2014 PAC-12 MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT INFO:
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Venue: MGM Garden Arena
Games: 11 total, divided into 6 sessions over 4 days
Dates: March 12-15, 2014
Pac 12 Tournament Bracket
Previous Pac-12 Tournament Winners:
The Pacific 12 Men's Basketball Championship dates all the way back to 1923, when the league was known as the Pacific Coast Conference. Instead of a full-fledged tournament, the league's top two finishers faced off for a bid to compete for the national title. This format was scrapped in 1955, and the conference followed the lead of other successful leagues that determined their NCAA Tournament representative based on their regular-season record. In 1987, the Pac-10 (as it was known until 2012 when the league expanded to 12 teams) finally gave into pressure from fans and many of their own athletic programs to begin a tournament to determine the conference winner and the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Reggie Miller and the UCLA Bruins won the inaugural championship in '87, and that was followed by three straight championship wins by the Arizona Wildcats. Unfortunately, the first few years of the tournament were plagued by low attendance numbers and revenue issues, so the league's athletic directors voted to disband the tourney for 10 years and revert to the regular season record championship format.
As the years wore on, the only conferences left without a postseason tournament were the Pac-10 and the Ivy League, so the league's athletic directors sprung into action and voted unanimously to reinstate the tourney. This new version of the tournament featured the top eight teams determined by division record. The Pac-12 planners chose the grand stage of the Staples Center to hold the tournament, which is also home to the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers. Arizona won the league's inaugural return to the tournament structure in 2002, and still holds the league championship record with four victories.
Throughout much of the 2000s, the Pac-10 Men's Basketball Tournament was a model of parity, with six different teams winning the crown between 2002 and 2010. While the traditional powerhouses like UCLA and Arizona have been consistent contenders, programs like Oregon, USC and Colorado have improved their recruiting prowess to make the Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament one of the most competitive postseason events in the NCAA.
The Pac-12 announced in 2012 that they would be moving the postseason tournament from the Staples Center to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the 2013 season. The change of scenery will put additional fans in the seats and a bit of extra energy into one of the biggest tournaments on the NCAA calendar.
More Links:
Pac-12 Basketball Tournament Previews