The Pac-12 would have likely had six teams in the NCAA Tournament last March had it not been cancelled due to COVID-19 and Tad Boyle believes the league will be just as good this season.
“I think we could be a six or seven bid league again,” Boyle said on Thursday. “We (Colorado) didn’t finish the season strong, but I believe our win over Dayton would have gotten us in. Arizona State is going to be very talented and Arizona is young, but talented. Oregon has reloaded, UCLA is really good, and Stanford has players back and added Ziaire Williams. USC also added Evan Mobley up front. I think we’re going to be in the mix too.”
The Pac-12 sent a record seven teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2016 and on paper, the league has the requisites to replicate that total in 2021.
Five teams from the conference are currently ranked in the ROTHSTEIN 45.
The key for the league according to Boyle is how it performs during the non-conference portion of the schedule.
“We need those non-conference games,” Boyle said. “Without having a built-in challenge, it makes it hard for us to schedule. These early season tournaments and MTE’s are so critical for our league and we’re going to have play well in those games. The thing is, we don’t have many early games to develop our depth. There’s not going to be as many guarantee games this season and everyone is going to have to be ready earlier than normal.”
Colorado returns three of its top four scorers — McKinley Wright, D’Shawn Schwartz, and Evan Battey — from last year’s team that finished 21-12.
