Pac-12 Men's Basketball Weekly Release - Nov. 16, 2021

COMPLETE RELEASE

#PAC12MBB STARTING FIVE:

.788 - Pac-12 Men’s Basketball programs have opened the season with a combined 26-7 mark (.788) highlighted by five wins over 2021 NCAA Tournament teams, four wins over preseason league favorites, USC’s true road win at Temple, and No. 2 UCLA’s win over ranked Power 6 opponent No. 4 Villanova.

• The second week of play will bring additional quality-victory opportunities, among them: at least three Power 6 conference opponents, four true road games, four preseason league favorites, at least seven 2021 NCAA Tournament teams, and eight reigning league champs (reg. season/tourney), as well as six games in a five-day span in Las Vegas.

1 vs. 2 - Next Tuesday, Nov. 23 is slated to pit the current No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation in Gonzaga and UCLA in the Empire Classic in Las Vegas.

• Should the rankings hold it will mark the 43rd all-time matchup between the AP’s top two teams dating to 1949, the first since Nov. 5, 2019 (#2 Kentucky 69, #1 Michigan State 62, New York, N.Y.).
• It would also mark the first such meeting between two teams from the Pacific Time Zone, first to be contested in the Pacific Time Zone since the 1975 NCAA title game in San Diego (#1 UCLA 92, #2 Kentucky 85), and first to feature a Pac-12 program since Nov. 29, 1975 (#1 Indiana 84, #2 UCLA 64, St. Louis, Mo.).

3 - Three Pac-12 Men's Basketball programs appeared in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 as USC entered at No. 25 along with No. 2 UCLA and No. 12 OREGON.

• It marks the first time three Pac-12 teams appear in the AP poll since the 2020-21 preseason edition (#18 ASU, #20 ORE, #22 UCLA).
• It is the first AP regular-season poll to feature three Pac-12 teams since Week 16 (2/17/20) of the 2019-20 campaign (#14 ORE, #18 COLO, #24 ARIZ).

9 - Pac-12 Men’s Basketball programs have combined to sign nine Top 100 recruits according to 247Sports Composite rankings as part of 20 signees during the early signing period (full NLI signing list on Pg. 7 of notes).

• UCLA (three), OREGON (two) and USC (two) account for all seven of the league’s current Top 50 signees.

200 - USC’s Andy Enfield reached 200 career victories with Saturday’s 76-71 road win at Temple.

• WASHINGTON STATE’s Kyle Smith is three victories shy of joining Enfield with 200 career wins.
• OREGON’s Dana Altman (692) and COLORADO’s Tad Boyle (292) are both also nearing victory milestones. In Altman’s case, he would become the 46th coach in NCAA Men’s Basketball history and 32nd in Division I history to reach 700 career victories, only the second with any tenure in the Pac-12 (Lute Olson).

PAC-12 TIPOFF

ALLIANCE MATCHUPS: The Pac-12’s first men’s basketball meeting of Alliance programs will take place this week as UTAH faces Boston College in the Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Saturday, Nov. 20.

It will be the first of five scheduled meetings and a possible 12 contests between the Pac-12 and its Alliance partners from the ACC and Big Ten this season.

2021-22 Alliance MBB Games
11/20 - Utah vs. Boston College
11/21 - Arizona vs. Michigan/UNLV
11/23 - Oregon vs. Notre Dame/Saint Mary’s
11/24 - California vs. Ohio State/Seton Hall
11/24 - Oregon vs. TBD (Wisconsin possible)
11/25 - Arizona State vs. Syracuse/VCU
11/26 - Arizona State vs. TBD (Michigan State possible)
11/26 - Wake Forest vs. Oregon State
11/27 - Oregon State vs. LSU/Penn State
12/11 - Arizona at Illinois
12/18 - North Carolina vs. UCLA
12/18 - Georgia Tech vs. USC

PRESEASON NATIONAL AWARDS

AP PRESEASON FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
Johnny Juzang, UCLA

NABC NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Watch List
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
Johnny Juzang, UCLA

NAISMITH TROPHY NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Watch List
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
Johnny Juzang, UCLA
Isaiah Mobley, USC
Will Richardson, Oregon

