2017–18 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball season

The 2017–18 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2017 followed by the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season on November 10, 2017. The conference schedule began on December 29, 2017. This was the seventh season under the Pac–12 Conference name and the 59th 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 103rd season of basketball.

Arizona won the regular season conference championship by two games over second-place USC.

The Pac-12 tournament was held from March 7–10, 2018 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada. Arizona defeated USC in the tournament championship. As a result, the Wildcats received the conference' automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA received bids to the NCAA tournament. The conference achieved an 0–3 record in the tournament.

Pre-season

Recruiting classes + Rankings Team ESPN Rivals Scout 247SportsSignees Arizona No. 3 No. 3 No. 3 No. 3 5 Arizona State No. 34 No. 36 No. 29 No. 23 2 California - - - No. 54 4 Colorado No. 39 No. 25 No. 27 No. 24 4 Oregon No. 12 No. 13 No. 11 No. 13 4 Oregon State No. 35 - - No. 48 3 Stanford No. 24 No. 12 - No. 14 4 UCLA No. 4 No. 5 No. 5 No. 4 6 USC No. 18 No. 30 - No. 31 3 Utah - - - No. 51 4 Washington No. 32 No. 26 No. 18 No. 66 4 Washington State - - - No. 119 1

Preseason watchlists Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists. WoodenNaismithRobertsonCousyWestErvingMaloneAbdul-JabbarOlsonTisdale Rawle Alkins Deandre Ayton Bennie Boatwright Troy Brown Jr. Shannon Evans IIAaron Holiday Michael Humphrey Jordan McLaughlin De’Anthony Melton Chimezie Metu Kingsley Okoroh Dusan Ristic Reid Travis Allonzo Trier Thomas Welsh Kris Wilkes

Preseason All-American teams ESPNCBSAPUSAToday BlueRibbonAthlonSportsNBCSports Street & Smith's Sporting News SportsIllustratedDeandre Ayton 3rd3rd2ndHM3rd2nd3rd 3rdHMBeanie Boatright 3rd Jordan McLaughlin HM Chimezie Metu 4th Allonzo Trier 1st2nd1st1st2nd2nd1st2nd 2nd1stReid Travis 4th HM

Preseason polls

AP AthlonSports BleacherReport Blue RibbonYearbook CBS Sports Coaches ESPN KenPom Lindy'sSports NBC Sports SBNation Street & Smith's SportsIllustrated USBWAArizonaNo. 3No. 1No. 3No. 1No. 2No. 5No. 1No. 3No. 2No. 3No. 2No. 1No. 1 No. 3Arizona State No. 57 No. 93 No. 70 California No. 163 No. 100 No. 208 Colorado No. 77 No. 95 No. 101 OregonRV No. 34RVNo. 45No. 35 No. 32 Oregon State No. 82 No. 66 No. 99 Stanford No. 42 No. 54 No. 118 UCLANo. 21No. 18No. 22No. 20No. 18No. 34No. 29No. 14No. 14No. 15 No. 20 No. 23USCNo. 10No. 7No. 8No. 11No. 8No. 11No. 11No. 12No. 12No. 12No. 8 No. 13No. 9Utah No. 71 No. 55 No. 67 Washington No. 141 No. 114 No. 117 Washington State No. 201 No. 230 No. 206

Pac-12 Media days Source: +Men's Basketball Media Preseason Poll Place Team Points First place votes 1. Arizona 273 pts 22 2. USC 251 pts 1 3. UCLA 223 pts -- 4. Oregon 203 pts -- 5. Stanford 182 pts -- 6. Arizona State 146 pts -- 7. Utah 129 pts -- 8. Oregon State 125 pts -- 9. Colorado 112 pts -- 10. Washington 71 pts -- 11. California 46 pts -- 12. Washington State 33 pts --(first place votes)

October 11–12, 2017 – Pac-12 Men's Basketball Media Day, Pac-12 Networks Studios, San Francisco, Calif.

