We were talking Wednesday surprises in Part One of this week's Arizona Wildcats roundtable. But now it's time to talk favorites.
Asking for a straight-up pick would have resulted in a lot of Arizona, so let's get some other options, as well as a look at the other conference tournaments we'll be keeping an eye on.
If you couldn't choose Arizona, who is your favorite to win the Pac-12 tourney?
Gabe Encinas: Anyone 1-4 can realistically win this tournament, but I think the favorite would be Oregon. Winning nine of their last 10, they're one of the hottest teams in the country.
Ryan Kelapire: Utah. Delon Wright might be the most dominant player in the conference, and if his supporting cast, like Jordan Loveridge and Jakob Poeltl, can string together a few good games I think they'll have a legitimate shot of winning the whole thing. I also think they're the only team in the conference that can beat Arizona on a neutral court.
Bryan Doherty: Despite a pathetic loss Saturday I still think you have to go with Utah. They're the one team in the league that has shown an elite level of play besides Arizona. Oregon finishing second is almost entirely predicated on the fact the PAC-12 wasn't very good this year, not that they're truly elite. With Delon Wright you have one of the league's best players, they play great defense and they are on the right side of the bracket avoiding Arizona potentially until the finals.
David Potts: Utah. Losing to Washington is pretty bad, but it's hard to win games on the road. I doubt any Pac-12 team (other than Arizona) will be able to hang with Utah on a neutral court.
Ben Leech: Utah. Although they are not the 2 seed in the tournament, they are the consensus second best team in the Pac-12 throughout the year.
Zach Tennen: Definitely Utah. The Utes vs. Wildcats is largely expected to be the championship game but it is not a guarantee by any means. Oregon has won five straight and could make a run. UCLA is also on a three game winning streak. I think it would be very possible any of those three teams win if not for Arizona.
What one other conference tournament are you most interested in?
GE: ACC is by far the best basketball conference when it comes to the top five or six teams of the conference. When North Carolina is the five seed in your conference tournament, you know the top half is stacked. The Big 12 is definitely a strong conference as well, but it's hard to imagine a Big 12 team in the Final Four this year.
RK: ACC tournament. The reason why is because depending on when/if Virginia loses, Arizona could vault ahead of them for a number one seed since they just lost to Louisville in their season finale. I don't really think getting a one seed is that important for Arizona, but it's still something to watch. And the SEC Tournament could be interesting solely because of the possibility that someone beats Kentucky.
BD: As mediocre as the league is I think the SEC is where I'll be interested to see how it plays out. First and foremost you have Kentucky playing to enter the tournament undefeated. Then you have about 4-5 teams who all seem to be doing everything possible to make their NCAA tournament case as murky as possible with each passing week. After Kentucky and Arkansas, there doesn't feel like much of a difference between many of the teams. While other leagues have better teams I think the SEC is where the bubble theater is greatest and has the most games of impact.
DP: ACC Tournament. Either Virginia or Duke is going to lose again, and I'm excited to see if that opens up a one seed for Arizona out west. While I don't think it matters that much as long as we're in the West regional, it makes the road to the Final Four slightly easier and might make Gonzaga the 2 seed. And I'm not afraid of Gonzaga.
BL: It has to be the Big 12. Out of the 10 teams in the tournament, 8 of them have a legitimate claim that they can win the tournament. Sorry TCU and Texas Tech, I'm excluding you from having any chance of winning the conference tournament.