WOODEN AWARD NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Watch List
Tyger Campbell, UCLA
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
Johnny Juzang, UCLA
Isaiah Mobley, USC
Will Richardson, Oregon

NAISMITH MEMORIAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME AWARDS
Watch Lists

Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year
Tyger Campbell, UCLA
Will Richardson, Oregon

Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year
De’Vion Harmon, Oregon
Johnny Juzang, UCLA
Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona

Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year
Marcus Bagley, Arizona State
Harrison Ingram, Stanford
Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA
Jabari Walker, Colorado

Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year
Quincy Guerrier, Oregon
Isaiah Mobley, USC
Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year
Myles Johnson, UCLA

PAC-12 MEN'S BASKETBALL INITIATIVES

YEAR 2 of 20-GAME SCHEDULE IN 2021-22; NEW 10-YEAR ANNUAL ROTATION

• The Pac-12 transitioned to a 20-game league schedule in 2020-21 in an effort to add more competitive and higher quality regional games to schedules and to elevate the national branding of Pac-12 men’s basketball. In addition to the second season of 20 league games, the Pac-12 unveiled in May 2021 a new 10-year annual opponent rotation for 2021-31. More details at pac12.me/21-22MBBsched.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE STANDARDS

• The Pac-12 implemented non-conference scheduling standards beginning with the 2020-21 season with goals of improving out-of-league schedule strength and increasing the number of NCAA Tournament selections. The standards include: (i) a non-Conference five-year trailing average of opponents’ NET ranking must be 175 or less, (ii) no participation in road buy games, (iii) no regular season games against non-Division I opponents and (iv) no road games versus a non-conference opponent with a five-year trailing average of 200 NET.

PAC-12 TITLE GAME MOVES TO FOX

• The 2022 Pac-12 Tournament Championship Game on Saturday, March 12 will be broadcast by FOX for the first time. The title contest will tip off at 6 p.m. PT with a lead-in from the BIG EAST Championship. It will mark the title game’s first airing on a broadcast network since 2012 (CBS).

PAC-12 COAST-TO-COAST CHALLENGE

• After having the planned 2020 quadrupleheader canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Conference will launch the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge in 2021 – a unique non-conference scheduling event designed to provide opportunities for its programs against quality opponents in marquee markets around the country. More details at pac12.me/C2CChallenge21.

2021 Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge
Sunday, Dec. 19 - T-Mobile Arena - Las Vegas
12:00 p.m. PT - STANFORD vs. Texas (men) - ABC
2:30 p.m. PT - ARIZONA vs. Texas (women) - ESPN2

PAC-12, SWAC CREATE PARTNERSHIP

• In 2022-23, the Pac-12 and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) will launch an educational and scheduling agreement featuring first-of-its-kind home-and-home series. The men’s and women’s basketball partnership is aimed at creating both a forum for competition, as well as promotion and education around issues of anti-racism and social justice. The partnership is set to begin in Nov. 2022, with six matchups for the initial men’s cycle determined. More details at pac12.me/Pac-12-SWAC.

MCLENDON MINORITY LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE

• In July 2020, every head men’s basketball coach from the Pac-12 Conference pledged his support to participate in the McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative to provide minorities a jump-start to their careers through practical experiences, opportunities to build their network, and instilling the values of John McLendon: Integrity, Education, Leadership, and Mentorship.

PAC-12, CHASE CENTER TO HOST NCAA WEST REGIONAL IN 2022 & 2025

• The Pac-12 Conference, Chase Center and the Golden State Warriors will serve as hosts for this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship West Regional March 24 & 26, 2022. The groups also will serve as West Regional hosts in 2025.
• It will mark the first time the NCAA Tournament will be played within the city of San Francisco since the West Regional was staged at the California Coliseum on Treasure Island in March 1939. Daly City’s Cow Palace (1955, 1958-60), Oakland’s Oracle Arena (1990, 1995, 2006) and San Jose’s SAP Center (1997, 2002, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019) are among the other Bay Area venues to host the tourney.

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings) 

WEEKLY SCHEDULE (Full Schedule)

PAC-12 PERFORMANCE AWARDS PRESENTED BY NEXTIVA