For the first time since 2020, the Pac-12 season went off without any COVID pauses, cancellations or protocols. It was all about the basketball, and it was some of the best basketball in all of the land, with 10 Pac-12 teams among the top 70 in the NCAA NET rankings. It was a competitive season of upsets, surprises, stellar individual performances, concluding on its final day with a tie for the regular-season title between Stanford, the Conference’s stalwart for more than three decades, and Utah, the team that says it is merely meeting the vision it’s had for itself since last season.

The Cardinal will be going for its 16th Pac-12 Tournament title. The Utes, their first.

The tournament, which begins on Wednesday at Mandalay Bay's Michelob ULTRA Arena, will determine NCAA hopes and seedings for some, and for others, a way to end the season with hope and promise for what’s to come.

Let’s break down this week’s tournament and its many possibilities.

Coming in hot

• No. 2 seed Utah: The Utes grabbed their first share of the Pac-12 regular-season title on Saturday with a win over Stanford. They come into the tournament on a three-game winning streak, averaging 86.3 points a game over that stretch, a big number against Conference opponents.
• No. 1 seed Stanford: Take away the Utah loss on Saturday and the No. 1-seeded Cardinal has found a way to prevail through a season-closing stretch in which it faced five ranked opponents in six games and went 5-1 with three of those games decided by single-digits and the other in double overtime.
• No. 6 seed USC: The Trojans finished the regular season with a critical sweep of the Washington schools, rebounding from a difficult weekend in the Bay Area the previous weekend that knocked them out of the running for a first-round bye. USC is 6-4 in its last 10 games.

Momentum check

• No. 9 Oregon: A seven-game losing streak ended with a sweep of the Arizona schools in Eugene on the final weekend. It was the longest losing streak of Kelly Graves’ tenure at Oregon. The Ducks are looking to have a strong week in Vegas to secure their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. Oregon comes into the conference tournament expecting that second-leading scorer, freshman Grace VanSlooten, will be unavailable due to an ankle injury she sustained on February 17.
• No. 8 Washington: The team that knocked off Stanford earlier this season has lost four of its final six games heading into the Conference tournament and is the lowest-scoring offense in the Pac-12. The Huskies will need to crank up the defensive pressure to rock the bracket.
• No. 4 Arizona: Being swept at the Oregon schools wasn’t what the Wildcats had in mind on their way into the Conference tournament, and it could cost them the opportunity to host NCAA Tournament games. But Arizona still managed to snag the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye by virtue of the league's tiebreaking procedures. Arizona has reached the semifinals in two of the last three tournaments and will be looking for a long run to improve their NCAA Tournament seed.

Most intriguing first-round matchup

• No. 8 Washington vs. No. 9 Oregon. May seem like an obvious choice considering the seeds, but this pseudo-rivalry game will likely determine whether either team gets to hold onto its bubble status for NCAA Tournament consideration. The Ducks won their first matchup in Eugene by a 65-58 margin, while the Huskies won 68-60 in Seattle on Feb. 19. Washington is currently considered the “first team out” of the field by ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme. The Huskies are considered among the “last four out." Neither of these teams has its NCAA ticket punched and both are looking at a must-win.

Most intriguing potential second-round matchup

• No. 3 Colorado vs. No. 6 USC. Should the Trojans prevail against lower seeds in the opening round, this will surely be a knockdown, drag-out matchup between two defensive-minded teams looking to bust up this bracket. These two teams have only played once this season, the Trojans winning in Boulder 71-54 on six 3-pointers by Destiny Littleton and double-doubles from sophomore Rayah Marshall and fifth-year senior Kadi Sissoko. USC finished the regular-season No. 1 in the conference in scoring defense (54.8 ppg) and the Buffaloes rank third (58.7). Don’t expect offensive fireworks in this one, but the winner will be a scary semifinal opponent for someone.

