. Next is the Pac-12.
On March 1, less than two weeks before Selection Sunday, the state of Pac-12 men’s basketball was fairly ho-hum. Colorado was the only team that appeared in the AP Top 25 poll (No. 24), with three others (USC, UCLA and Oregon) receiving votes. Oregon State had just improved to 13–11, though that likely failed to make waves outside of Corvallis.
Frankly, few beyond the Pac-12’s footprint were probably paying much attention to what was going on in the Pacific time zone. Then, four weeks later, no one in the college basketball world could look away.
The 2021 men s NCAA tournament played out like something from a Bill Walton fever dream, with the Pac-12 taking center stage all March long. An astounding three teams advanced to the Elite Eight, with UCLA returning the conference to the men s Final Four for the first time since 2017 and giving the Bruins their first appearance since 2008. Combine that with the all-Pac-12 women’s national title game, and it w
Updated: 1:53 PM EDT Apr 4, 2021 Associated Press North Carolina now faces the challenge of finding Roy Williams’ successor.The Hall of Fame coach is retiring from the Tar Heels’ storied men’s basketball program, opening the job for the first time in nearly two decades. That leaves athletics director Bubba Cunningham directing the highest-profile coaching search of his nearly decade-long tenure at UNC, with Williams set to have at least some input.Click the video player above to watch the latest headlines from WXII 12 News.“I believe we’ve got the best job in college basketball,” Cunningham said. “This job doesn’t come open very often. We need to spend a great deal of time thinking about who is the right person right now.” Williams announced his retirement Thursday, saying he no longer felt like “the right man” for the job over the past two difficult seasons. That ends an 18-season run that included three NCAA titles since he returned to