USA Today - 03.03.2020

2C ❚ TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2020 ❚ USA TODAY E3 SPORTS

Last season the Pac-12 was awful in
men’s basketball.
The league ranked last of the seven
power conferences in the NCAA’s NET
metric and had a historically bad non-
league winning percentage (62%) that
was worse than several mid-major con-
ferences. Washington was a No. 9 seed,
Arizona State was a No. 11 seed and Ore-
gon was a No. 12 seed in the NCAA tour-
nament.
The year prior wasn’t much better.
The league failed to advance a team to
the second round of the 2018 tourna-
ment, the first time since 1997 a power
conference failed to do so.
Much has changed in one year. The
Pac-12 now is tied with the Big East for
the second-most teams of any power
conference in the projected field – only
trailing the Big Ten. The league bounced
back with a 74% winning percentage in
non-conference.
While the Pac-12 has only one team
poised to land a top seed on Selection
Sunday (Oregon is a No. 4 seed in to-
day’s bracket), a plethora of bubble
teams are well positioned to hear their
name called.
Over the weekend UCLA took com-
mand of the conference standings and
vaulted into the projected field for the
first time. The Bruins are a No. 12 seed
this week, while Stanford (No. 11),
Southern California (No. 10), Arizona

State (No. 8), Colorado (No. 7) and Ari-

zona (No. 7) all currently are in.

Although the Pac-12’s seeding lines

for these teams aren’t favorable, getting

inis half the battle. In March, anything

can happen. And if the Pac-12 wins the

bubble as it is now 13 days from Selec-

tion Sunday, it could also be a major

winner in the NCAA tournament.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL BRACKETOLOGY

Pac-12 teams surging toward NCAA

Shelby Mast and Scott Gleeson
USA TODAY

Southern California guard Ethan Anderson (20) and UCLA guard Chris Smith (5) battle for a loose ball in a Pac-12 game and

for an NCAA tournament bid. KELVIN KUO/USA TODAY SPORTS

the weekend. Selection Sunday is two
weeks away. This is the time to put some
last-minute polish on those tournament
resumes and make sure the selection
committee is looking at the best teams
and is able to overlook the mistakes of
ones that took a while to find their best
selves.
“We’ve come a long way, obviously,”
said Cronin, who is in his first season in
Westwood. “There were days when I
didn’t know if I’d make it through the
year, physically. I was just hoping in De-
cember that I could make it to January,
then I was hoping to make it to February
and stay upright.”
After a non-league schedule with
losses to Hofstra and Cal State-Fuller-
ton it was easy to see why just getting to
January was an achievement. A 1-3 start
in the Pac-12 saw the Bruins in last place
but then, not surprisingly, a young team
and its seasoned, winning coach started
to come together. On a run of seven con-
secutive victories, UCLA (19-11, 12-5) sits
atop Bill Walton’s Conference of Cham-
pions.
UCLA’s rise from the ashes has been
duplicated at other schools. Texas was
off to a 4-8 start in the Big 12 and going
nowhere. Four wins in a row later – in-
cluding defeats of ranked foes West Vir-
ginia and Texas Tech last week – and
the Longhorns have life.
Providence started the season 6-

and was labeled the biggest under-

achiever in the country. Now the Friars

are mowing through the Big East, beat-

ing five ranked teams in a row, including

Seton Hall, Creighton and Villanova.

“It’s a long time ago but you own it

because it was true,” Providence’s Coo-

ley said of losses to Northwestern, Long

Beach State and other lesser-lights. “We

didn’t play well. We weren’t coached

well. We weren’t on the same page. It’s

not where you start, it’s where you’re

going and where you’re going to finish.”

Not everybody is happy that college

basketball offers virtually unending

chances at redemption. Schools from

mid- and low-major programs operate

under very different rules, but that’s not

changing anytime soon. The big-money

schools own the heavy hand in how the

NCAA operates its tournament and

those guidelines aren’t about to change.

So Northern Iowa can’t stub its toe

against Indiana State or Bradley, and

Saint Mary’s had better not lose to Pep-

perdine or San Diego. Their tournament

hopes end. In the meantime Indiana

(NCAA’s NET of 54 and 8-10 in the Big

Ten) will find its way into the field.

This upside-down college hoop sea-

son has offered a slew of redemption

cases. Some coaches laugh about those

rough nights from months ago, and then

there’s John Calipari. He should be smil-

ing these days because his Kentucky

team just locked up the Southeastern

Conference title with a week remaining.

Yet Coach Cal gets a little prickly when

his team’s stubbed toe moment is

brought up.

“You know what’s amazing? When

anybody talks about our season, you

know what they say? ‘Evansville! Ev-

ansville! Evansville!’ ” Calipari said Sat-

urday after a home win over Auburn, his

team’s eighth in a row and 12th in 13 con-

tests.

