Pac-12 standings: Arizona basketball clinches title share

The Oregon Ducks dropped the UCLA Bruins in double overtime despite flubbing around at the end of regulation on Thursday night, and the victory against the shorthanded Bruins -- Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams were out for disciplinary reasons -- thrust the Arizona Wildcats into a secured No. 1 seed in the Pac-12 tournament.

The more symbolic news was the Wildcats winning a share of the Pac-12 title with three games left and three whole games left for both UCLA and UA. But that seems a bit of a given considering Arizona is favored heavily in its final three games and UCLA has a more likely shot at losing.

The Wildcats securing the No. 1 seed is just as important as the regular season title. After all, Arizona's goal is not only to earn a No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament but to get the No. 1 overall seed. The easier path is important in the Pac-12 tournament, and though the second-round bout as a 1 or 2 seed seems irrelevant right now considering there's a muddled group of teams with 9-6 conference records, the Wildcats should be glad to take the weakest of those. At this point, whichever team sits at the bottom of ASU, Stanford, Colorado and Cal will be teams would be floundering down the stretch.

Should one of the 7-8 teams in Oregon, Utah, Oregon State or Washington somehow make a run to a higher seed, all the better.

Point is, the Wildcats would like having as easy of a time as possible in making it to the Pac-12 title game and winning it. They're already battle-tested from the nonconference schedule and the loss of Brandon Ashley.

Getting to the NCAA tournament as a the highest possible seed and with the freshest and most healthy roster is priority No. 1.

Pac-12 standings