After years of gut-punch losses, stumbles against lower seeds or missing March Madness altogether, San Diego State has broken through to the second weekend.

The Aztecs might be steep underdogs against top-seeded Alabama, but they’re No. 1 in tournament timing.

SDSU could not have picked a better year to advance to the Sweet 16, with the Pac-12 in the final stages of negotiating a media rights contract and determining whether the Aztecs are a suitable expansion option.

While a single weekend of results won’t make or break SDSU’s case for membership, it certainly doesn’t hurt. Optics matter, and the Aztecs look like a program that can solidify what will be a depleted basketball product once UCLA departs for the Big Ten in the summer of 2024.

In the past 15 years, SDSU has qualified for the NCAA Tournament 10 times, averaged a No. 7 seed on those occasions and advanced to the Sweet 16 three times (2011, 2014 and 2023).

Other than Arizona and Oregon, none of the remaining Pac-12 schools have more than five appearances over that span.

The Aztecs, who have averaged 24 wins per year for the past decade, would enter the conference as the third-best basketball program.

They would be middle-of-the-pack in football and provide a vital anchor in fertile recruiting grounds. And their improving academic profile, fueled by a change in California education law that allows the campus to award doctorate degrees in public health, surely appeals to Pac-12 presidents.

The conference’s existential crisis is nearing resolution. Expansion is an essential piece of the overall calculation, and the competitive backdrop cannot be dismissed.

SDSU would strengthen Pac-12 basketball. That seemed clear before the NCAAs began, but the Aztecs provided important evidence this weekend.

To the power ratings …

1. Alabama: The tournament’s top overall seed has looked the part, producing two dominant performances despite sub-standard games by star forward Brandon Miller. If Miller cranks it up, the Crimson Tide should roll into the championship game. Next up: San Diego State (Friday)

2. Houston: The Cougars proved their worth in picking apart Auburn in Birmingham and are two wins from playing the Final Four in their hometown. The starting five is stellar, but we wonder: Is the bench up to the challenge in the second weekend? Next up: Miami (Friday)

3. UCLA: No team plays better halfcourt defense or possesses a savvier duo than Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez Jr. But the Bruins will go as far as their offense takes them, and rookie wing Amari Bailey is a vital piece of that equation. Next up: Gonzaga (Thursday)

4. Texas: The Big 12 tournament champs have an interim coach, a six-game winning streak, high-level perimeter play  and are efficient at both ends of the court. We foresee an Elite Eight showdown with Houston in Kansas City — for a trip to Houston. Next up: Xavier (Friday)

5. Arkansas: The Hotline considered picking the Hogs for the Final Four but instead slotted them into the Elite Eight. They’re impossibly long and possess NBA-level talent at multiple positions. And Eric Musselman navigates March as well as any coach in the land. Next up: UConn (Thursday)

6. Gonzaga: UCLA’s opponent is the anti-UCLA in many ways. Gonzaga’s problem isn’t offense — it’s never offense. But are the Zags capable of playing lockdown defense against a well-drilled foe with multiple scoring options? We aren’t convinced. Next up: UCLA (Thursday)

7. Tennessee: Admittedly, the Hotline was skeptical of the Vols’ prospects without injured point guard Zakai Zeigler, and they struggled to escape Louisiana in the opening round. But the performance against Duke, particularly on defense, forced us to reconsider. Next up: FAU (Thursday)

8. UConn: The Huskies were impressive in dispatching Iona and Saint Mary’s (both by double digits) but face a major jump in competition in the Sweet 16. They won’t have an advantage athletically against the Hogs. Next up: Arkansas (Thursday)

9. Michigan State: This is hardly an elite Tom Izzo team, but the East is wide open without No. 1 Purdue and No. 2 Marquette, and the Spartans have just the guard to take advantage in Tyson Walker. Next up: Kansas State (Thursday)

10. Xavier: Sean Miller is back in the Sweet 16, not with Arizona but Xavier — the program he led before moving to Tucson 14 years ago. The first year of his second stint with the Musketeers has been tremendous, but it ends two steps from the Final Four. Next up: Texas (Friday)

