Paul Sancya / Associated Press
Legendary former UCLA coach John Wooden once said, “Whatever you do in life, surround yourself with smart people who will argue with you.”
If UCLA coach Mick Cronin had tried to say that Pac-12 would dominate the 2021 NCAA men’s basketball tournament, he would have had a lot of people arguing with him. Specifically, many supporters and experts from the Big Ten who favor metrics when making projections.
From KenPom.com for the NCAA NET ranking, all metrics favored the entry of the Big Ten teams into the tournament. USC and Colorado have received some love, but few have predicted the success of UCLA and the state of Oregon, and few have given Oregon the credit it has proven it deserves. What the metrics don’t take into account is March Madness’s unpredictability.
Darron Cummings / Associated Press
The Big Ten sent nine teams to the 68-team field, but only No. 1 Michigan remains after the round of 32. The SEC, ACC and Big East each have two representatives in the next round, but no conference is better represented than than the Pac-12 after almost perfecting the first four and the first two rounds. UCLA, USC, Oregon State and Oregon are still dancing.
The Conference of Champions has a better chance than any other to produce a champion.
“I feel like we didn’t get the respect we deserve,” said Oregon senior guard Chris Duarte at his post-game press conference. “It looks good at our conference. It tells you that at our conference, we have talent and we are really good.”
Colorado was the only team to lose, as Buffaloes’ 5th seed place fell to the 4th state of Florida in the second round of the Eastern Region. The other four shows had impressive exhibitions.
The final game of the second round was possibly the most memorable of the weekend. No. 6 USC strangled No. 3 Kansas 85-51 to advance in the Western Region. The Jayhawks did not have the same firepower as previous years, but it is Kansas – the Sweet 16 is an expectation for a historically elite team that is coached by someone in the game’s elite, Bill Self.
USC is a football school in a city that has a lot of ambivalence about college basketball, but for the Angelenos who haven’t paid attention all season, this is now a basketball school.
Paul Sancya / Associated Press
Led by the Mobley brothers, Evan and Isaiah, the Trojans dominated the Jayhawks, shooting 57.1 percent from the field and 61.1 percent even better behind the bow. Coach Andy Enfield is back on Sweet 16 for the second time in his career, having done so in 2013, when he trained another key destroyer, the Florida Gulf Coast.
The USC was the best defensive team in the conference this year, and its length bothered Kansas at both ends of the court. But the length of Evan and Isaiah, which is 7’0 “and 6’10”, was particularly deadly. The brothers were responsible for all four blocks of the Trojans and, without clues or free throws, the Jayhawks fired badly. That showed, while Kansas hit 29.0 percent of the field.
Isaiah finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while his younger brother had a tremendous 10-point line of statistics, 13 rebounds, three blocks, five assists, a steal and a single turn. Evan is mobile, athletic and a block to be one of the top three choices in the 2021 NBA draft.
But that is a little too far. The next challenge for USC is another Pac-12 team from Oregon, which ensures that the conference will have at least one team at Elite Eight.
No. 7 Oregon did not play its first tournament match against VCU because of COVID-19 problems within the Rams program. He had a layoff before a meeting with No. 2 Iowa and the best player in the game, Luka Garza, the projected Naismith Player of the Year.
The Ducks let Garza do his thing, and the great veteran tried to put the Hawkeyes on his back. He lost 36 points and grabbed nine rebounds. But Oregon’s strategy to contain everyone else worked. Garza and Joe Wieskamp were the only Iowa starters to score.
“We knew that Garza would win his points. Our plan was to stop and play defense, play hard and climb the tables,” said Duarte. “And that is what we did.”
Mark Humphrey / Associated Press
UCLA’s number 11 (eastern region) and Oregon’s state number 12 (midwestern region) look unbeatable. The Bruins needed to beat Michigan State in a play-in game just to get to the 64th round, and the Beavers had to win the Pac-12 tournament just to enter the NCAA tournament.
But UCLA then beat BYU and Abilene Christian to reach Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017 and for the first time in Cronin’s two seasons. Oregon State found its offensive step at the right time of the season to beat Tennessee and Oklahoma State.
“Pac-12 showed exactly how strong he was. I am very proud of the conference. And for us to be the champions of the regular season, I am proud of it, and I am proud of the guys who responded,” said the Oregon coach, Dana Altman. “Mick did a great job at UCLA, Wayne [Tinkle] did a great job in the state of Oregon, USC is doing great and Tad [Boyle] in Colorado. Our league has been doing really well and I hope we can maintain it. “
The other three teams also hope to maintain it.
“This is literally what you dream of,” said Isaiah Mobley. “As you say in the songs. The future says, ‘Overcome the odds, make numbers and stay humble. Just try to keep that motto and keep it going from now on. “
It’s not quite made of wood, but the motivational feeling is the same.