LAS VEGAS — “Wouldn’t it be fun to have four teams in the Final Four?” Tara VanDerveer asked. “Put us all in different brackets, and we’ll be cheering for them.”
The legendary Stanford Cardinal coach grinned as she joked about the strength of the Pac-12. But her players looked a tad less enthused. It was hard to fault them: They’d spent the last three months in the grinding competition of the conference. Who’d volunteer for more of that in the Final Four? (Plus, as Stanford senior forward Cameron Brink pointed out, veteran members of this squad have already played one national championship game against a conference foe.) But the point felt well-taken. The Pac-12 has been remarkably strong this year. The conference tournament semifinals on Friday only underscored that. It was a showcase of four programs that all look ready to make deep runs. Potentially including up to, yes, the Final Four.
“I think we've seen everything, and this group of teams does that to you,” said Oregon State Beavers coach Scott Rueck. “And the fact that we played the toughest schedule you could imagine within our conference this year has tested us.”
