The Pac-12 Conference Tournament will tip-off on Wednesday afternoon with the first game featuring the 9^th-seed USC Trojans facing the 8^th-seed Washington Huskies with the Pac-12 Conference tournament taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada at the T-Mobile Arena and with the first game scheduled to start at 3:00 PM ET and will air on the Pac-12 Network.

The USC Trojans had high expectations entering this season and entered the season hyped up with LeBron James’s son, Bronny James, expected to play the Trojans into Pac-12 championship contention and entering the season ranked 21^st in the AP Poll and were 5-2 in their first seven games before losing five of their next six games to fall to 6-7 on the season which included starting 0-2 in conference play and starting conference play with a record of 2-8, however, USC enters the conference tournament as one of the hottest teams in the Pac-12 having won their last three games including an impressive 78-65 win at home against the Arizona Wildcats in the regular season finale.

The Trojans still finished three games under .500 with a record of 14-7 and had a losing record in conference play at 8-12 which tied them with the Arizona State Sun Devils and Stanford Cardinal for 9^th place in the conference a far cry from how the Trojans were projected to perform entering the season and will need to win the Pac-12 tournament to receive a bid for the NCAA Tournament. USC’s three-game winning streak started with an 82-75 win on the road against the Washington Huskies which is also their 1^st round opponent in the Pac-12 Conference tournament.

The Washington Huskies have alternated wins and losses over their last seven games and finished the season winning five of their final eight games including a 74-68 win on the road against the Washington State Cougars in their regular season finale last Thursday.

The Huskies finished the season in a tie with the Utah Utes and Cal Bears for 6^th place in the Pac-12 conference and an overall record of 17-14. Washington faces an uphill battle if they are going to make the NCAA tournament this season and will likely need to win the Pac-12 Conference tournament to receive a bid if they don’t, this will be the 5^th consecutive season the Huskies will have missed the NCAA tournament.

Washington will need to play better defensively if they are going to make a deep run in the Pac-12 tournament as they have been one of the worst teams defensively this season, allowing an average of 77.03 points per game which ranks 314^th nationally and over their final six games the Huskies struggled defensively allowing an average of 80.33 points per game. The Huskies will look to avenge their loss against the USC Trojans from a few weeks ago when they square off in the 1^st round of the Pac-12 tournament on Wednesday afternoon.

BookMaker has the USC Trojans listed as 3.5-point favorites against the Washington Huskies in the 1^st round of the Pac-12 Conference tournament on Wednesday afternoon. USC has dominated the series against Washington winning eight straight games in the series including their only other meeting this season by a score of 82-75 on the road and have covered the spread in two of the last three games in the series including a cover in the game this season as a 4-point underdog.

USC ended the season as one of the hottest teams in the Pac-12 winning four of their final five games and covering the spread in the wins and have dominated the series against Washington as they have won the last eight contests. I look for the Trojans to continue their hot streak and cover the spread in the 1^st round of the Pac-12 Conference tournament on Wednesday afternoon.