VEGAS BABY!
The Pac-12 men's basketball tournament begins today at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. What is the best part about today's first round action? CAL IS NOT PLAYING, THAT'S WHAT! Because the Bears finished in a second-place tie in the conference and secured the #2 seed in the tournament, Cal gets to sit out day one and await the winner of the Utah-USC game. This is the fifth consecutive season in which the Bears have had the good fortune to avoid playing on the opening day of the conference tournament.
Here's the schedule for today (all games televised on Pac-12 Networks):
Game 1 - No. 8 STANFORD vs. No. 9 ARIZONA STATE, 12:06 p.m. PT
Game 2 - No. 5 COLORADO vs. No. 12 OREGON STATE, approx. 2:36 p.m. PT
Game 3 - No. 7 USC vs. No. 10 UTAH, 6:06 p.m. PT
Game 4 - No. 6 WASHINGTON vs. No. 11 WASHINGTON STATE, approx. 8:36 p.m. PT
So sit back, relax, and watch the 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 seeds knock themselves out to reach the second day of the tournament and stay in Vegas a little longer. This is your open thread for all of the hot day 1 action.
Looking ahead, here is the schedule for the remainder of the tournament:
Thurs., Mar. 14
Game 5 - No. 8/9 vs. No. 1 UCLA, 12:06 p.m. PT P12N
Game 6 - No. 5/12 vs. No. 4 ARIZONA, approx. 2:36 p.m. PT P12N
Game 7 - No. 7/10 vs. No. 2 CALIFORNIA, 6:06 p.m. PT P12N
Game 8 - No. 6/11 vs. No. 3 OREGON, approx. 8:38 p.m. PT ESPNUFri., Mar. 15
Semifinal 1, 6:06 p.m. PT P12N
Semifinal 2, approx. 8:38 p.m. PT ESPNSat., Mar. 16
Championship Game, 8:02 p.m. PT ESPN
Enjoy the games. Especially USC vs. Utah, which I'm sure we'll be watching very closely in anticipation of Cal playing the winner on Thursday.