3 Pac-12 teams make NCAA Tournament

Thanks to the Oregon Ducks’ tear through the conference tourney, the Pac-12 will be sending three teams to the NCAA tournament.

The Ducks, Arizona State Sun Devils and Washington Huskies all had their names called on Selection Sunday, though none has a particularly easy road based on the seeds they earned.

Oregon (23-12) earned a No. 12 seed in the South Region after winning four games in four days in Las Vegas to claim the Pac-12’s automatic bid. The Ducks will take on No. 5 Wisconsin (23-10) on Friday in San Jose, Calif., and if they win that game they’d take on either No. 4 Kansas State or No. 13 UC-Irvine.

Regular-season champ Washington (26-8) earned a No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region and a Friday meeting with No. 8 Utah State (28-6) in Columbus, Ohio. The Huskies, who lost four of their last 11 games after a 19-4 start, including the Pac-12 final against Oregon, could face either No. 1 North Carolina or No. 16 Iona in the second round if they get past the Mountain West-champion Aggies.

ASU (22-10) is in the NCAA tourney in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1980-81, but like a year ago the Sun Devils have to play in the First Four in order to advance to the main field. ASU takes on St. John’s (21-12) on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio, with the winner taking on No. 6 Buffalo (31-3) on Friday in Tulsa, Okla.

The Arizona Wildcats and UCLA Bruins, the conference’s usual flagships, were not even close to receiving an at-large bid. It is the first time since 2009-10 that neither team reached the NCAA Tournament.

The last time Arizona was omitted was the 2011-12 season when it went on to lose to Bucknell in the first round of the NIT. And with ASU getting in, this marks the first time since 1981 that the NCAA tournament will feature the Sun Devils and not the Wildcats.

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