Early season tournaments Team Tournament FinishArizona Battle 4 Atlantis8thArizona State Las Vegas Invitational1stCalifornia Maui Invitational8thColorado Paradise Jam1stOregon Phil Knight Invitational – Victory6thOregon State AdvoCare Invitational7thStanford Phil Knight Invitational – Motion8thUCLA CBE Hall of Fame Classic3rdUSC Diamond Head Classic1stUtah MGM Resorts Main Event2ndWashington 2K Sports Classic4thWashington State Wooden Legacy1st

Midseason watchlists Below is a table of notable midseason watch lists. Wooden MidseasonWooden Late SeasonOlsonRobertsonCousyWestErvingMaloneAbdul-JabbarNaismith Deandre AytonShannon Evans II Tra HolderAaron HolidayJordan McLaughlin Allonzo TrierThomas Welsh

Final Watchlists Below is a table of notable year end watch lists. John R. Wooden AwardNaismithMaloneAbdul-Jabbar Deandre Ayton Thomas Welsh

Regular season The schedule was released in late September. Before the season, it was announced that for the sixth consecutive season, all regular season conference games and conference tournament games would be broadcast nationally by CBS Sports; FOX Sports; ESPN Inc. family of networks including ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU; and the Pac-12 Network.

Records against other conferences 2017-18 records against non-conference foes as of Dec. 28, 2017:

Regular season Power 5 conferencesRecordACC1–3Big Ten1–4Big 123–4SEC7–2Power 5 total12–13Other NCAA Division 1 conferencesRecordAmerican1–5American East1–0A-102–1ASUN1–0Big East3–5Big Sky11–4Big South1–0Big West12–4CAA1–0C-USA1–1Horizon2–0Ivy League0–1MAAC2–0MAC2–1MEAC4–0MVC1–0Mountain West10–4OVC3–0Patriot League1–0SoCon2–0Southland4–1SWAC6–0The Summit7–0Sun Belt0–0WAC6–0WCC8–4Other Division I total92–31 Division II total0–1NCAA Division I total104–45

Record against ranked non-conference opponents This is a list of games against ranked opponents only (rankings from the AP Poll):

Date Visitor Home Site Significance Score Conference record November 20 No. 6 Wichita State California Lahaina Civic Center • Lahaina, HI Maui Invitational L 82–92 0–1 November 20 No. 9 North Carolina Stanford Maples Pavilion • Stanford, CA L 72–96 0–2 November 23 No. 7 Florida Stanford Veterans Memorial Coliseum • Portland, OR PK80 L 87–108 0–3 November 24 No. 15 Xavier Arizona State Orleans Arena • Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas Invitational W 102–86 1–3 November 24 No. 18 Purdue No. 2 Arizona Imperial Arena • Nassau, Bahamas Battle 4 Atlantis L 64–89 1–4 November 24 No. 21 Saint Mary's Washington State Titan Gym • Fullerton, CA Wooden Legacy W 84–79 2–4 November 26 No. 18 Texas A&M No. 10 USC Galen Center • Los Angeles, CA L 59–75 2–5 November 26 No. 7 Texas A&M Arizona Talking Stick Resort Arena • Phoenix, AZ Valley of the Sun Shootout W 67–64 3–5 December 6 Washington No. 2 Kansas Sprint Center • Kansas, KS W 74–65 4–5 December 9 Colorado No. 13 Xavier Cintas Center • Cincinnati, OH L 69–96 4–6 December 10 No. 16 Arizona State No. 2 Kansas Allen Fieldhouse • Lawrence, KS W 95–85 5–6 December 10 No. 12 Gonzaga Washington Hec Edmundson Pavilion • Seattle, WA L 70–97 5–7 December 16 No. 25 Cincinnati UCLA Pauley Pavilion • Los Angeles, CA L 63–77 5–8 December 21 No. 14 Kansas Stanford Maples Pavilion • Stanford, CA L 54–75 5–9 December 23 No. 7 Kentucky UCLA Smoothie King Center • New Orleans, LA CBS Sports Classic W 83–75 6–9

Team rankings are reflective of AP poll when the game was played, not current or final ranking.

Conference schedule This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

  Arizona Arizona StCaliforniaColoradoOregonOregon StStanfordUCLAUSCUtahWashingtonWashington Stvs. Arizona – 0–20–21–11–10–20–21–00–10–21–00–1vs. Arizona State 2–0 – 0–21–12–01–12–00–10–11–11–00–1vs. California2–02–0 – 1–01–00–11–12–02–01–02–02–0vs. Colorado1–11–10–1 – 1–01–00–11–12–01–12–01–1vs. Oregon1–10–20–10–1 – 1–11–01–12–01–00–21–1vs. Oregon State2–01–10–11–01–1 – 1–01–12–01–01–10–2vs. Stanford2–00–21–11–00–10–1 – 1–11–11–00–20–2vs. UCLA0–11–00–22–01–11–11–1 – 0–21–10–10–1vs. USC1–01–00–20–20–20–21–12–0 – 0–21–00–1vs. Utah2–01–10–11–10–10–10–11–12–0 – 0–20–2vs. Washington0–10–10–20–22–01–12–01–00–12–0 – 0–2vs. Washington State1–01–00–21–11–12–02–01–01–02–02–0 – Total 14–4 8–10 2–16 8–10 10–8 7–11 11–7 11–7 12–6 11–7 10–8 4–14

