The 2020–21 Pac-12 Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2020 followed by the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November 2020. The conference schedule began in December 2020. This was the ninth season under the Pac-12 Conference name and the 61st 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 is the Pac-12's 105th season of basketball. The Pac-12 announced on December 4, 2019 they would expand conference play to a 20-game schedule, with the two addition games per school, one at home and the other on the road, being added during the months of November and December.

The Pac-12 tournament was scheduled for March 10–13, 2021 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.

Pre-season

Recruiting classes + Rankings Team ESPN RivalsScout/247 SportsSigneesArizona - No. 7 No. 5 7Arizona State No. 12 No. 12 No. 7 4California - No. 84 No. 80 2Colorado - No. 32 No. 41 4Oregon - No. 82 No. 102 1Oregon State - No. 70 No. 95 4Stanford - No. 15 No. 11 5UCLA - No. 85 No. 109 1USC - No. 35 No. 56 2Utah - No. 45 No. 45 4Washington - - - Washington State - - No. 33 6

Preseason watch lists Below is a table of notable preseason watch lists. WoodenNaismithCousyWestErvingMaloneAbdul-Jabbar Timmy Allen, Utah Matt Bradley, Cal Remy Martin, Arizona State Evan Mobley, USC Oscar da Silva, Stanford Chris Smith, UCLA Zaire Williams, Stanford McKinley Wright IV, Colorado

Preseason All-American teams CBSAPRemy Martin, Arizona State 2nd 1st Evan Mobley, USC3rd

Preseason polls

AP CBS Sports Coaches ESPN KenPom Lindy'sSportsArizona – – – – No. 38 Arizona State No. 18 No. 24 No. 25 No. 17 No. 16 No. 36 California – – – – – No. 119 Colorado – – – – – No. 61 Oregon No. 20 No. 12 No. 20 No. 20 No. 17 No. 21 Oregon State – – – – – No. 110 Stanford No. 33 – – No. 38 – No. 32 UCLA No. 22 No. 16 No. 23 No. 21 No. 19 No. 28 USC – – – – – No. 48 Utah – – – – – No. 52 Washington – – – – – No. 75 Washington State – – – – – No. 136

Pac-12 media days Source: +Men’s Basketball Media Preseason Poll Place Team Points First place votes 1. UCLA 251 9 2. Arizona State 246 5 3. Oregon 241 7 4. Stanford 209 1 5. Arizona 173 -- 6. USC 154 1 7. Colorado 149 -- 8. Utah 131 -- 9. Washington 85 -- 10. California 65 -- 11. Washington State 54 -- 12. Oregon State 36 --

Early-season tournaments All usually scheduled non-conference basketball tournaments were cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. Team Tournament FinishArizona – –Arizona State – –California – –Colorado – –Oregon – –Oregon State——Stanford – –UCLA – –USC – –Utah – –Washington – –Washington State – –

Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference

First Team

NameSchool Pos. Yr. Ht., Wt. Hometown (last school) Timmy Allen Utah SF Jr. 6−6, 210 Mesa, Ariz. (Red Mountain HS) Matt Bradley California PG Jr. 6−4, 220 Mount Pleasant, Utah (Wasatch Academy) Oscar da Silva Stanford PF Sr. 6−9, 225 Munich, Germany (Ludwig Gymnasium) Chris Duarte Oregon SG Sr. 6−9, 190 Troy, New York (Redemption Christian) Remy Martin Arizona State PG Sr. 6−0, 170 Chatsworth, CA (Sierra Canyon High School) Evan Mobley USC C Fr. 7−0, 190 Temecula, Cali. (Rancho Christian School) Will Richardson Oregon PG Jr. 6−5, 190 Mouth of Wilson, Virg. (Oak Hill Academy) Chris Smith UCLA SG Sr. 6−9, 215 Chicago, IL (Huntington Prep) Ziaire Williams Stanford SF Fr. 6−8, 185 Sherman Oaks, Cali. (Sierra Canyon School) McKinley Wright IV Colorado PG Sr. 6−0, 195 North Robbinsdale, MN (Champlin Park)