11. Kansas State: The Wildcats stumbled down the stretch and were an easy team to overlook once the NCAA field was unveiled. But after eliminating Kentucky, they are a clear threat to win the wide open East. Next up: Michigan State. (Thursday)

12. Creighton: Don’t sleep on the Bluejays, a preseason top-10 team that plays elite defense and handled Baylor with relative ease in the second round. If they don’t get cocky against the No. 15 seed, a date in the Elite Eight awaits. Next up: Princeton (Friday)

13. San Diego State: SDSU has the size and depth necessary to match Alabama, but the skill piece is murky — specifically, their ability to score efficiently against the tournament favorite. The Aztecs were 10-of-36 from 3-point range on the opening weekend. That percentage won’t cut it this week. Next up: Alabama (Friday)

14. Miami: The Hurricanes have quietly become an upper-echelon program in the ACC and stand one victory from their second consecutive appearance in the Elite Eight. To reach the next round, they need superb games from guards Jordan Miller and Isaiah Wong. Next up: Houston (Friday)

15. Princeton: We’re hesitant to doubt the Tigers after their stunning rally against Arizona and surgical beatdown of Missouri. But even if they survive the Sweet 16, the run will end against Alabama in the Elite Eight. Next up: Creighton (Friday)

16. FAU: The NCAAs have been a roaring success for the Owls, who defeated Memphis in the first round and Fairleigh Dickinson in the second. And that’s a good thing, because they now face the most physically dominant defense in the country. Next up: Tennessee (Thursday)

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*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

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As Reported by Marin Independent Journal

The Pac-12 did not find redemption in the NCAA Tournament. With two rounds down, three teams have been eliminated and only one, UCLA, remains alive.

The conference was as bad in March as it looked all season, when the thin top and the soft middle were on display for all to see (and criticize).

But not all disappointment is created equally.

Let’s assign the Pac-12’s woes in the NCAAs into three buckets:

— Arizona’s gruesome exit.

The loss to Princeton, in which the Wildcats were outscored 24-8 down the stretch by a No. 15 seed, is arguably the worst loss in school history.

(At least when Arizona melted down against No. 15 Santa Clara three decades ago, it lost to a future Hall of Famer in Steve Nash.)

We questioned Arizona’s toughness prior to the NCAAs but didn’t expect that it would be an issue in the first round. But  the Wildcats lacked energy, fortitude and grit — the essential building blocks for March success — against Princeton.

Combine the timid showing with their 2022 elimination game against Houston, in which the Wildcats cowered from a rock fight, it’s clear that coach Tommy Lloyd must rethink his approach to roster construction.

His plan works for the regular season, but to thrive in the NCAAs, Arizona needs to get tougher, mentally and physically.

— The bubble sitters.

USC and Arizona State played to their seeds in the NCAAs, which was exactly the problem. Their upside was sketchy from the start given the difficulties often faced by all teams assigned to the No. 10 and 11 slots.

Both were solid underdog against middle-of-the-pack opponents from stronger conferences, and both faced logistical hurdles, as well:

USC went across the country, to Columbus, Ohio, for a 9:15 a.m. (Pacific) tipoff against Michigan State.

ASU’s path was even more treacherous with a First Four game in Dayton on Wednesday, followed by a Friday affair at altitude in Denver. That the Sun Devils failed to hold a late lead against a stout opponent (TCU) was no surprise.

— The non-qualifiers.

Ultimately, the Pac-12’s problem was a lack of quality depth. Send just four teams into the NCAAs, with two of them assigned double-digit seeds, and the likelihood of a poor collective performance soars.

The framework for March was set in November and December with a series of ghastly non-conference losses — there are too many to name — and pillowy soft schedules.

Once league play began, Utah, Colorado, Washington State, Washington, Stanford, and Oregon were facing steep climbs to qualify for the NCAAs.

None made the necessary strides.

None had the requisite combination of talent and consistency.

Any improvement for the Pac-12 in the final month of the season must begin with better results in the first month.

Now, our look at winners and losers from the first and second rounds …

Winner: The little guys. Nine schools that don’t play major college football advanced to the second round, including two Cinderellas from New Jersey (No. 15 Princeton and No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson).

