You might be reading this article after USC plays Colorado in a big women’s basketball game on Friday night in Los Angeles. That’s not a problem. What we’re about to share with you is not time-sensitive, in the sense that the result of the USC-Colorado game will change this piece of information or render it obsolete. It won’t. This piece of information will remain relevant regardless of whether the Trojans defeat — or lose to — the Buffaloes in the Galen Center in a battle of Pac-12 women’s basketball teams ranked in the top 12 of the country.
We know that Pac-12 women’s basketball is elite on a national scale. Five teams have a chance to be a top-three seed in the 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament.
We know that Pac-12 men’s basketball is really struggling, with USC and UCLA failing to make the NCAA Tournament as at-large teams. The only way they get in is if they win the Pac-12 Tournament in March.
Yet, while we know how great Pac-12 women’s hoops is and how mediocre men’s basketball is, the extent of the gap might still surprise you. One fact in particular is an eye-opener. Let’s go in depth on this:
MIND-BLOWING FACT
Tonight’s men’s game between No. 4 Arizona and No. 21 Washington St will be the first and only matchup of Top 25 teams in Pac-12 MBB this season.
Tonight’s women’s game between No. 12 UCLA and No. 18 Utah will be the 19th matchup of Top 25 teams in Pac-12 WBB, with 4 more to go.— Brian Howell (@BrianHowell33) February 22, 2024
USC-COLORADO NEXT
When USC plays Colorado on Friday, that will mark 20 matchups between top-25 teams in Pac-12 women’s basketball this season.
TWO MORE ON THE WEEKEND
Over the weekend, Colorado visits UCLA and Utah visits USC. That’s two more top-25 games in Pac-12 women’s basketball. The gap will widen even more.
STANFORD AT OREGON STATE ON FEBRUARY 29
Stanford and Oregon State will give Pac-12 women’s basketball yet another top-25 matchup one week from now. That will be the 23rd game involving two Pac-12 women’s basketball teams ranked in the top 25 this season.
PAC-12 MEN’S TOURNAMENT
The only way the Pac-12 will get its second top-25 matchup in men’s basketball this season is if Washington State and Arizona — who met Thursday night — have a rematch in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game. No other teams will be ranked in the top 25.
PAC-12 WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT
If the higher seeds win their quarterfinals at the Pac-12 Women’s Tournament, both semifinals and the final will have top-25 matchups. The 4-versus-5 quarterfinal also has a good chance of producing a top-25 matchup. The season-ending gap between Pac-12 men’s and women’s basketball top-25 games could be as big as 27 to 1.
27 to 1. That’s insane.