Six players to watch

• Alissa Pili, Utah: The Pac-12’s leading scorer and its Player of the Year will be looking to lead Utah to another first — a Pac-12 Tournament title.
• Quay Miller, Colorado: Miller has collected six double-doubles in her last 10 games.
• Destiny Littleton, USC: The player on the USC roster with a national title to her credit already (last season at South Carolina), Littleton is averaging nearly 18 points a game over her last 11 games.
• Londynn Jones, UCLA: The Bruins’ freshman comes off the bench to fire away from beyond the arc and has scored in double figures in eight of her last 10 games.
• Jayda Curry, California: If the Bears bust out an upset in this tournament, it will be because Curry has a big scoring game. In her final three Pac-12 games this season, the sophomore guard has averaged 27 points.
• Lauren Betts, Stanford: Betts, the nation’s No. 1 recruit in this class, is finding her groove at the most important time, scoring in double figures in five of her last seven games. 

 Fond farewells

• Shaina Pellington, Arizona: It’s been a stellar final season for Pellington, averaging career-highs in scoring (13.4), field-goal percentage (.542), rebounds (3.1), assists (3.7) and steals (1.9).
• Cate Reese, Arizona: The first-ever McDonald’s All-American to commit to Adia Barnes’ program, Reese has not missed a game this season. She is averaging 15.1 points a game over the last seven games.
• Haley Jones, Stanford: The All-American led Stanford to a national title in 2021, and was the Pac-12 Player of the Year last season. Her scoring (13.5), rebounding (8.9) and assist (4.0) averages are at career-high levels.
• Hannah Jump, Stanford: The senior made her biggest splash in her final season, becoming a starter and the conference’s deadliest 3-point shooter with 92 treys on the season.
• Charisma Osborne, UCLA: The Bruins senior guard ranks No. 15 on UCLA’s all-time scoring list with 1,671 points. She leads her team in points scored, minutes played, rebounds, field-goals made, free-throws made and steals.
• Jaylyn Sherrod, Colorado: Colorado’s tenacious floor leader has moved to No. 6 all-time in assists in the Buffaloes’ record book and leads the Pac-12 at 5.0 assists per game and 2.4 steals per game.
• Haley Van Dyke, Washington: Van Dyke has been a mainstay for a program in transition during her career, between COVID and a coaching change. Van Dyke finishes with more than 200 career steals.
• Endyia Rogers, Oregon: Rogers is a two-time All-Pac-12 honoree, averaging 16.1 points and 3.9 assists in her final season in Eugene.
• Peanut Tuitele, California: Tuitele spent her entire career in the Pac-12, at Colorado and then Cal for her graduate season. Tuitele brought leadership and stability to the Bears program this season.

Don’t be surprised if...

• USC or Colorado end up in the title game. Both of these teams can pin down an opponent’s ability to score. And in a tournament with multiple games over multiple days, that could spell trouble for a higher-seeded team.
• Oregon State pulls off an upset (or two).  It’s been a rough season for the Beavers with a 4-14 conference record and now star guard Talia von Oelhoffen is done for the season with an injury. But there have been moments during where they have been capable of beating anyone in the league — and they did with wins over UCLA and Arizona and a 3-point loss to Stanford, a two-point loss to Utah. One of those moments could certainly happen in Vegas.

The big questions

• Who could be the surprise team in this tournament? Washington looks like a candidate here. This is a team that’s already beaten Stanford and Oregon, and has played within single digits against Utah, Colorado, USC (twice) and UCLA.
• How many teams will keep playing after Vegas? Right now it looks like the Pac-12 is assured seven teams in the NCAA Tournament field with another right there plus and a team — or three — making their way into the WNIT.
• Will someone other than Stanford hoist the trophy? The Cardinal was heavily favored to win the title when the season began, and there was talk about whether it might be able to get through the schedule unbeaten. That did not happen. In fact, Stanford lost three games and ended up sharing the regular-season title with Utah. Utah has the highest-ranking in school history coming into the tournament, not to mention a share of a title. And now expectations. The Cardinal has championship experience and the sting of a loss to motivate them. But unlike in other years, when the ending seemed largely written, this one should be pretty compelling.