It has been a rough college basketball season for former Pac-12 teams.

After the Pac-12 disbanded at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, the 12 men’s basketball teams that comprised the “Conference of Champions” joined the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and West Coast Conference.

As of Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 9), only four of those 12 teams are above .500 in their new conference. And only one of them — the Arizona Wildcats — is thriving.

Arizona (17-6, 11-1) has won 13 of its last 14 games, is tied for first place in the Big 12 and is ranked No. 7 in the country in the NCAA NET Rankings.

Arizona Rolling In Big 12

It stands to reason that Arizona would be the one team flourishing, considering the Wildcats won the Pac-12 last season and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

But much more was expected out of the three teams that followed them to the Big 12 — specifically Arizona State. The Sun Devils overhauled their team through the transfer portal and brought in two five-star freshmen. ASU got off to a promising 9-2 start, but has been in a free fall since Big 12 play started. After Sunday’s loss to Oklahoma State, the Sun Devils dropped to 12-11 overall and 3-9 in the Big 12.

Colorado was not expected to contend for a Big 12 title, but the Buffaloes weren’t expected to go winless. After finishing 26-11 last season and upsetting Florida in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Colorado is one of the worst teams in major college basketball. The Buffaloes are 9-14 overall and 0-11 in the Big 12.

Utah (13-10, 5-7) has struggled mightily against the top of the Big 12, losing by an average of 27.5 points to Baylor, Houston, Iowa State and Texas Tech.

Big Ten, ACC Teams Struggling

Of the four teams that moved to the Big Ten, only UCLA (18-6, 9-4) has a winning conference record — and is currently projected to make the NCAA tournament.

USC (13-10, 5-7) has lost three of its last four and is ranked No. 70 in the NET. And the wheels have come off for Oregon (16-8, 5-8). The Ducks were a shoo-in for the NCAA tournament three weeks ago, but they’ve lost five in a row and six of their last seven.

Then there’s Washington (12-11, 3-9). After hiring Danny Sprinkle from Utah State and bringing over big man Great Osobor in the transfer portal, Huskies fans were optimistic that this team could make a March Madness run. But like Utah in the Big 12, UW has struggled against the top teams in the conference. The Huskies lost six in a row from Jan. 5 to Jan. 24 against the top-6 teams in the Big Ten at that time.

Stanford (16-8, 8-5) has arguably been the most surprising former Pac-12 team, sitting in sixth place in the ACC entering the stretch run. Under Kyle Smith, the Cardinal have had some good wins — including a road upset of North Carolina — but are still a longshot to make the NCAA tournament. Cal (12-12, 5-8) is 1-5 on the road in the ACC and is ranked No. 128 in the NET.

The two teams that stayed in the Pac-12 and temporarily joined the WCC for basketball — Washington State (16-10, 6-7) and Oregon State (17-8, 7-5) — have winning records, but will have to win the WCC tournament to get a March Madness berth.

Travel Schedule A Big Factor

If the Pac-12 were still together, the “Conference of Champions” would only have one team in the top 20 of the NET Rankings — Arizona.

Only three former Pac-12 teams are in the top 35 of the NET — Arizona, UCLA and Oregon — and only the Wildcats and Bruins are locks to make the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

There are a lot of reasons why former Pac-12 men’s basketball teams are struggling this season, but travel is at the top of the list. According to Front Office Sports, Stanford’s and Cal’s programs that played fall sports traveled about 65,000 miles farther this season in the ACC than last season in the Pac-12.

UCLA coach Mick Cronin sounded off on the Big Ten travel schedule last month, and even Gonzaga coach Mark Few recently complained about the ‘idiotic’ WCC travel schedule last week.

One team that’s not complaining? The Arizona Wildcats.

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