Losers: No. 12 seeds. Traditionally, the No. 12s have played havoc with March Madness brackets, but not this year. Oral Roberts, VCU, Drake and Charleston were 0-4 in the first round.

Winner: First Four teams. Three schools that survived in Dayton went on to win their round-of-64 matchups: Pittsburgh, Arizona State and, of course, Fairleigh Dickinson.

Loser: Blueblood programs. North Carolina didn’t qualify for the tournament, while Kansas, Duke and Kentucky lost in the second round. It’s the second time in three years that the Sweet 16 doesn’t feature any members of that illustrious  quartet — but only the second time this century. We’ll see if their absence impacts tournament TV ratings.

Winner: UCLA. The Bruins advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season, fending off Northwestern in the second round. However, the victory came with a potential cost as reserve guard David Singleton injured his ankle in the final minute. His effectiveness in the next round is unknown, but the Bruins are running out of healthy guards. Defensive star Jaylen Clark is out for the season.

Loser: Arizona. Plenty of high-profile basketball programs have lost to No. 15 seeds, but Arizona is the only school to have been victimized twice with the loss to Santa Clara in 1993 and Princeton in 2023. Thirty years ago, the Wildcats regrouped and advanced to the Final Four in ’94. Will they follow that path next season?

Winner: Princeton. The Tigers rallied to stun Arizona, then walloped Missouri in the second round to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1967. The run comes seven months after the passing of legendary Princeton coach Pete Carril. Somewhere, he’s smiling … maybe.

Loser: Purdue. The Boilermakers joined Virginia as the only No. 1 seeds to lose to the No. 16, but the issues for coach Matt Painter’s program run deeper than one game. Purdue has been bounced from the NCAAs by the No. 13, 15 and 16 seeds in the past three years.

Winner: San Diego State. The Aztecs beat No. 12 Charleston in the first round and No. 13 Furman in the second to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in almost a decade. (Sometimes, fate twists in your favor.) Next up for SDSU: The top overall seed, Alabama.

Loser: Mountain West (excluding SDSU). Three of the conference’s four participants were bounced in the First Four or the first round, continuing a ghastly trend. The MW has just two opening-round wins since 2016.

Winner: Eric Musselman. The Arkansas coach is one of the best in the game in March. His Razorbacks took down top-seeded Kansas on Saturday, giving Musselman his third consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 and fourth in the past five tournaments.

Loser: Tony Bennett. Another first-round flameout for Virginia left Bennett with a fascinating resume: In the past five postseasons, he has one NIT bid, three first-round losses in the NCAAs … and one national championship.

Winner: Sean Miller. The former Arizona coach, who was not personally penalized for the program’s misdeeds — — we got a good chuckle over that decision — resurfaced at Xavier and has guided the Musketeers into the Sweet 16. With two more wins, Miller will set foot on ground he never touched while at Arizona: The Final Four.

Loser: Kentucky. The Wildcats are paying coach John Calipari $8.5 million annually, and all they have to show for it is another early exit from the NCAAs. Then again, it’s far better to lose to Kansas State in the second round than St. Peter’s in the first.

Winner: Houston. The Cougars hammered Auburn in the second round and are two victories from playing in the Final Four in their hometown. And if they don’t fill the Midwest region’s spot in NRG Stadium, that school from Austin just might.

*** Note: This article will be updated Sunday night at the conclusion of second-round games.

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*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

*** Follow me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline

*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.

 

As Reported by Marin Independent Journal

ALBANY, N.Y. — Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino issued a warning about UConn to the rest of the teams in the NCAA Tournament, but most pressing, to Saint Mary’s.

“They physically dominated us at the five spot,” Pitino said after his Iona team fell in an 87-63 drubbing to UConn in the first found on Friday night before adding, “they’ve got all the metrics to win a National Championship.”

Then, the two-time National Championship-winning coach rattled those metrics off.

The assists. The dominance on the glass. The high shooting percentage, even from three. The backups that could be starters.

Forget a Cinderella story, Saint Mary’s is going to need to have its David vs. Goliath moment in the second round of the NCAA Tournament today.