Points scored TeamForAgainstDifferenceArizona25142225289Arizona State25042238266California21082407 -299Colorado21432169 -26Oregon24402217223Oregon State2222212498Stanford2351232229UCLA24662287179USC24242209215Utah21391994145Washington2311225457Washington State22082347 -139 Through March 5, 2018

Rankings

The Pac-12 had three teams ranked and one other receiving votes in the preseason Coaches' Poll & AP Poll. There was no coaches poll during week 2, and officially started voting during week 3.

  Improvement in ranking Drop in rankingRVReceived votes but were not ranked in Top 25NVNo votes received   Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 Wk19 FinalArizona AP332 RVRV23 18 17 1417 14 11 9131714 19 15 12 –C5 4RVRV23191816211712913191422 17 15RVArizona State APNVNV 20165 4 3 3411162125RV25 RV NV NV NV –CNV NV21176 4 4611 141923RV2225RVRV NVNVCalifornia APNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV –CNV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV NV NVNVColorado APNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV –CNV NVNVNVNVNVNV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV Oregon APRVRVRVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV NVNVNVNV –CRV RVNVNVNVNVNVNV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV NV Oregon State APNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV –CNV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV NVNVNVNVNV Stanford APNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV NVNVNVNV –CNV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV NVNVNVNVNV UCLA AP212323 RV RVRVNVRVRVNVNVNVNVNVNV RVNVNVRV –C18 232523 RVNVRVRVNVRVNVNVNVRVRVNVNVNVNVUSC AP101010 1425 NV NVNVNVNVNVNV RVNVNV NV RVNV RV –C11 101825NVNVNVNVNVNVNVRVRVNVNVNVNVNVNV Utah APNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV NVNVNVNV –CNV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV Washington APNVNVNVNVNVNVNV NVNVNVNVNVNVRVNVNVNVNVNV –CNV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVRVNVNVNVNVNVNVWashington State APNVNVNV RVRVNVNV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV –CNV NVRVRVNVNV NVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV

Head coaches

Coaching changes On March 15, 2017, California head coach Cuonzo Martin resigned. On March 24, the school hired assistant coach Wyking Jones as the new head coach. On March 16, 2017, Washington fired Lorenzo Romar after fifteen years as head coach. On March 19, 2017, the school hired Mike Hopkins as head coach.

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 Pac-12 titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsArizona Sean Miller Xavier 9th 244–73 () 121–41 () 5 10 0 0Arizona State Bobby Hurley Buffalo 3rd 47–41 () 17–30 () 0 0 0 0California Wyking Jones California (assistant) 1st 8–17 () 2–10 () 0 0 0 0Colorado Tad Boyle Northern Colorado 8th 163–105 () 70-66 () 0 3 0 0Oregon Dana Altman Creighton 8th 203–79 () 91–47 () 2 5 0 0Oregon State Wayne Tinkle Montana 4th 53–65 () 22–43 () 0 4 0 0Stanford Jerod Haase UAB 2nd 27–29 () 13–17 () 0 0 0 0UCLA Steve Alford New Mexico 5th 113–52 () 52–32 () 0 3 0 0USC Andy Enfield Florida Gulf Coast 5th 87–72 () 32–52 () 0 2 0 0Utah Larry Krystkowiak New Jersey Nets (assistant) 7th 129–94 () 59–60 () 0 4 0 0 Washington Mike Hopkins Syracuse (assistant) 1st 17–7 () 7–4 () 0 0 0 0 Washington State Ernie Kent Oregon 4th 44–72 () 15–50 () 0 6 0 0 Notes: Overall and Pac-12 records, conference titles, etc. are from time at current school and are through the end the 2017–18 season. NCAA tournament appearances are from time at current school only. NCAA Final Fours and Championship include time at other schools.

Postseason

Pac-12 tournament

The conference tournament was scheduled for Wednesday–Saturday March 7–10, 2018 at the T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, NV. The top four teams had a bye on the first day, March 7, 2018. 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.

NCAA tournament

Three teams from the conference were selected to participate: Arizona, UCLA and Arizona State.