Pac-12 basketball report: Washington State’s win over Arizona is seismic on many levels

The Washington State Cougars not only won in Arizona on Thursday night in Tucson. They won in Tucson for the second straight season. Washington State not only won in Arizona. It swept the season series, having beaten the Wildcats earlier in Pullman. The last true Pac-12 basketball race is in the hands of the Washington State Cougars. Imagine thinking that before the season began, or even at the start of 2024 after a nonconference season in which the Cougars did nothing particularly special.

There’s a lot to unpack from Thursday’s huge result, both in the Pac-12 and on a national level:

WASHINGTON STATE IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT

It’s incredible that we’re writing this next sentence, but it’s true: Washington State has the inside track to the Pac-12 basketball championship. The Cougars have the head-to-head tiebreaker over Arizona and obviously gained a game in the standings with their win on Thursday. WSU leads by half a game, 12-4 to 11-4. Arizona would have to make up that half game and then take a one-game lead to win the championship outright and deny Washington State a share. The odds of that happening are low.

WASHINGTON STATE, NO. 1 SEED

Another amazing sentence: Washington State is likely to be the No. 1 seed at the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament. Just absorb that for a minute.

KYLE SMITH, NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR

Not only getting Washington State to the NCAA Tournament, but to the Pac-12 victory stand as conference champion, would mark the best coaching job anywhere in the United States. Kyle Smith is a lock for Pac-12 Coach of the Year, but he probably won the national COY award as well on Thursday.

KYLE SMITH JOB MARKET

Expect all the big hitters in college basketball to make a run at Kyle Smith. Indiana, Memphis, Louisville, and Michigan have not fired their head coaches, but all could do so very soon. Louisville is fully expected to fire Kenny Payne. There’s no way these schools won’t give Kyle Smith strong consideration. The coaching carousel will feature Smith, Florida Atlantic’s Dusty May, and South Florida’s Amir Abdur-Rahim, among others.

WAZZU'S CLOSING SCHEDULE

Washington State’s last four games before the Pac-12 Tournament are at Arizona State, then home against USC, UCLA, and Washington. The Cougars will be favored (probably by at least five points) in all four games. If they merely go 3-1 in the four games, Arizona will have to win out to claim sole possession of the Pac-12 championship and deny WSU hardware. If WSU wins all four, it is guaranteed the Pac-12 title.

ARIZONA CLOSING SCHEDULE

Arizona is in big trouble as far as the Pac-12 race is concerned. The overwhelming favorite to win the league needs at least one Washington State loss to have a chance to win the league outright. Arizona almost certainly needs to win out to have a good chance of sharing the title with Wazzu.

The U of A’s schedule: Washington, at Arizona State, home versus Oregon, at UCLA and USC. There’s a decent chance Arizona could go 5-0, but the Wildcats have been inconsistent this year. They also got a very tough game from UCLA in Tucson earlier this season. The odds suggest Arizona goes 4-1.

POSTSCRIPT ON WSU-ARIZONA

Story originally appeared on Trojans Wire