NCAA Final Four Set

Washington Huskies/AP Images

With the National Championship game a week away, the Pac 12 has no representatives.

By Kristin Callahan

The Final Four is set. Kentucky from the SEC and Louisville from the Big East will face off on Saturday at 6:09. The Buckeyes of Ohio State from the Big Ten and the Kansas Jayhawks of the Big XII will compete for a spot in the national championship game at 8:49 on Saturday.

While not shocking, the Final Four does not include a team from the Pac 12. The Pac 12 only received one bid and that was the automatic bid earned by the Cal Bears. The Washington Huskies weren’t invited to the Big Dance but instead were invited to the NIT Tournament or the Not Invited Tournament. There was a time when being the regular season champions of a conference secured you a spot in the field of 64 but in this day in age where mid-majors are filling up the field and earning automatic bids, the regular season champs are often left out.

The Cal Bears were the only team to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Bears were a team that lost non-conference games to tourney teams Missouri, UNLV, and San Diego State and only had a win over Weber State. They began Pac 12 play with a win over a USC team that went 1-17 in conference play. The Bears was the best team the Pac 12 had to offer and they received a play-in game from the committee.

The conference has only one solution in the upcoming offseason and that is to get better. In order to gain the respect and attention they once received from the NCAA selection committee and sports fanatics around the country, the Pac 12 needs to start playing better basketball.