The 2015–16 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2015 and ended with the 2016 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball tournament in March 2016 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The regular season began on the first weekend of November 2015, with the conference schedule starting in December 2015.
This was the fifth season under the Pac-12 Conference name and the 57th since the conference was established under its current charter as the Athletic Association of Western Universities in 1959. Including the history of the Pacific Coast Conference, which operated from 1915 to 1959 and is considered by the Pac-12 as a part of its own history, this was the Pac-12's 101st season of men's basketball.
Preseason October 15, 2015 – Pac-12 Men's Basketball Media Day, Pac-12 Networks Studios, San Francisco
+Men's Basketball Media Preseason Poll Place Team Points First place votes 1. Arizona 406 (18)2. California 378 (9) 3. Utah 360 (7) 4. Oregon 338 (1) 5. UCLA 304 (1) 6. Oregon State 235 --- 7. Colorado 188 --- 8. Arizona State 165 --- 9. Stanford 145 --- 10. USC 111 --- 11. Washington 96 --- 12. Washington State 65 --- () first place votes
Recruiting classes
+ Rankings Team ESPN Rivals Scout 247 SportsSignees Arizona #4 #3 #4 #4 4 Arizona State - - - - 2 California #5 #7 #3 #7 4 Colorado - - - - 2 Oregon #22 #15 - #22 4 Oregon State #19 #23 #24 #23 6 Stanford - #29 - - 3 UCLA #25 #24 #17 #21 4 USC #30 #30 #22 #28 2 Utah - - - - 2 Washington #12 #10 #6 #16 8 Washington State - - - - 4
Rankings The Pac-12 had 4 teams ranked and 3 others receiving votes in the preseason Coaches' Poll. It had four teams ranked in the preseason AP Poll and one other receiving votes.
+ Legend Improvement in ranking Drop in ranking RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 No votes received
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Pac-12 regular season
Conference Schedule This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.
Arizona Arizona StCaliforniaColoradoOregonOregon StStanfordUCLAUSCUtahWashingtonWashington Stvs. Arizona – 0–21–11–01–00–10–21–11–11–00–20–2vs. Arizona State2–0 – 2–01–01–00–11–12–01–11–02–00–2vs. California1–10–2 – 1–11–11–11–10–10–00–10–00–1vs. Colorado0–10–11–1 – 1–11–10–21–00–00–00–00–2vs. Oregon0–10–11–11–1 – 1–11–10–20–20–20–10–1vs. Oregon State1–01–01–11–11–1 – 1–11–10–00–00–00–0vs. Stanford2–01–11–12–01–11–1 – 0–10–00–10–00–1vs. UCLA1–10–21–00–12–01–11–0 – 0–00–01–01–1vs. USC1–11–11–00–12–01–11–00–2 – 0–01–00–2vs. Utah0–10–11–10–22–01–11–10–10–0 – 0–00–2vs. Washington2–00–21–01–11–01–00–10–20–10–0 – 0–1vs. Washington State2–02–01–02–01–01–01–01–11–00–00–0 –Total 12–6 5–13 12–6 10–8 14–4 9–9 8–10 6–12 2–1 0–2 2–0 1–15
Head coaches
Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season. Overall and Pac-12 records are from time at current school. Team Head coach Previous job Seasons at school Overall record Pac-12 record NCAA Tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsArizona Sean Miller Xavier 8th 188–61 () 91–35 () 9 0 0Arizona State Bobby Hurley Buffalo 2nd 15–17 () 5–13 () 1 0 0California Cuonzo Martin Tennessee 3rd 41–25 () 19–17 () 2 0 0Colorado Tad Boyle Northern Colorado 7th 130–79 () 56–50 () 4 0 0Oregon Dana Altman Creighton 7th 154–64 () 69–39 () 11 0 0Oregon State Wayne Tinkle Montana 3rd 36–27 () 17–19 () 4 0 0Stanford Johnny Dawkins Duke (associate HC) 8th 156–115 () 66–78 () 0 0 0UCLA Steve Alford New Mexico 4th 64–37 () 28–22 () 9 0 0USC Andy Enfield Florida Gulf Coast 4th 44–54 () 13–36 () 2 0 0Utah Larry Krystkowiak New Jersey Nets (assistant) 6th 95–73 () 42–47 () 4 0 0Washington Lorenzo Romar Saint Louis 15th 288–171 () 141–111 () 7 0 0Washington State Ernie Kent Oregon 3rd 22–30 () 8–28 () 6 0 0
Postseason
Pac-12 tournament
The conference tournament is scheduled for Wednesday–Saturday March, 9-12, 2016 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena located in Paradise, Nevada. The top four teams had a bye on the first day, March 9, 2016. Teams were seeded by conference record, with ties broken by record between the tied teams followed by record against the regular-season champion, if necessary.
