OSU's height on defense and OSU defense on the perimeter, really impacted UCLA on offense. UCLA is a tall team, and, today played a taller team that is now playing solid team defense. I really think defense has been the difference for OSU in the last 5 games.
Yeah, if Scottie's figured out a defense to go with some form of offense, Oregon State will be a tough out for any team. If the Pac-12 ended today:
1. Stanford vs (Winner of 8 Washington State vs. 9. Arizona State)
4. Oregon vs. (Winner of 5 Oregon State vs. 12 California)
3. UCLA vs. (Winner of 6. Colorado vs. 11. Washington)
2. Arizona vs. (Winner of 7. USC vs. 10 Utah)
This last week of games is really interesting for tourney seeding and switching out dangerous teams. 1 and 2 hinges on who wins the monumental Stanford vs. Arizona game tomorrow -- but then most teams close out the season with a rivalry match with nothing being added so far that I've seen.
Colorado vs. Utah along with Oregon vs. Oregon State takes on massive implications. If Oregon State loses to Oregon, and Colorado wins, you'll likely see Colorado as the 5 seed. Oregon State holds the tiebreaker against Colorado, so if both win, the seeds will stay the same. Beyond that it gets way more complicated. If USC also somehow beats UCLA, Oregon State could fall all the way to be a 7 seed against Utah in the first round. If USC loses as expected against UCLA, AND Washington State closes out the season with a win against Washington, the Cougars would get a much more favorable match against Arizona as the 7 seed in the tournament.
Lots of chips left to fall, but exciting that there's still some movement available!