Someone other than Kevin Parrom will have to take this shot. And it has to go in this time.
Photo by Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

Life is more interesting when your team is in the March Madness conversation. Arizona Wildcats fans have a little more pep in their college basketball step as they prepare for this week’s games.

Washington stands alone atop the Pac-12 standings but will the Huskies’ path be as clear after a night on the blurry floor of the Matthew Knight Arena?

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Will Cal run over the rest of the Pac-12 down the stretch?
Photo by Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic

The second half of the initial Pac-12 conference season is about to get underway.

Because of the extra teams (without extra games) you don’t play all the same teams you played in the first half of the year. As we saw in football, the schedule can play a significant role in who makes a run at the championship.

Which school has the advantage among the contenders over the final nine games? And can the Arizona Wildcats fare better against this Pac-12 co-leader than they did against the other one?

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The big shots might not all go in but you’ve got to keep shooting.
Photo by Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

The one good thing about a conference without an elite team is it makes the race more interesting. If you just look at the numbers, eight of the 12 teams can say they still have a shot at the championship.

Last week the top tier eroded so now the league basically is one big middle with a few outlying bottom teams. Will anyone create a bit of separation the final week before the midway point in the Pac-12 season?

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UW hopes to become the face of the Pac-12. Photo by Steven Bisig-US PRESSWIRE

We are starting to see some groupings in the Pac-12 basketball standings. Teams are clumping together in three tiers and the top teams finally play each other.

A true conference leader is about to emerge.

The Arizona Wildcats find themselves stuck in the conference’s large midsection. Can they pick up a couple road wins and climb back toward the top, or will they remain a consistently inconsistent win-one-lose-one team?

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Jared Cunningham and the Beavers have enjoyed playing Sean Miller’s teams.
Photo by Cheryl Evans/The Arizona Republic

After two weeks of Pac-12 basketball it wasn’t a shock that only one team still had a perfect conference record. It was a surprise that the one team was Colorado.

But then you realize the Buffaloes are the only Pac-12 school that played the first two weekends at home.

That changes this week as Colorado hits the road while the other four teams in the top half of the league return home. Will there be a new conference leader when the final buzzer sounds Sunday night?

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