Pac-12 Media Day: No ill will towards leaving UCLA, USC

By Andy Katz

FOX Sports College Basketball Analyst

SAN FRANCISCO — Mick Cronin and Andy Enfield occurred to be consuming breakfast together as the Pac-12 head coaches settled into their seats in a conference space at the Pac-12 network headoffice previous to media day Wednesday.

The UCLA and USC coaches have 2 more seasons in the Pac-12 — this one and next — priorto their schools relocation to the Big Ten. 

But while the pending departures are naturally a aching subject in the league, neither the coaches nor their programs are being ostracized. 

The intimacy of the Pac-12 media day — perhaps the most effectively run media day amongst the Power 5 conferences — provides itself to casual discussions, hangouts and total congeniality amongst the lots head coaches.

Not one coach impacted, as in the other 10, by the departure of 2 of the 4 mostsignificant brandnames in the conference (the other 2 in males’s hoops being Arizona and Oregon) appear to have any ill will towards Cronin or Enfield.

The fans on the roadway might be a various story, however you won’t discover any distancing amongst the peers. 

And that’s what oughtto takeplace. UCLA is the clear preferred to win the Pac-12. USC, chose 4th, has a team mostlikely bound for the NCAAs yet onceagain. Sandwiched in the middle are the Wildcats and Ducks, competitors of both schools in the past coupleof seasons as they have all jockeyed for control of the league.

The Pac-12 requires UCLA and USC to be who they are and haveactually been justrecently — conference title competitors. The Bruins have the 2 most identifiable gamers in Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Tyger Campbell, both competitors for Pac-12 Player of the Year. They both played in the Final Four 2 seasons ago, and if Jaquez hadn’t hurt his ankle last season in the 2nd round versus Saint Mary’s, then UCLA may haveactually taken out North Carolina and eventually Saint Peter’s en path to back-to-back Final Fours. Campbell is one of the most trusted ballhandlers in the league, as well as a defensive insect who can jump-start a shift videogame.

USC isn’t too far behind in experience, with the return of Drew Peterson and Boogie Ellis, and having both L.A. schools as locks for Quad 1 videogames for each Pac-12 challenger is going to aid any other NCAA Tournament cases. Assuming Oregon is back to being Oregon and Arizona doesn’t dip much at all, then the competition videogames amongst the 4 groups needto be visit watching this season. 

There is a peaceful self-confidence about the Ducks bouncing back and onceagain rising towards the leading of the league. There is likewise a not-so-subtle boastfulness from Arizona’s Kerr Kriisa. He’s bullish on the Wildcats and didn’t bereluctant to call me out for not consistingof the Wildcats in my preseason top 25. 

The 5th area is large open with Stanford, Colorado and Arizona State all legally declaring they’ve got NCAA Tournament-caliber teams. This isn’t to state they can’t surface greater, however there are still concerns amongst all 3. Yes, this was a preseason media day, however each coach and numerous gamers didn’t bereluctant to reference their postseason capacity when triggered. 

Washington State, Washington, Utah, Cal and Oregon State are still in reshuffling mode, and a run to an NCAA Tournament quote would definitely put them ahead of schedule with their present lineups. 

What we understand is that UCLA and USC are out in 2024-25. The league is leaving the Pac-12 Network workplaces after this season and moving to a remote laborforce and a brand-new studio house still to be revealed. But what won’t modification is the Bruins and Trojans being in the thick of a title chase. 

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Andy Katz is a longtime college basketball author, expert and host. He can be seen on the Big Ten Network, as well as March Madness and NCAA.com, and he hosts the podcast “March Madness 365.” Katz worked at ESPN for almost 2 years and, previous to that, in papers for 9 years.