LAS VEGAS — The Pac-12 Conference is falling apart, but basketball coaches are still interested in playing West Coast schools even as they go their separate ways.
Arizona and UCLA, in particular, plan to continue to play each other.
“I’m confident it will happen,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said Wednesday at Pac-12 basketball media day. “We need to sit down and hammer out exactly what it’s going to look like, but there’s so much change going on. First off, I want to figure out what the Big 12 schedule is going to look like. (UCLA coach Mick Cronin) probably wants to know what his Big Ten schedule will look like. What are some non-conference obligations that come with being in a new conference?”
Cronin agreed with Lloyd’s assessment and is troubled by the effect realignment has had on his sport.
“I think the big key for college basketball is that we can continue to focus on what’s best for college basketball, which has been obviously very hard to do with football and football television money deciding our fate,” Cronin said. “So I think what concerns me is as I hear talk of even going past 20 league games, it’s already tough enough with the rivalry stuff that you lose with these conferences and all the stuff that’s gone on.
“I get concerned about the constraints of the big conferences and where it’s all headed, because I think where does it end is the question.”
The schools have met in the conference tournament championship the past two seasons, with the Wildcats winning both times.
Arizona will head to the Big 12 Conference with three other Pac-12 schools after this season, and UCLA is one of four teams departing for the Big Ten Conference.
The mass defections have torn apart one of the nation’s premier and more historic basketball conferences.
“I try to not get too emotional about it,” Lloyd said. “I’m a West Coast guy, having grown up in the Northwest (a graduate of Kelso High School). I think all of us were a little bit shocked, but I also understand I have an obligation to the University of Arizona. The University of Arizona played the hand they were dealt, and now we’re in the Big 12. I welcome that challenge.”
Oregon’s Dana Altman, who enters his 14th season, is the conference’s longest-tenured coach.
“It probably means a little bit more to me that the league is not going to be here,” Altman said. “I’ve always really liked the league. I thought it was really competitive. Even in years that people said our league was down, I don’t think it was.”
Because the Ducks are heading to the Big Ten, Altman said he wants to fill up his nonconference schedule with Western teams.
“We’re going to have enough travel during conference going to the East Coast,” Altman said. “I’m not interested in traveling all over the country playing games nonconference now.”
Altman and Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said they especially would like to maintain their rivalry.
Oregon State and Washington State are the two remaining Pac-12 schools that haven’t gone anywhere. Those schools have worked to keep the conference together, but may have to make other decisions regarding their futures.
“It’s sad that, as a guy that grew up mostly in the Northwest and Spokane (Washington), I never saw this coming,” Tinkle said. “We’ve got to find a way to deal with it. Who we are at Oregon State and Washington State could probably be painted with the same brush. We find ways to solve problems.”
California coach Mark Madsen’s first season in the Pac-12 also is his last. The Bears and Bay Area rival Stanford will be in the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.
“I’m incredibly sad about the breakup of the Pac-12,” Madsen said. “In the back of my mind, I hope in 20 years we’ll be able to put it back together in some way. A lot of West Coast rivalries, even in different conferences, will still try to find a way to play each other.”
NOT THE SAME UCLA
The Bruins will have a much different look this season, particularly with four-year starters Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez Jr. having exhausted their eligibility.
Both were instrumental for the Bruins making the Final Four in 2022 and winning the Pac-12 regular-season title last season before injuries doomed their national chances.
“But we’ve got talent,” Cronin said. “We’ve got depth. We’re just young, and I know we’re an unknown to a lot of people. So it’s going to be interesting.”
COACH PRIME EFFECT
Even Colorado’s basketball team has been caught up in the hoopla surrounding the football team with the arrival of coach Deion Sanders.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” Buffaloes guard KJ Simpson said. “I’m pretty sure everybody knows it’s like the BET awards there. I feel like it’s been positive, especially what Coach Prime is bringing to the football team. The fan base has been dying to see a successful year.
“Everybody is really, really excited, and it’s kind of carrying over to basketball season now that it’s right around the corner.”
Simpson said he would like to see celebrities at basketball games after the football team has become such a draw.
“That would be great,” he said. “I’m trying to get some shades, though, if I’m being honest.”
ARIZONA PICKED TO WIN CONFERENCE
Arizona, which has won the past two Pac-12 Conference tournament championships, was picked by the media to win the regular-season league title. The Wildcats received 18 of the 26 first-place votes.
USC and UCLA evenly split the other four first-place votes, with the Trojans picked to finish second and the Bruins third. UCLA won the regular-season title last season.
Oregon came in fourth, Washington ninth, Washington State 10th, and Oregon State 12th.
