INDIANAPOLIS — Bill Walton was right all along. The Pac-12’s high-on-life hype man, the UCLA legend who can work “Conference of Champions” into every third sentence while calling a game, had his seemingly hollow boasts backed up brilliantly by his West Coast brethren.
The Pac-12, a football doormat with dysfunctional leadership, has surged to the forefront of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. In glorious, emphatic and unexpected fashion, the league has locked down 25% of the Sweet 16. In order of least surprising to most: No. 7 seed Oregon, No. 6 USC, No. 11 UCLA and No.