As the fifth-seeded Gaels get set to take on fourth-seeded UConn, they’re facing a blue-blood program ready to regain its national prominence; playing in a venue a couple hours from campus.

“Obviously you can’t really stop that. They have a great fan base, and it’s going to be loud in there,” Saint Mary’s guard Alex Ducas said. “We’re a very composed team, and we trust in the five guys on the court and the guys who are supporting us on the bench. We’ve just got to keep a tight-knit huddle and keep relaying the message to each other, that it’s OK.

“We’re playing a road game. We’re used to it. We’re used to not having very many fans on the road. So it’s not new to us. We’ll fight wherever it is.”

They’ll do so at MVP Arena at 6:40 p.m. with a trip to Las Vegas in the West Region and the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 2009-10 at stake.

And that five spot Pitino was referring to? The goliath Adama Sanogo. The 6-foot-9, 240-pound All-Big East big man for UConn dominated in the first-round matchup vs. Iona, notching a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Along with the 7-foot-2, 265-pound freshman Donavan Clingan anchoring the Huskies, the Gaels frontcourt led by 6-10 All-West Coast Conference center Mitchell Saxen will have its hands full.

“I back my big man Mitchell Saxen all the way. I know he’s going to bring the effort every time,” Ducas said. “Obviously they have good two big men in their players, but I think we’ll be fine. We play hard. We play strong. We don’t give up. We love to fight, and we play physical. So I think it’s going to be an exciting matchup.”

Another key matchup is the contrasting playing styles of a team that likes to get out and run in UConn, and a Saint Mary’s team that likes to slow the game down. Bleeding out the shot clock in possessions and draining the clock — along with stifling defense – helped the Gaels hold VCU to a season-low 51 points in the first round on Friday night.

“We definitely want to get them out of their pace. When we play our style, it’s very hard to beat us,” UConn’s Alex Karaban said. “We’re just going to play our style of basketball. We’re going to play defense and try to get out there and run, which we’ve been pretty successful at. If we do that, I think we’ll be just fine.”

And the Gaels are just fine where they are. Overlooked, and picked to lose.

“Being underdogs and proving everybody else wrong, it’s exciting. It’s what you want,” senior guard Logan Johnson said. “We talk about it all the time. All these people doubt us. We’ve got a bunch of doubters, and we love to prove people wrong.”

As Reported by Marin Independent Journal

STANFORD — It’s almost a given that the No. 1 seeds will beat the No. 16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

But if Stanford needed any reminder of why it’s not a guarantee ahead of its matchup with Sacred Heart on Friday, ESPN gave the current players a history lesson in its Selection Show.

Just after the final bracket was unveiled, ESPN displayed the all-time record for the teams seeded No. 1, 2 and 3 in the women’s tournament: 335-1.

That one? It was 25 years ago Tuesday, when No. 1 seed Stanford lost to No. 16 seed Harvard in 1998.

Current Stanford senior Hannah Jump said she had “no idea” about the fact and junior Cameron Brink didn’t seem to know, either. Though it’s understandable in one sense: None of Stanford’s current players were born when that game happened.

Senior Francesca Belibi did say she knew about that loss before this week, if only because she’s seen it before on the selection show.

“They put that graphic up every time, and every time, I’m like, ‘Ooof,’” Belibi said on Friday.

VanDerveer made sure to note that the circumstances around the 1998 game were “quite extraordinary.” Back then, star senior guard Vanessa Nygaard tore her ACL in the final game of the regular season, just before the Selection Show. Then, after the Cardinal received a No. 1 seed, starting forward Kristin Folkl tore her ACL in the first practice after announcing Nygaard’s injury.

Playing without either key player against a Harvard team that many felt was underseeded, future WNBA first-round pick Alison Feaster had 35 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Crimson to the 71-67 win. It was the only time in either the men’s or the women’s tournament that a No. 16 seed beat a No. 1 until UMBC beat Virginia in the men’s tournament in 2018.

That “quite extraordinary” situation is not duplicated here, but there are still lessons to take away.