Second Team

Name School Pos. Yr. Ht., Wt. Hometown (last school) Isaac Bonton Washington State PG Jr. 6−2, 175 Portland, Ore. (Parkrose HS) Tyger Campbell UCLA PG RSo. 5−11, 180 Cedar Rapids, Iowa (La Lumiere School) Josh Christopher Arizona State SG Fr. 6−4, 200 Bellflower, Cali. (Mayfair High School) Ethan Thompson Oregon State SG Jr. 6−5, 195 Los Angeles, Cali. (Bishop Montgomery High School) Alonzo Verge Jr. Arizona State SG Sr. 6−2, 170 Chicago, Ill. (Willowbrook High School) Honorable Mention James Akinjo (ARIZ, PG) Evan Battey (COLO, PF) Quade Green (WASH, PG) Jalen Hill (UCLA, PF) Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA, SF)

Midseason watch lists Below is a table of notable midseason watch lists. John R. Wooden AwardNaismithCousyWestErvingMaloneAbdul-Jabbar Chris Duarte, Oregon Remy Martin, ASU Evan Mobley, USC Oscar da Silva, Stanford Ziaire Williams, Stanford McKinley Wright IV, Colorado

Final watch lists Below is a table of notable year-end watch lists. Naismith Defensive Player of the YearWestAbdul-Jabbar Chris Duarte, Oregon Evan Mobley, USC

Regular season The schedule was released in late October. Before the season, it was announced that for the seventh 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 2020–21 records against non-conference foes as of (January 19, 2021):

Regular season Power conferencesRecordACC 0–1Big East 2–2Big Ten 0–2Big 12 1–1SEC 1–2Power conference total 4–8Other NCAA Division I conferencesRecordAmerica East 0–0American 0–0A-10 1–0ASUN 0–0Big Sky 12–1Big South 0–0Big West 6–1CAA 0–0C-USA 2–1Horizon 0–0Ivy League –MAAC 0–0MAC 0–0MEAC 2–0MVC 0–0Mountain West 0–3NEC 0–0OVC 0–0Patriot League 0–0SoCon 0–0Southland 3–0SWAC 2–0The Summit 2–0Sun Belt 1–0WAC 7–0WCC 8–3Other Division I total 45–9 Division II total 2–0NCAA Division I total 51–17

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 Nov. 26, 2020 No. 11 Villanova No. 18 Arizona State† Mohegan Sun Arena • Uncasville, CT 2K Empire Classic L 74–83 0–1 Nov. 29, 2020 No. 2 Baylor Washington† T-Mobile Arena • Paradise, Nevada L 52–86 0–2 Dec. 1, 2020 No. 14 North Carolina Stanford† Harrah's Cherokee Center • Asheville, NC Maui Invitational tournament L 63–67 0–3 Dec. 8, 2020 Colorado No. 12 Tennessee Thompson-Boling Arena • Knoxville, TN L 47–56 0–4 Dec. 10, 2020 No. 24 San Diego State No. 23 Arizona State Desert Financial Arena • Tempe, AZ L 68–80 0–5 Dec. 19, 2020 No. 20 Ohio State UCLA† Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse • Cleveland, OH CBS Sports Classic L 70–77 0–6

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

† denotes game was played on neutral site

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

  ArizonaASUCaliforniaColoradoOregonOSUStanfordUCLAUSCUtahWashingtonWSUvs. Arizona – 0–2 0–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 0–2vs. Arizona State 2–0 – 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 0–2 0–1vs. California 1–0 2–0 – 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0vs. Colorado 1–1 0–1 1–1 – 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–0 0–2vs. Oregon 0–2 0–1 0–2 1–1 – 1–1 0–2 0–1 1–0 0–2 0–2 1–0 vs. Oregon State 2–0 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 – 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 vs. Stanford 0–2 1–0 0–2 2–0 2–0 1–1 – 0–1 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1vs. UCLA 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 – 2–0 0–2 0–2 1–1 vs. USC 1–1 0–2 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 – 1–1 0–2 0–2vs. Utah 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 – 1–1 0–1vs. Washington 1–0 2–0 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 – 1–1 vs. Washington State 2–0 1–0 0–2 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 – Total 11–9 7–10 3–17 14–6 14–4 10–10 10–10 14–6 14–5 8–11 4–16 7–12

