[81alum]

If the Pac 12 tournament were seeded today:

Stanford seeded 4: First round bye
Second round vs. the winner of Washington(5) and Colorado (12)
Semis vs likely Oregon State (1)
Finals vs likely Arizona State (2)

We could pass UCLA and finish 3rd.  We have to play Oregon State and UCLA has to play Oregon State as well as Arizona State.  UCLA beat Oregon tonight, though, and our home game against Oregon could be a tough game.  If we win out we will probably finish 3rd.  If we lose one game, we could wind up tied with UCLA which will be seeded higher because they beat us.  If we wind up 3rd, this is the likely schedule:

Stanford seeded 3: First round bye
Second round vs. the winner of Oregon(6) and Arizona(11)
Semis vs likely Oregon State (2)
Finals vs likely Arizona State (1)

You know, I'd just as soon play Washington as Oregon, except that the game will be in Seattle.  But the order of those two teams  could easily change.  So it is hard to know whether we would want to be seeded 3rd or 4th.  From this I conclude that we are playing primarily for improvement and for NCAA seedings right now. 

The Pac 12 tournament will be highly competitive.  In a tournament like that endurance will be critical--which means I'd rather play Oregon State to Arizona State.

[81alum]

If the Pac 12 tournament were seeded today:

Stanford seeded 4: First round bye
Second round vs. the winner of Washington(5) and Colorado (12)
Semis vs likely Oregon State (1)
Finals vs likely Arizona State (2)

We could pass UCLA and finish 3rd.  We have to play Oregon State and UCLA has to play Oregon State as well as Arizona State.  UCLA beat Oregon tonight, though, and our home game against Oregon could be a tough game.  If we win out we will probably finish 3rd.  If we lose one game, we could wind up tied with UCLA which will be seeded higher because they beat us.  If we wind up 3rd, this is the likely schedule:

Stanford seeded 3: First round bye
Second round vs. the winner of Oregon(6) and Arizona(11)
Semis vs likely Oregon State (2)
Finals vs likely Arizona State (1)

You know, I'd just as soon play Washington as Oregon, except that the game will be in Seattle.  But the order of those two teams  could easily change.  So it is hard to know whether we would want to be seeded 3rd or 4th.  From this I conclude that we are playing primarily for improvement and for NCAA seedings right now. 

The Pac 12 tournament will be highly competitive.  In a tournament like that endurance will be critical--which means I'd rather play Oregon State to Arizona State.