“You’ve got to play it — you don’t go into a game with a No. 1 seed and get a 20-point head start,” VanDerveer said. “You’ve got to come out, play the whole game and you’ve got to play really well. And our team understands that.”

Stanford’s experience in the NCAA Tournament should help them here, with the key members of the Cardinal all playing in the 12th tournament game of their careers on Friday. But that reminder from ESPN can still reinforce the task at hand.

“Our goal now is to not let that happen again, so we’re going to come in tomorrow ready to go,” Jump said.

Preparing for a star guard

Six of the Stanford players and most of the coaching staff were in Maples Pavilion on Wednesday night to watch Sacred Heart beat Southern 57-47 in a First Four game.

Belibi and Jump were both in attendance and said it felt strange to be in the building without playing in the game themselves.

“I got to leave and go to the concession stands and use my student ID, and I was like, ‘That is so weird, I’ve never done that here,’” Belibi said. “It was cool just to be a part of a game where I’m just here as a basketball fan and just watch and enjoy the environment.”

While they only got to enjoy Southern’s world-famous Human Jukebox band for one night, they will now face Sacred Heart’s star freshman Ny’Ceara Pryor, who both VanDerveer and Jump called the “engine of their team.”

Listed at 5-foot-3, the guard swept all three player of the year awards in the Northeast Conference – Player, Defensive Player and Freshman – and helped the Pioneers reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 11 years.

She nearly had a triple-double in the First Four game, tallying 11 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Stanford freshman guard Talana Lepolo was also at the game and is likely to be guarding Pryor.

“We love some smaller player representation, so that’s great,” said Lepolo, who is 5-foot-7. “From what I saw yesterday, she was fast, got to the rim, so definitely I think the game plan will just be to beat her to the house.

“I think, for us, the smaller guards can invite them to our bigger friends in the paint. I think we have the advantage inside, so getting them inside the paint and making them shoot over our bigger girls is definitely where I think we can have an advantage.”

VanDerveer called Pryor a “terrific player,” but she’s hoping her own freshmen guards in Lepolo and Indya Nivar are ready to take her on.

“If I’m a freshman playing against another freshman, I might want to say, ‘Okay, I’m not going to let a freshman outplay me,’” VanDerveer said. “So I hope there’s a little motivation from Talana, or maybe Indya, to say, all right, she’s great, but this is our house, this is our gym. A little pride.

“I think it’s going to be a great matchup.”

Sacred Heart knows it’s a daunting task ahead of them, with coach Jessica Mannetti answering a question about which matchup she’s most concerned about with, “All of them.” But the Pioneers have

“They’re excited about the opportunity to have a David vs. Goliath moment,” Mannetti said. “We’ve been proving people wrong the entire season … I think it’s a great opportunity. Wouldn’t that be a story to tell one day? I mean, It’s going to be tough — 40 minutes to play great basketball against an unbelievable team.”

Pryor added, “Why not Sacred Heart?”

As Reported by Marin Independent Journal

Twice, the Pac-12 has sent five teams to the Sweet 16.

For that to happen in the 2023 NCAA Tournament would require some second-round upsets that seem unlikely, even for a league with the Pac-12’s depth.

But all seven participants are favored by seed in the first round, with three of them playing at home. So the pertinent question is whether the Pac-12 can match its 2017 feat and send seven teams through to the second round.

Going 7-for-7 on Friday and Saturday feels like a stretch to the Hotline, especially with a No. 8-No. 9 game and the dreaded 5-vs.-12 matchup in the lineup — not to mention No. 7 seed Arizona going into the postseason on a three-game losing streak.

A total of six wins in the first round seems more likely, and it could take some nail-biting to win that many. (A 5-2 mark would be our second choice.)

As for the second-round games scheduled for Sunday and Monday, anything less than three Sweet Sixteen teams would be a letdown for the Pac-12, although a UCLA-Oklahoma matchup would be a genuine toss-up.

Perhaps Washington State, which won the Pac-12 tournament, could upset Villanova in the second round for a fourth Pac-12 team in the Sweet Sixteen, joining Stanford, Utah and UCLA.

The Hotline doesn’t see Virginia Tech, Maryland or Duke losing at home to USC, Arizona or Colorado.

