Miller: Pac-12 Men's Hoops Championship Preview

Miller: Pac-12 Men’s Hoops Championship Preview

The Beavers have never won the league’s tournament, and were picked to finish last

recent 3 min read

Posted on March 13, 2021


  By Dane Miller, SuperWest Sports

For the first time since 1988, Oregon State has the chance to secure the Pac-12’s automatic bid to the Big Dance.

The Beavers have never won the league’s tournament, and were picked to finish last by the media in the preseason. But Wayne Tinkle has continued to prove why he should have won the Conference’s Coach of the Year honor, taking down the mighty Oregon Ducks for the second time in three meetings this season.

And in the other semi-final, Colorado handled USC for the third-straight game this year. Flashback to February 21, 2018, as Andy Enfield calls a disrespectful timeout late in an 11-point Trojan win in Boulder. The move made the series personal for Tad Boyle and his players. Since then, the Buffs have won seven-straight.

There’s a reason Enfield and Boyle didn’t meet at mid-court to shake hands.

But none of that matters today.

The Buffs and Beavs fight it out in front of a small crowd consisting of their families and select alumni for an historic Pac-12 Tournament Championship banner. The rest of us get to watch it on television, doing our best to enjoy and/or ignore Bill Walton’s ramblings about everything but the game.

I preview the matchup here, and my pick, along with Nick Bartlett’s, Stephen Vilardo’s, and Anthony Gharib’s appear at the bottom.

No. 5 Oregon State v. No. 3 Colorado

Saturday, March 13th
7:30 pm PT, ESPN

The stakes have been raised.

Bubble teams around the country will have their eyes focused on the result of the Pac-12 Championship Game, as an Oregon State victory could prevent one of them from going dancing.

With so much to play for, the X-Factor is tipped in favor of the Beavers. A defeat wouldn’t take away from what Tinkle has accomplished this season, but it would be a deep sting that will be remembered for the rest of their lives.

Avoiding that feeling is worth a handful of points, as the psychological advantage is manifested in effort plays and physicality from the tip. Conditioning might also play a role, with both teams playing their third game in three days.

Yet, a certain amount of the analysis, predictability, and statistical trends can be thrown out of the window.

This is the Pac-12 Championship Game. History is on the line.

Oregon State has never won it, and Ethan Thompson can only dream of how he would feel at the ceremony if the banner was revealed at Gill Coliseum. OSU legend Gary Payton wasn’t able to get it done, neither was Tres Tinkle.

What the Oregon State players are fighting for is much deeper than just another victory. They are fighting for the history of their program, for the legacy of their coach, and for every Beaver player that fell short before them.

With the weight of their program behind them, what’s stopping them from one more win?

The Buffs certainly will have something to say about it, having dispatched one of the nation’s most talented teams in No. 2-seed USC last night, despite the physical and emotional loss of McKinley Wright IV for several minutes in the first half.

And as was the case with their star point guard, knocking the Buffs out of the game won’t be easy. CU poses problems at every position, and figures to match the relentless intensity that pushed OSU past UCLA and Oregon in the first two rounds.

Despite enjoying more success in recent years, Colorado has won just one more Pac-12 tournament title—in its first appearance in 2012—than Oregon State. The Buffs will be just as hungry to cut down the nets.

Both teams have the talent to get done. Which program wants it more?

We’re about to find out.

The place is T-Mobile Arena. The time is now.

—More from Dane Miller—