* denotes each overtime period played
NCAA tournament
Seed Region School First Round Second Round Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship 1 West Oregon#16 Holy Cross, W 91–52#8 Saint Joseph's, W 69–64#4 Duke, W 82–68#2 Oklahoma, L 68–80 3 Midwest Utah#14 Fresno State, W 80–69#11 Gonzaga, L 59–82 4 South California#13 Hawaii, L 66–77 6 South Arizona#11 Wichita State, L 55–65 7 West Oregon State#10 VCU, L 67–75 8 South Colorado#9 Connecticut, L 67–74 8 East USC#9 Providence, L 69–70 7 BidsW-L (%):2–5 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–0 TOTAL: 4–7
National Invitation tournament
Seed Bracket School First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals 3 South Carolina Washington vs. Long Beach State, W 107–102 at San Diego State, L 78–931 BidW-L (%):1–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 TOTAL: 1–1
Index to colors and formattingPac-12 member wonPac-12 member lost
Awards and honors
Pac-12 Tournament MVP
All-Pac-12 Tournament Teams First Team Second Team
Player of the Week Source
All-Americans
AP First Team Second Team Jakob Pöltl (Utah)
USBWA First Team Second Team Jakob Pöltl (Utah)
District VIII: Player of the Year Jakob Pöltl (Utah) District VIII: Coach of the Year Larry Krystkowiak (Utah) District VIII: All-District Team Jordan Loveridge (Utah) Jakob Pöltl (Utah) Josh Scott (Colorado)
District VIII: Player of the Year Dillon Brooks (Oregon) District VIII: Coach of the Year Dana Altman (Oregon) District IX: All-District Team Ryan Anderson (Arizona) Andrew Andrews (Washington) Dillon Brooks (Oregon) Jaylen Brown (California) Gary Payton II (Oregon State) Ivan Rabb (California)
NABC First Team Second Team Jakob Pöltl (Utah)
Sporting News First Team Jakob Pöltl (Utah)
Second Team
Third Team Dillon Brooks (Oregon)
Conference awards Voting was by conference coaches.
Individual awards +Pac-12 individual awards Award Recipient(s)Player of The YearJakob Pöltl, So., UtahCoach of the YearDana Altman, OregonDefensive Player of The Year Gary Payton II, Sr., Oregon StateFreshman of The YearJaylen Brown, Fr., CaliforniaScholar-Athlete of the YearBrandon Taylor, Sr., UtahMost Improved Player of The YearGeorge King, So., Colorado
All-Pac-12
First team NameSchool Pos. Yr. Ht., Wt. Hometown (Last School)Rosco AllenStanfordFSr.6-9, 220Duapest, Hungary (Bishop Gorman HS)Ryan AndersonArizonaFSr.6-9, 235Long Beach, California (Boston College)Andrew AndrewsWashingtonGSr.6-2, 200Portland, Ore. (Benson Tech HS)Dillon BrooksOregonFSo.6-7, 225Mississauga, Ont. (Findlay Prep)Jaylen BrownCaliforniaFFr.6-7, 225Atlanta, Ga. (Wheeler HS)Elgin CookOregonFSr.6-6, 205Milwaukee, Wis. (Northwest Florida State)Julian JacobsUSCGJr.6-4, 180Las Vegas, Nev. (Desert Pines HS)Gary Payton IIOregon StateGSr.6-3, 190Seattle (Salt Lake CC)Jakob Poeltl UtahFSo.7-0, 248Vienna, Austria (Arkadia Traiskirchen)Josh ScottColoradoFSr.6-10, 245Monument, Colorado (Lewis-Palmer HS)
Second team Name School Pos. Yr. Ht., Wt.Isaac HamiltonUCLAGJr.6-5, 185Dejounte MurrayWashingtonGFr.6-4, 170Ivan RabbCaliforniaFFr.6-11, 220Kaleb TarczewskiArizonaCSr.7-0, 250Gabe YorkArizonaGSr.6-3, 190
All-Freshman Team Name School Pos. Ht., Wt.Jaylen BrownCaliforniaF6-7, 225Tyler DorseyOregonG6-4, 180Dejounte MurrayWashingtonG6-4, 170Ivan RabbCaliforniaF6-11, 220Allonzo TrierArizonaG6-6, 210
All-Defensive Team Name School Pos. Yr. Ht., Wt.Chris BoucherOregonFSr.6-10, 190Gary Payton IIOregon StateGSr.6-3, 190Josh ScottColoradoFSr.6-10, 245Brandon TaylorUtahGSr.5-10, 170Kaleb TarczewskiArizonaCSr.7-0, 250
NBA draft Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team School/club team 1 3 SF Boston Celtics (from Brooklyn) California (Fr.) 1 8 PF Sacramento Kings (traded to Phoenix Suns) Washington (Fr.) 1 9 C Toronto Raptors (from Denver via New York) Utah (So.) 1 29 PG/SG San Antonio Spurs Washington (Fr.) 2 60 PG Utah Jazz (from Golden State) California (Sr.)
References