Overall, the Pac-12 has had 14 teams in the Final Four since 2008, including two in 2016 and two finalists in 2021.

Since 2016, the Pac-12 leads all conferences in Final Four appearances (seven), NCAA wins (76) and NCAA winning percentage (68.5).

Here are Hotline predictions for the Pac-12’s first-round games.

Friday

No. 7 Arizona vs. No. 10 West Virginia: Can Arizona shake its rough ending (losses to Oregon, Oregon State and, in the Pac-12 tournament, UCLA) and play with the effort and efficiency that coach Adia Barnes expects? We think so, given that the Wildcats had two weeks off to get it right and Esmery Martinez has extra motivation in facing her former team. Martinez in top form, along with all-conference selections Cate Reese and Shaina Pellington, should be enough leadership to ensure a win in College Park, Maryland. Pick: Arizona

No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 16 Southern/Sacred Heart: The winner in a First Four game Wednesday between Southern and Sacred Heart earns a second appearance at Maples Pavilion that will be much less enjoyable. Stanford lost two of its last three games, including in a Pac-12 tournament semifinal to UCLA, and will be in no mood to coast on the 13th No. 1 seed in school history. The Cardinal is in pursuit of a third consecutive Final Four and second national title during that stretch and features two of the tournament’s elite players in Cameron Brink and Haley Jones. Pick: Stanford

No. 2 Utah vs. No. 15 Gardner-Webb: The Pac-12’s regular-season co-champions also should be refreshed following their loss on March 2 in the conference tournament quarterfinals to Washington State. That particularly applies to Pac-12 Player of the Year Alissa Pili, since she recently was playing through an ankle injury, and to Issy Palmer (leg), who was out during the Pac-12 tournament. Utah, hosting a sub-regional for the first time since 2001, is No. 4 nationally in scoring (83.5 ppg). Gardner-Webb, which is on a 21-game winning streak, averages 77 per game. The scoreboard will be whirling. Pick: Utah

No. 8 USC vs. No. 9 South Dakota State: If USC needs a reminder of what it’s up against in Blacksburg, Virginia, the Trojans need only be reminded that South Dakota State went 2-0 against UCLA last season, including a WNIT semifinal win on the way to winning that title. The Bruins and Washington State beat SDSU early this season, but the Jackrabbits now are on a 21-game winning streak. USC lost in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament (to Oregon State) and will have its hands full defending a team that averages 79.4 points (No. 12 nationally). Pick: South Dakota State

Saturday

No. 5 Washington State vs. No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast: Washington State lost in the first round of the NCAAs in 2021 (to South Florida) and 2022 (to Kansas State). Now, with veterans playing at their peak, the Cougars are due to advance to at least the second round, which would be another first for WSU in a season full of them. Florida Gulf Coast is making its ninth NCAA appearance since 2012 and upset No. 5 seed Virginia Tech in the 2022 first round. This game is being played in Philadelphia. Pick: Washington State

No. 6 Colorado vs. No. 11 Middle Tennessee: Middle Tennessee, like South Dakota State, is another very dangerous mid-major with similar metrics to Colorado. The Lady Raiders are making their 20th NCAA appearance. The Buffaloes, who lost in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals, have plenty of good wins (Utah, for example) and lost in double overtime to Stanford. They fell to Creighton in the NCAA first round last year and need Quay Miller to break out of a recent scoring slump (10 points in the last three games) in order to advance in Durham, North Carolina. Pick: Colorado

No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 13 Sacramento State: Sacramento State has some notable individual statistics including from Kahlaijah Dean (21.1 ppg) and Isnelle Natabou (13 double-doubles). But the Hornets are making their NCAA Tournament debut and winning in Pauley Pavilion is a major ask. The Bruins fell just short against Washington State in the Pac-12 tournament final (65-61) after knocking off Stanford (69-65) in the semifinals. Pick: UCLA

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*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to pac12hotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

*** Follow Metcalfe on Twitter: @jeffmetcalfe

*** Follow Jon Wilner on Twitter: @WilnerHotline

*** Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.

As Reported by Marin Independent Journal