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Pac-12 teams still interested in playing each other amid exodus – Honolulu Star-Advertiser
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd speaks during a news conference at the Pac-12 Conference NCAA college basketball media day, today, in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS >> The Pac-12 Conference is falling apart, but coaches are still interested in playing West Coast schools even as they go their separate ways.
Arizona and UCLA, in particular, plan to continue to play each other.
“I’m confident it will happen,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said today at Pac-12 media day. “We need to sit down and hammer out exactly what it’s going to look like, but there’s so much change going on. First off, I want to figure out what the Big 12 schedule is going to look like. (Cronin) probably wants to know what his Big Ten schedule will look like. What are some non-conference obligations that come with being in a new conference?”
The schools have met in the conference tournament championship the past two seasons, with the Wildcats winning both times.
Arizona will head to the Big 12 Conference with three other Pac-12 schools after this season, and UCLA is one of four teams departing for the Big Ten Conference.
The mass defections have torn apart one of the nation’s premier and most historic basketball conferences.
“I try to not get too emotional about it,” Lloyd said. “I’m a West Coast guy, having grown up in the Northwest. I think all of us were a little bit shocked, but I also understand I have an obligation to the University of Arizona. The University of Arizona played the hand they were dealt, and now we’re in the Big 12. I welcome that challenge.”
Oregon’s Dana Altman, who enters his 14th season, is the conference’s longest-tenured coach.
“It probably means a little bit more to me that the league is not going to be here,” Altman said. “I’ve always really liked the league. I thought it was really competitive. Even in years that people said our league was down, I don’t think it was.”
Altman and Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said they would like to maintain their rivalry.
Because the Ducks are heading to the Big Ten, Altman said he wants to fill up his nonconference schedule with Western teams.
“We’re going to have enough travel during conference going to the East Coast,” Altman said. “I’m not interested in traveling all over the country playing games nonconference now.”
California coach Mark Madsen’s first season in the Pac-12 also is his last. The Bears and Bay Area rival Stanford will be in the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.
“I’m incredibly sad about the breakup of the Pac-12,” Madsen said. “In the back of my mind, I hope in 20 years we’ll be able to put it back together in some way. A lot of West Coast rivalries, even in different conferences, will still try to find a way to play each other.”
COACH PRIME EFFECT
Even Colorado’s basketball team has been caught up in the hoopla surrounding the football team with the arrival of coach Deion Sanders.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” Buffaloes guard KJ Simpson said. “I’m pretty sure everybody knows it’s like the BET awards there. I feel like it’s been positive, especially what Coach Prime is bringing to the football team. The fan base has been dying to see a successful year.
“Everybody is really, really excited, and it’s kind of carrying over to basketball season now that it’s right around the corner.”
Simpson said he would like to see celebrities at basketball games after the football team has become such a draw.
“That would be great,” he said. “I’m trying to get some shades, though, if I’m being honest.”
ARIZONA PICKED TO WIN CONFERENCE
Arizona, which has won the past two Pac-12 Conference tournament championships, was picked by the media to win the regular-season league title. The Wildcats received 18 of the 26 first-place votes.
USC and UCLA evenly split the other four first-place votes, with the Trojans picked to finish second and the Bruins third. UCLA won the regular-season title last season.
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