Pac-12 Tournament Brackets 2016: Scores, Results From Day One Of Pac-12 Tournament
Pac-12 tournament brackets for 2016 began play on March 9. The 2016 Pac-12 tournament results include four game scores from the first-round match-ups. In the first game on the Pac-12 tournament schedule, the No. 8 Washington Huskies destroyed the No. 9 Stanford Cardinals. The 91-68 finish showed that Washington could be a contender to make it all the way to the Pac-12 Championship Game this season.
The second game of the day had the No. 5 Colorado Buffaloes easily defeat the No. 12 Washington State Cougars. The 80-56 victory for Colorado improved the team to 22-10 overall and gave it a stronger resume for the 2016 NCAA Tournament. After Colorado beat up on WSU, No. 7 USC did the same thing to No. 10 UCLA. USC fans had a lot to cheer about as the Trojans beat the Bruins 95-71 to head into the quarterfinals. The late game of Oregon State vs. Arizona State is still taking place on the Pac-12 Network.
Following the Pac-12 tournament results from March 9, the surviving schools head into the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament brackets on Thursday, March 10. The first game of the day will have No. 1 Oregon vs. Washington at 12:10 p.m. PT. The other match on that side of the bracket is No. 4 Arizona vs. Colorado at 2:40 p.m. PT. On the bottom of the Pac-12 tournament brackets, it’s No. 2 Utah vs. USC at 6:15 p.m. PT, and then the Oregon State vs. Arizona State winner advances to play California at 8:45 p.m. PT.
All games on the Pac-12 tournament schedule will be aired on the Pac-12 Network. The semi-final games take place at 6 p.m. PT and 8:30 p.m. on Friday, March 11. The Pac-12 Championship Game is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT on Saturday, March 12. FS1 will broadcast the championship game for a national audience to see which Pac-12 school is getting the guaranteed invite to the 2016 NCAA Tournament. There is a lot on the line, as only six teams are projected to make the field in the latest bracketology report from ESPN.
The Pac-12 tournament scores from the first day were exactly what the conference needed to have happen. Three schools considered to be at or just above the bubble for the 2016 NCAA Tournament came out on top. If heavily favored Oregon State can win the night game over Arizona State, that will make four bubble teams getting into the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament brackets. It could raise the chances of the conference sending eight schools to the Big Dance. If all four games in the quarterfinals produce upsets, the chances of eight bids become very good.
Colorado improved to 22-10, Washington improved to 18-13, and USC improved to 21-11 overall this season. Early in the final game of day one in the Pac-12 tournament brackets, Oregon State was well on its way to improving to 19-11 on the season. The four schools that received first-round byes in the 2016 Pac-12 Tournament are Oregon (25-6), Utah (24-7), Arizona (24-7), and California (22-9). All four schools have just about guaranteed spots in the NCAA Tournament due to how well they played this season. Now they present opportunities for schools lower in the seeding to improve their RPI rankings over the next week.
The Oregon vs. Washington game is certainly an intriguing one on the Pac-12 tournament schedule. The Ducks and Huskies have become huge rivals in the conference, and now UW has everything on the line for this March 10 game. The Utah vs. USC game could provide a lot of excitement as well, and the Arizona vs. Colorado game could give Pac-12 fans a lot of offense. The Pac-12 tournament results from day two will have a direct impact on how the NCAA Selection Committee looks at the conference and just how many teams get invites to play later in March.
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