2008 Pac 10 Conference Basketball Tournament Predictions

Jimmy Boyd’s 2008 Pac 10 Conference tournament predictions could prove helpful when trying to break down the strongest conference in the country this season. Find out if regular season champion UCLA will be in the driver seat to win the conference tournament as well in this article.

The Pac 10 tournament should be one of the most entertaining conference tournaments this season. Action tips on Wednesday March 12th and extends through the Saturday March 15th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Fox Sports will broadcast the first round games, quarterfinals, and semifinals. The championship game will air on CBS.

The Stanford Cardinal had a shot to win a Pac 10 title, but UCLA beat the Cardinal in OT to take the Pac 10 Conference championship. Now the Bruins will try to win the Pac 10 tournament as well. It will be no walk in the park. With the games being played at Staples Center, it does figure to give both UCLA and USC an advantage, but there are a number of teams capable of cutting down the nets. Stanford, who I already mentioned, is one of them. The Cardinal have played the Bruins very tough in both regular season games and really should have one at UCLA on March 6th as they led most of the way. It is difficult to beat any good team three straight times so Stanford could get some revenge in the conference tournament. Washington State, USC, and Arizona are the next most viable contenders. Washington State is a solid pick because of its ability to play strong defense, but a lack of offensive explosion has cost this team in close games.

If you’re looking for a value bet, I’d take USC. The Trojans are one of the more disciplined teams in the Pac 10 under coach Tim Floyd. They have given the Bruins one of their two conference losses and held a potent UCLA offense to only 56 points in the game that they lost to UCLA.

The Bruins lost in the quarterfinal round last season as the number one seed to Cal in OT. Although I don’t see Ben Howland’s team bowing out that early in 2008, I do think the Bruins are going to have a tough time cutting down the nets with as deep as this 12-team field is. UCLA is going to be overvalued. My advice is to go with the Trojans.

2007 Recap:

The Oregon Ducks emerged as Pac 10 Conference tournament champs from the number four seed last season. They dominated Arizona by 19 points in their first game, beat Cal by 18 in their second contest, and crushed USC by 24 in the title game. The Ducks rode their Pac 10 tournament momentum all the way to the Elite Eight before losing the eventual champion Florida.

Previous Winners:

2007 – Oregon
2006 – UCLA
2005 – Washington
2004 – Stanford

Make sure you pick up Jimmy Boyd’s college basketball picks to beat the NCAA basketball odds through the Final Four!

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