Points scored

TeamForAgainstDifferenceArizona 1,961 1,783 178Arizona State 1,995 2,077 -83California 2,031 2,127 -96Colorado 2,488 2,169 319Oregon 2,184 1,981 203Oregon State 2,427 2,318 109Stanford 1,941 1,955 -14UCLA 2,199 2,053 146USC 2,401 2,101 300Utah 1,986 1,931 55Washington 1,854 2,110 -256Washington State 1,912 1,885 27 Through March 22, 2021

Rankings

  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 FinalArizona APNVNVNVRVNVNVRVNVNVRVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV–CNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVArizona State AP182523RVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV–C171723RVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVCalifornia APNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV–CNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVColorado APNVRVNVNVRVRVRVRVRVRVRVRVRVRV242322 –CNVNVNVNVRVRVRVRV23RVRVRVRVNVRVRV2223Oregon AP2021RVRV2521 т172221RVRVNVRVRVRVRVRV –C2020RVRV241715172125RVRV252325252517Oregon State APNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV –CNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV20Stanford APRVRVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV–CRVRVNVNVRVRVNVRVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVUCLA AP22RVRVRVRVRVRVRV242321RVRVRVRVNVNV –C2121RVRVRVRVRV2120212124RVRVRVRVRV7USC APNVNVNVNVNVNVNVRVRVNVRV201719RV2423T –CNVNVNVNVNVNVRVRVRVRVRV2018182423239Utah APNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV–CNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVWashington APNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV–CNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVWashington State APNVNVRVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV–CNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNVNV

Head coaches

Coaching changes There were no coaching changes during the 2020 off-season.

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 12th 285–100 () 138–59 () 3 7 0 0Arizona State Bobby Hurley Buffalo 5th 93–69 () 43–47 () 0 2 0 0California Mark Fox Georgia 2nd 14–18 () 7–11 () 0 0 0 0Colorado Tad Boyle Northern Colorado 11th 210–134 () 92-86 () 0 4 0 0Oregon Dana Altman Creighton 11th 259–103 () 118–62 () 3 6 1 0Oregon State Wayne Tinkle Montana 7th 93–96 () 42–66 () 0 1 0 0Stanford Jerod Haase UAB 5th 69–61 () 34–38 () 0 0 0 0UCLA Mick Cronin Cincinnati 2nd 19–12 () 12–6 () 0 0 0 0USC Andy Enfield Florida Gulf Coast 8th 132–102 () 55–71 () 0 2 0 0Utah Larry Krystkowiak New Jersey Nets (assistant) 10th 171–126 () 83–79 () 0 2 0 0Washington Mike Hopkins Syracuse (assistant) 4th 63–39 () 30–24 () 0 1 0 0Washington State Kyle Smith San Francisco 2nd 16–16 () 6–12 () 0 0 0 0 Notes: Overall and Pac-12 records, conference titles, etc. are from time at current school and are through the end the 2019–20 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

Oregon State won the conference tournament from March 10–13, 2021, at the T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada. The top four teams had a bye on the first day. 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. Arizona announced a self imposed post season ban for the 2020–21 NCAA season, which includes the Pac-12 tournament.

NCAA tournament

Five teams from the conference were selected to participate: Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA and USC. While the highest seed was Colorado at No. 5, two teams—USC and Oregon State—advanced to the Elite Eight, and UCLA made it to the Final Four.

Seed Region School First Four First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship No. 12 Midwest Region Oregon State –– No. 6 West Region USC –– No. 7 West Region Oregon ––– No. 5 East Region Colorado –––– No. 11 East Region UCLA –5 BidsW-L (%):TOTAL: ^ VCU withdrew from the tournament due to positive COVID-19 test, resulting in Oregon advancing to the round of 32 via no contest.

National Invitation Tournament No teams from the conference were selected to participate:

Seed Bracket School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals — ― ― − − − − −BidW-L (%): TOTAL:

Index to colors and formattingPac-12 member wonPac-12 member lost