	UCLA
March 12	No. 3 Utah vs. No. 6 Stanford	11:30 p.m.	ESPN	WatchESPN	Utah

Live streams can be viewed at WatchESPN, Pac-12.com or on the Pac-12 Now app.

Tournament Bracket

Quarterfinals Matchup to Watch

No. 3 Utah vs. No. 6 Stanford

John Froschauer/Associated Press

The Huskies were one much-needed rebound and one cold-blooded three-point bucket away from defeating Stanford and sending the Pac-12 tournament into true chaos, but Randle had other ideas. Here's a look at the senior guard's big play, via Pac-12 Networks: 

The Illinois native struggled mightily against Washington, going 3-of-11 from the field and finishing with just 10 points. However, Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins hasn't lost faith in his best player.

"He's going to take the big shots for us throughout his career, and that's not changing," said Dawkins, per The Associated Press (h/t OregonLive.com). "On a night he was struggling, he hit the biggest shot of them all for us and I'm really happy for him."

Randle, averaging 18.8 points and 3.2 assists per game this season, will likely again be integral to Stanford's success on Thursday night, as keeping up with Utah will be no easy feat.

The Utes—ranked No. 17 overall in the nation in the latest AP poll, per ESPN.com—are one of the feistiest defensive teams in the nation. They've held opponents to a mere 56.6 points per game this season.

A balanced offense led by the brilliant Delon Wright (younger brother of the Portland Trail Blazers' Dorell Wright), Brandon Taylor and Jordan Loveridge also happens to be very efficient—Utah is shooting 48.6 percent from the field this season, 11th best in the nation.

Utah handily defeated The Cardinal 75-59 back on Feb. 12, but the team has slumped a bit since then. It lost three of its last five games, most notably a 77-68 stinker against Washington to end the regular season. Kurt Kragthorpe of The Salt Lake Tribune noted head coach Larry Krystkowiak has had to harp on the team's effort as of late:

"

Larry Krystkowiak's words echoed through the Huntsman Center in a video clip played before every Utah home game this season, with the coach insisting that his basketball team's degree of effort never would be a discussion point. That's just the expectation for the Utes.

So why is he having to talk about it now?

Krystkowiak was disappointed with the Utes' toughness and competitiveness last week, as they closed the regular season with an uninspiring win at Washington State and an inexcusable loss at Washington. Maybe it was understandable that Utah would lose interest after missing a shot at a Pac-12 co-championship by losing to Arizona. The team's complacency, as acknowledged by junior guard Brandon Taylor, is a correctable problem.

"

John Locher/Associated Press

Stanford ended the regular season on a three-game losing streak, but after Wednesday night's madness, it will be hard to ignore its encore performance in the quarterfinals. Randle should have a bounce-back game and will be backed up, as per usual, by Anthony Brown and center Stefan Nastic, who came up with 21 points against Washington.

This might not seem like the toughest matchup on paper for Utah, but we've already discussed why the phrase "on paper" is a nonstarter in March. The other three matchups all have their merits, but the last contest could prove to be an excellent capper.

Arizona should handle Cal with ease despite the latter's fantastic performance on Wednesday—the Wildcats are 2-0 this season against the Golden Bears, winning those contests by a combined 59 points. UCLA-USC is always fun to watch because of the storied rivalry, but Norman Powell and company should be able to put away the bottom-ranked Pac-12 squad.

Colorado-Oregon is intriguing, but the Ducks finished the season incredibly hot, winning nine of their final 10 contests. They appear set to steamroll their competition, which is going off approximately 24 hours of rest.

Utah and Stanford will put on a show as one of the day's last games and soak up the prime ESPN coverage. Don't expect an upset here, but don't expect it to be boring, either.


Prediction: Utah wins, 67-62