MARCH MADNESS: Utah vs Cal and The Rest Of The Pac-12 Tourney

So thanks to some great play by Jared Dubois and moronic play by USC, the Utah Utes Basketball Team survives and advances…

to be curb stomped by the Cal Bears in the second round.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love a win, mostly because I can get to Vegas on Friday for the Pac-12 Semis, and in edition it’s possible to watch the Pac-12 and MWC Tourney finals because of scheduling.

But wow I wish we were playing anyone but the Cal Bears.  Cal’s team is long and athletic and we really have no one who can guard Allen Crabbe.  Crabbe lit the Utes up for 23 in the Huntsman Center in a closer than it really was 62-57 win and then went for 15 points and 11 boards as Cal crushed Utah in Berkley.  And I couldn’t possibly guess what answer we might have for tonight.

If the season does end as is likely tonight, the three game winning streak and tournament win gives the team a couple  of high notes to finish on in an otherwise down year.  So we’ve got that going for us…

Which is nice.

As for the rest of the conference.

Arizona St. vs UCLA

Ok here is the thing, UCLA should win this game and probably do it going away.  But isn’t there just something about the Bruins that you don’t trust?  Maybe it’s the youth, maybe it’s Shabazz Muhammad suddenly taking 91 bad shots, I don’t know.  At the end of the day, I’m picking UCLA, but I don’t feel good about it.

Colorado vs Arizona

Who can forget the game that kicked off the Pac-12 season between these two and the buzzer beater that wasn’t.  In fact you have to wonder if that game didn’t derail Colorado’s season a bit.  As for Arizona, all season long I’ve thought they looked like a a recipe for an excellent dessert, all the ingredients are correct but somehow it just doesn’t come out right.  This one could go either way, but I think Arizona will have just enough to survive to play the Bruins.

Oregon vs Washington

Oregon, Oregon, Oregon.  I’m picking Oregon all day long.  Yesterday I said, DO NOT TRUST LORENZO ROMAR, and if it wasn’t for Washington St. insisting on proving that COUGIN IT was a real thing, Washington loses yesterday.  Despite the results from the final weekend, Dana Altman is a solid coach and Oregon is the most consistent team in the Pac-12.  Give me the Ducks.

And yeah I know counting my Cal over Utah pick, I have no upsets.

I feel weird about that.