SEATTLE — For a change, talking about Pac-12 women’s basketball from a national perspective doesn’t stop after mentioning No. 4 Stanford.
Right behind the Cardinal, and sharing the conference title this year, is rapidly improving and fifth-ranked California. Not too far back are No. 14 UCLA and the surprise of the season, No. 18 Colorado. Even recently downtrodden Washington is showing signs of resurgence and is on the verge of a 20-win season.
While the top to bottom depth of the Pac-12 could still use improvement, the coaches see the league becoming stronger and receiving more worthy recognition.
The depth of the conference will get a chance to showcase itself this week when the Pac-12 tournament moves out of Los Angeles and gets a four-day billing at KeyArena in Seattle.
Stanford, California, UCLA and Colorado all received first-round byes; the tournament begins today. No. 10 seed Oregon State plays No. 7 USC (noon, Pac-12 Network), and No. 12 Oregon faces No. 5 Washington (8:30 p.m., Pac-12).
— The Associated Press
