Roundup: Quick exit for Pac-12 in men's tourney
Yikes. So much for the Pac-12 in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, as the Conference of Champions went 0-3 in the Big Dance following Arizona’s 89-68 loss to 13th-seeded Buffalo Thursday night in Boise. Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports ponders what the future might hold for Sean Miller in his latest column. Per ESPN Stats and Info, the 2018 Pac-12 is the first major conference since the formation of the Big 12 in 1996-97 to not send a team to the round of 32. Ouch.
On the bright side, there are six Pac-12 teams still alive in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament that starts Friday, and a lot of them have a very good shot at making a run to the second weekend and beyond. The Ducks are the Pac’s highest-seeded team at No. 2, and Mechelle Voepel of ESPN writes that Oregon guard Sabrina Ionescu is one of the most exciting players in the NCAA Tournament. The Ducks open up play Friday at 4 p.m. PT in Eugene against 15th-seeded Seattle.
And the women’s postseason is already off to a good start, as Utah defeated UNLV 78-68 in the first round of the WNIT Thursday night at the Huntsman Center. Up next – at Kansas State Sunday at 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT.
Rusty Simmons has this story on Cal women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Gottlieb going up against her mentor Joanne Boyle in the first round of the NCAA Tournament when the Golden Bears play Virginia Friday at 2 p.m. PT.
The Beavers were the first team to take the NCAA tourney floor from the Pac-12, notching a decisive 82-58 win over Western Kentucky early Friday morning in Knoxville. Marie Gulich had a monster game, tallying a double-double with 29 points and 15 rebounds. OSU will play the winner of Tennessee-Liberty.
Three USC pitchers threw a combined no-hitter in the Trojans’ 2-0 win over Utah, and our J.B. Long and Wes Clements have the Pac-12 Networks recaps in the preceding link.
Wanna see Arizona State football CEO Herm Edwards dance to Nelly’s “Ride Wit Me” at practice? This is your link, then (For The Win).
Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times writes that UCLA men’s basketball head coach Steve Alford is expected to return following a 21-12 campaign in 2017-18.
Stanford is in first after two days at the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships and has won all six swimming events. Cal is second with 147 points behind Stanford’s 211.
The Washington State defense is in for a major scheme change, notes Barrett Sallee of CBS Sports (other units and scheme changes from across the country are mentioned here). Tracy Claeys is the new defensive coordinator with Alex Grinch off to THE Ohio State University.
Colorado men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle is wary of allowing agents more access into the world of college basketball, which was part of one of the recommendations of the Pac-12 Task Force (BuffZone.com).
From the beginning of the week – Washington men’s soccer coach Jamie Clark signed a five-year extension through the 2022 season. Clark is 87-35-19 in seven years, leading the Dawgs to five NCAA Tournaments and the quarterfinals in 2013.