Among the weirdest developments from the first weekend of the men’s NCAA Tournament was that the Pac-12 suddenly became an unstoppable force in college basketball.
The conference had five teams to make the Big Dance, and come Tuesday, four of those teams — USC, UCLA, Oregon and Oregon State — are off to the Sweet 16. Only Colorado, which lost in the second round to Florida State, suffered a loss for the Pac-12.
It’s all crazy, considering for much of the season season, we heard about how the Big Ten was college basketball’s best, deepest, most talented conference. Nine teams from the Big Ten secured bids to the men’s NCAA Tournament. All are done except for Michigan.
But as we approach a Sweet 16 that will have a very Pac-12 vibe to it, the Turner/CBS coverage wouldn’t feel right without the Pac-12’s biggest fan: Bill Walton.
Bill Walton’s Final Four: USC, Colorado, Oregon State, Oregon (despite being in USC’s region), UCLA (despite that you can only have 4 teams in the final four).
— Dave Pasch (@DavePasch) March 14, 2021
Well, we might be in luck depending on how you read into Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott’s remarks to The Los Angeles Times.
Just spoke with Larry Scott. He'll be in Indianapolis for all of the Pac-12's Sweet 16 games and said he had a "sneaking suspicion" that CBS or Turner would get a hold of Bill Walton sometime over the weekend.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) March 23, 2021
Scott had the “sneaking suspicion” that CBS or Turner would reach out to the ESPN commentator and basketball Hall of Famer. While Walton’s quirky and hyperbolic commentating style isn’t for everyone, his appreciation for Pac-12 basketball is undeniable. He continues to call the league the “Conference of Champions” despite it going 24 years without a men’s basketball championship.
And nothing could break the tension of Sweet 16 games quite like this commentary:
"How you ever been high off the ground and you try to find it on the way down?"
Bill Walton is definitely not talking about basketball here and Dave Pasch knows it.😂 pic.twitter.com/DDy6OM39bb
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 14, 2021
Again, it’s unclear what exactly Scott meant there as CBS and Turner have already set their announcing teams for the Sweet 16. It could be along the lines of a studio-show appearance or a game-broadcast cameo. But we do hope they can work something out, especially for the all-Pac-12, Oregon-USC matchup.
The Pac-12’s showing this March deserves it.
