The Pac-10 – which officially becomes the Pac-12 on Friday – will go down as Lute Olson’s conference.
The legendary Arizona coach didn’t usher the Wildcats into the 10-team league in 1978 (along with Arizona State), but he built the conference’s preeminent hoops program. He won a national title in 1997, reached four Final Fours and enjoyed some of the most dominant seasons in Pac-10 history.
In fact, if you ask Arizona Republic writer Doug Haller, the Wildcats encompass nearly half of the league’s 10 best teams, spanning every season since 1978. That includes: 1987-88, 1996-97, 2000-01 and 2002-03.
Also on Haller’s list? Three UCLA teams, two Stanford squads and one Oregon State team.
Perhaps a surprising aspect is that Haller ranks the national title team of 1997 as the worst of that bunch. His reason? The Wildcats finished fifth in the Pac-10 and simply got hot at the right time. His top team: the Sean Elliott-led squad that reached the 1988 Final Four.
An excerpt:
(Also a mystery: How that Oklahoma team lost to Kansas in the title game. Anyway.)
Olson’s Arizona teams were loaded with pro players throughout the ‘90s and into the 2000s. It’s a testament to that 1995 UCLA squad and Mike Montgomery’s consistency at Stanford that Olson didn’t completely dominate the Pac-10 every season.
But most of all? Out of all those teams and all that talent, the league only won two NCAA titles. That’s either a testament to just how difficult it is to win the NCAA tournament or a criticism of underperforming teams.
Maybe both.
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