Bracketology: Arizona a 5-seed heading into the Pac-12 Tournament

We are less than a week away from Selection Sunday and more teams than usual find themselves on the bubble.

The Arizona Wildcats (24-7, 14-4) are not among them. The Wildcats are firmly in, they just have some work to do to better their seeding.

After clinching another Pac-12 regular season championship, winning the conference comfortably by two games, the Wildcats are now the clear favorite to win this week’s Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.

Right now, we have Arizona in the same spot as our last update — on the 5-line in the West Region. However now at full strength with Sean Miller and Allonzo Trier in the fold, they will likely be viewed highly by the committee with a strong conference tournament appearance this week.

Let’s take a look at the rest of our current bracket projection.

Last Four Byes: Kansas State, UCLA, Arizona State, Providence

Last Four In: USC, Alabama, Baylor, Texas

First Four Out: Louisville, Penn State, Syracuse, Marquette

Next Four Out: Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Boise State, Utah

Outside of Arizona, the rest of the Pac-12 is very nervous entering the week in Vegas.

The Arizona State Sun Devils, once riding high at 12-0 in non-conference play, ended up 8-10 in Pac-12 play and are clinging to NCAA Tournament life by a thread. They’re seeded ninth in the Pac-12 Tournament and open up with a game against the Colorado Buffaloes on Wednesday — a game that ASU absolutely must win. If they get past that one, they’ll have their third shot of the season against Arizona on Thursday.

The UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans are also fighting for their March Madness lives and need to avoid bad losses this week. USC will meet the winner of Wednesday’s Washington Huskies/Oregon State Beavers first round matchup while UCLA gets the winner of Stanford and California. Los Angeles’ two basketball teams need to each get to the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals to stay in the selection committee’s favor.

The fun all starts on Wednesday at the T-Mobile Arena. Arizona kicks off the quarterfinal round on Thursday at 1 p.m. MST on Pac-12 Network against Arizona State or Colorado.