The Pac-12 Conference is a mess. Organized chaos might not even be the right term for the Pac-12. We’ll go with just chaos.

With only two nationally ranked teams in the University of Arizona and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), the Pac-12 tournament might be more than wide open. The University of Oregon cracked the Top 25, but like teams taking the top spot in the country for a week, they faltered. Multiple times.

As for the University of California (Cal), they join the ranks of the rest of the conference as a confusing team that finished just a game out of first place behind UCLA (like the other three teams with a first round bye). The Golden Bears beat Arizona on Feb. 10 when the Wildcats were ranked No. 7 in the country. They also got the best of Oregon 11 days later, but they lost to Stanford University twice and the University of Washington once in the two teams only matchup.

So who has a shot to take home the automatic bid from the Pac-12? Really, just about any of the top nine teams, as all nine finished within four games of each other, including five teams coming in at 9-9.

Already Gone

There comes a time when you have a bad basketball team and you know it. The cases could be made for a few teams that know they’re not great and they have no prayer at winning the Pac-12 tournament unless the cast of Space Jam suddenly arrived.

Washington State is a far cry from the run current University of Virginia head coach Tony Bennett took them on to the tournament before bolting to Charlottesville, Va. The Cougars finished last in the conference at 4-14, even though they won the final two games of the regular season.

Oregon State also had a 4-14 year to match Washington State as the cellar-dwellers of the conference. The Beavers beat Colorado on the final weekend of the season and they’ll play each other in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament.

Both Utah and the University of Southern California don’t have a shot based on the sole fact that the winner will play California the following day. They’re two teams that could do nearly nothing in the regular season. Why think they can do anything now?

The Sleeper

Where to start with a sleeper? Nine teams finished within four games of each other.

Arizona State University dropped six of its last eight games, including the last four overall. There’s something to be said for momentum come March, and Herb Sendek’s Sun Devils do not have it.

Washington is one of the squads four games back of the Bruins. They couldn’t beat anyone of name though, going 1-6 against the conference’s bye teams.

The University of Colorado is the top team that doesn’t have a bye day on Wednesday. They’ll take on Oregon State University in the first round with the winner getting to play Arizona. Fun draw, right? Colorado is a team that could stun the Pac-12, though. They went 4-3 against the top four teams in the conference, including beating Arizona once and losing in overtime on another occasion. They beat Oregon twice. They’re the most dangerous team outside of the top four.

The Favorite

UCLA is the top seed. Arizona is the No. 4 seed. The two are on a collision for a matchup in the semifinals on Friday evening with the winner earning a trip to the finals a day later. Arizona stumbled down the stretch going .500 with a 4-4 clip in the final eight games. UCLA struggled midseason, but pulled it together to go 7-2 in their last nine games. They did slip up though with a 12-point loss on the road at Washington State on March 6.

Cal slipped on final day of the regular season. Win and the Golden Bears would take a share of the conference title, or win outright if UCLA hadn’t topped Washington. They faltered, though, against Stanford to drop into a three-way tie in second place. They seem to have the easiest road to the championship seeing the Bruins and Wildcats might have to meet on the other side of the bracket just a day before. Those two could easily battle each other so hard that nothing is left in the tank come championship Saturday.

Yes, they lost to Stanford down the stretch, but they beat Oregon twice this season. In the only matchup with the Arizona Wildcats, the Golden Bears brought an eight-point win back to Eugene, Ore. over the nation’s then No. 7 team. Then they split the season series with UCLA, but won the second round on Valentines Day, Feb. 14, by 13. Aside from the Stanford loss, Cal won seven straight, including wins over the other three teams with first-round byes. That makes Cal my pick to take the Pac-12’s automatic bid.