Yes, the Wildcats did somehow lose

(at Rupp Arena, of course) to Evansville.

That’s the same Purple Aces team that’s

sitting at 0-18 in the Missouri Valley

Conference. But as Cal correctly points

out, you can survive an ugly one-off

when it occurs in November.

“I mean, did we play anyone else?”

Calipari said. “It’s like, hey they can’t be

all that because they lost to ... Evans-

ville. How can they be any good? They

lost to Evansville November 12.”

Since Christmas Day, Kentucky has

wins over seven top-50 teams in the

NET ranking. Calipari has one of the

more dangerous, surging teams in the

country. Providence has six wins

against teams in the NET top 25. No one

wants to see the defense-first Friars this

month.

UCLA (18-11) doesn’t own similar cre-

dentials. The Bruins struggled (6-6) out

of conference and sit at 76th in the NET.

But can the NCAA really say no to the

Pac-12 regular-season champs?

That would be no way to treat the

Conference of Champions.

Andrew Fonts, Maliek White (4) and A.J. Reeves (10) have helped Providence

beat five ranked teams in a row. BILL STREICHER/USA TODAY SPORTS

McNamara

Continued from Page 1C

impatient with the franchise’s inconsis-
tent direction. That hasn’t softened the
animosity toward Davis when he has re-
turned to New Orleans.
Therefore, expect an electric atmos-
phere in a potential Game 3, 4 and pos-
sibly 6 and persistent boos whenever
Davis has the ball. That likely won’t hin-
der Davis’ production. But it would in-
crease the entertainment value.

3. Young Pelicans versus ex-team

To acquire Davis, the Lakers parted

ways with fourth-year forward Brandon

Ingram, third-year guard Lonzo Ball and

third-year guard Josh Hart. All three

young players have flourished more in a

less pressure-packed environment.

Ingram netted his first All-Star ap-

pearance and has consistently become

more aggressive.

Although Ball still has had a handful

of injuries, he has shown more consis-

tency with his play making and some

flashes of his shooting potential.

While still a role player, Hart has re-

ceived more consistent playing time.

4. Pelicans would give Lakers
their stiffest first-round test

New Orleans (26-34) sat three games

behind Memphis (29-31) for the eighth

and final playoff spot going into Mon-

day. The Grizzlies just defeated the Lak-

ers on Saturday, but the Pelicans have

more talent to challenge the Lakers.

That explains why the Lakers have

played with more intensity anytime

they have faced New Orleans this sea-

son.

Assuming they remain healthy, the

Lakers should have no problem elimi-

nating the Pelicans in five or six games

in a best-of-seven series.

But the series could play out the

same way the top-seeded Lakers’ first-

round matchup with the eighth-ranked

Thunder did in 2010. Then, the defend-

ing NBA champion Lakers felt tested

against a young Kevin Durant, Russell

Westbrook and Serge Ibaka. Afterward,

the Lakers believed that prompted them

to enter the playoffs with more focus

than they would have shown against an

inferior opponent.

5. Josh Hart memes

In two recent matchups, James has

made highlight reels at Hart’s expense.

In last week’s win in LA, James threw

down three dunks over Hart. In the win

Sunday in New Orleans, James drove

past Hart one-on-one before Pelicans

guard Jrue Holiday scolded Hart for his

defense.

It seems likely James will create more

moments during the playoffs at Hart’s

expense.

Medina

Continued from Page 1C

The NBA and National Basketball
Players Association, in a joint coronavi-
rus memo, are telling players for the
time being to avoid high-fiving fans –
fist bumps were recommended – and
taking items such as pens, markers,
basketballs and jerseys from fans to
sign autographs.
Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum on

Saturday tweeted that he was taking a

break from signing autographs until fur-

ther notice.

“The health and safety of NBA play-

ers, coaches, staff and fans is para-

mount,” the NBA and NBPA said in the

memo delivered Sunday. “We are con-

sulting with infectious disease experts,

including the Centers for Disease Con-

trol (CDC), and ... a world-renowned in-

fectious disease researcher at Columbia

University. We are also in regular com-

munication with each other, NBA teams

including team physicians and athletic

trainers, other professional sports

leagues and, of course, many of you.”

The memo explained what coronavi-

rus is, how it spreads, detailed the

symptoms and gave an update on the

current situation in the USA and best

practices to decrease the risk of getting

coronavirus.

The memo said the league is “is coor-

dinating its responses with teams, fo-

cusing on the prevention measures rec-

ommended by the CDC, local public

health agencies and teams’ infectious

disease consultants.”

The league instructed players to ask

their team physician if they had further

questions and also provided emails and

cellphone numbers for the NBPA’s chief

medical officer and the NBA’s director of

sports medicine.

The league will continue to share in-

formation with teams and players.

NBA advises players, teams about contact with fans

Jeff Zillgitt
USA TODAY