UCLA men’s basketball’s struggles this season have been well documented.
Just last week, I wrote that the Bruins’ NCAA tournament hopes were looking dim after their last-minute loss to the Cal Golden Bears.
Yet now, somehow, the Bruins are tied for third in the Pac-12, seem to be in very good position to earn a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament and – get this – technically still have a shot at winning the Pac-12 outright.
Which begs the question: What happened to Pac-12 basketball?
Last season, six Pac-12 teams made the NCAA tournament and three – UCLA, Stanford and Arizona – made it to the Sweet 16 or beyond. This year, there’s no guarantee of even three Pac-12 teams making the tournament.
The level of play in the Pac-12 has fallen that far.
It makes some sense; all six of last year’s tournament teams lost several key players and Arizona was the only one to adequately retool.
While Arizona lost guard Nick Johnson – the Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2014 – and forward Aaron Gordon, freshman forward Stanley Johnson has come in to fill the void effectively.
Meanwhile, UCLA lost five of its top eight players, Arizona State lost its top three players, Oregon and Stanford lost their starting front courts and Colorado lost guard Spencer Dinwiddie to the NBA, though he was hurt for the second half of last season.
Even the teams that missed out on the tournament got worse. Washington lost its top scorer, guard C.J. Wilcox, and has seen its season derail. USC’s top scorer Byron Wesley transferred to Gonzaga and Cal’s best scorer – guard Justin Cobbs – turned pro.
What remained is a huge talent vacuum across the Pac-12, as most of those teams didn’t add enough impact freshmen to make up for all the losses. So this year’s Pac-12 is lacking nearly all of the elite talent that made it more competitive last season.
Doesn’t make for very exciting or competitive basketball, does it?
Let’s compare it with some of the other major conferences just to make the Pac-12 feel even worse about itself.
Of the 68 teams to make the cut in ESPN’s “Bracketology” with Joe Lunardi, seven come from the Big Ten and seven are from the Big 12. The Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East Conference each have six teams.
The Pac-12 has four. And one of those four – UCLA – is only in one of the play-in games. That’s rough.
So what can the Pac-12 do to pick itself up from its fall from grace?
Patience seems to be the only option right now.
With Arizona – and to a much lesser extent UCLA, given how its season has gone – seeming like the only Pac-12 schools capable of consistently attracting elite recruits to rebuild around, most schools will just need to be patient as its players develop over the years.
Many of the conference’s best players last year were not freshmen. Arizona State guard Jahii Carson was a sophomore, Dinwiddie was a junior, Johnson was a junior, UCLA guards Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams were both sophomores and Stanford forwards Josh Huestis and Dwight Powell were both seniors. As the conference’s younger players improve over the years, the Pac-12 could earn some more respect nationwide.
Utah is a prime example of that patience. After missing out on March Madness last season, the Utes brought back all of their key pieces – senior guard Delon Wright, junior forward Jordan Loveridge, senior center Dallin Bachynski, junior guard Brandon Taylor and junior guard/forward Dakarai Tucker – and have rocketed toward the top of the polls.
If more teams can convince some of their top players to return to school and develop, and if coaches utilize their talent effectively, a Pac-12 filled with teams following Utah’s model is a viable possibility.
For now, UCLA can’t complain. Even in the midst of a relatively down season, the Bruins still find themselves near the front of the pack within the conference. With five games remaining, UCLA is just two-and-a-half games out of first place with a game against Arizona still to come.
Crazier things have happened.