There was no way for Arizona to secure the outright Pac-12 regular-season title late Thursday without help from Washington State. And by "help from Washington State," I mean the Cougars needed to help Arizona's cause by losing at home to Washington, a rival they'd already beaten on the road.
Surprisingly, they did.
Washington State really lost at home to Washington 74-68 after closing as 6.5-point favorites. So when Arizona wrapped up an impressive 88-65 victory at UCLA, the Wildcats grabbed their second outright Pac-12 title in the past three years. That means Tommy Lloyd now has two outright conference championships and two conference tournament championships at this point in his third season as a head coach, and he'll add a third conference tournament title next week in Las Vegas if the bracket unfolds the way it should.
"We got PTC mindset — Pac-12 Champions mindset," said Arizona's Keshad Johnson, and perhaps that'll end up on a t-shirt somewhere.
Either way, what Lloyd is doing at Arizona is undeniably impressive, as he has his program set up to transition smoothly into the Big 12 next season the same way Kelvin Sampson helped Houston transition smoothly into the Big 12 this season. Arizona remains in contention for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and is No. 7 in Friday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Purdue is No. 1 for the 17th consecutive day.
The Wildcats will close the regular season Saturday at USC. KenPom.com projects them as double-digit favorites inside the Galen Center.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Zach Edey finished with 28 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 77-71 win at Illinois. The Boilermakers' next game is Sunday against Wisconsin. | -- | 34-5 |
| 2 |  | Alex Karaban finished with 23 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 74-67 win at Marquette. The Huskies' next game is Saturday at Providence. | -- | 37-3 |
| 3 |  | L.J. Cryer finished with 25 points and three rebounds in Wednesday's 67-59 win at UCF. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against Kansas | -- | 32-5 |
| 4 |  | Dalton Knecht finished with 26 points and three rebounds in Wednesday's 66-59 win at South Carolina. The Vols' next game is Saturday against Kentucky. | -- | 27-9 |
| 5 |  | Tamin Lipsey finished with 19 points and five steals in Wednesday's 68-63 win over BYU. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday at Kansas State. | -- | 29-8 |
| 6 |  | RJ Davis finished with 22 points and six assists in Tuesday's 84-51 win over Notre Dame. The Tar Heels' next game is Saturday at Duke. | -- | 29-8 |
| 7 |  | Caleb Love finished with 17 points and three rebounds in Thursday's 88-65 win at UCLA. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday at USC. | -- | 27-9 |
| 8 |  | Jalen Bridges finished with 32 points and nine rebounds in Monday's 93-85 win over Texas. The Bears' next game is Saturday at Texas Tech. | -- | 24-11 |
| 9 |  | Baylor Scheierman finished with 26 points and 16 rebounds in Saturday's 89-75 win over Marquette. The Bluejays' next game is Saturday at Villanova. | -- | 25-10 |
| 10 |  | Jeremy Roach finished with 21 points and four rebounds in Monday's 79-64 win at NC State. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday against North Carolina. | -- | 27-9 |
| 11 |  | Marquette allowed UConn to make 13 of 26 3-point attempts in Wednesday's 74-67 loss to the Huskies. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday at Xavier. | -- | 27-10 |
| 12 |  | Hunter Dickinson finished with 15 points and 20 rebounds in Tuesday's 90-68 win over Kansas State. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at Houston. | -- | 23-11 |
| 13 |  | Johni Broome finished with 17 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 101-74 win at Missouri. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Georgia. | -- | 27-8 |
| 14 |  | Great Osobor finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday's 90-70 win at San Jose State. The Aggies' next game is Saturday against New Mexico. | -- | 28-7 |
| 15 |  | Trevin Knell finished with 20 points and two rebounds in Saturday's 87-75 win over TCU. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday at Iowa State. | -- | 23-11 |
| 16 |  | Terrence Shannon Jr. was 3 of 13 from the field in Tuesday's 77-71 loss to Purdue. The Illini's next game is Sunday at Iowa. | -- | 29-9 |
| 17 |  | Antonio Reeves finished with 20 points and six rebounds in Wednesday's 93-77 win over Vanderbilt. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday at Tennessee. | -- | 23-10 |
| 18 |  | DaRon Holmes finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday's 100-83 win at Saint Louis. The Flyers' next game is Friday against VCU. | -- | 25-8 |
| 19 |  | Hunter McIntosh finished with 26 points and two assists in Tuesday's 76-66 win at Boise State. The Wolfpack's next game is Saturday against UNLV. | 1 | 26-8 |
| 20 |  | Meechie Johnson was 0 of 7 from the field in Wednesday's 66-59 loss to Tennessee. The Gamecocks' next game is Saturday at Mississippi State. | 1 | 26-8 |
| 21 |  | Alabama missed 18 of its 23 3-point attempts in Tuesday's 105-87 loss at Florida. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday against Arkansas. | 1 | 25-12 |
| 22 |  | Darrion Trammell was 1 of 8 from the field in Tuesday's 62-58 loss at UNLV. The Aztecs' next game is Friday against Boise State. | 1 | 26-11 |
| 23 |  | Graham Ike finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 70-57 win at Saint Mary's. The Zags' next game is March 11 in the semifinals of the WCC Tournament. | 1 | 27-8 |
| 24 |  | Jaylen Wells was 3 of 13 from the field in Thursday's 74-68 loss to Washington. The Cougars' next game will be in the Pac-12 Tournament. | 5 | 25-10 |
| 25 |  | Will Richard finished with 23 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 105-87 win over Alabama. The Gators' next game is Saturday at Vanderbilt. | -- | 24-12 |
| 26 |  | Pop Isaacs finished with 19 points and five assists in Tuesday's 75-58 win at Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday against Baylor. | -- | 23-11 |
