How does Utah basketball get a 1st round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament

It’s crunch time for the the Utah basketball team, who has went on a nice run the last month or so of the season to put themselves in a good spot to earn a bye in the Pac-12 Tournament, as well as being on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. The loss to USC was a bit of a set back, but Utah finds themselves in a nice spot going into the final game against Colorado. The ever important thing is to get that 1st round bye in the conference tournament, and Bill Riley broken it down in a nice, simple tweet:

I think Utah is sitting pretty good at landing that bye, as long as they take care of CU, which will be no easy feat. The Utes got thumped in Boulder against the Buffs, and CU’s size can be a problem for Utah. Fortunately, they’ve owned the series of late, and with the game at the Huntsman Center they are in a nice spot. I also expect Stanford to lose at Arizona, so I think top 4 is a high possiblity, and being a 3 seed isn’t far off of that either. The match ups for the tournament get complicated at this point, but the question is which side of the bracket do you want to be on, Arizona’s or not? Because if Utah get’s a bye and win’s that first game, they’ll have a tough semi matchup no matter who it is. Utah has been close to Arizona, but that size is a beast for Utah. Similar with USC, but I still think Utah should beat SC, ‘Zona scares me.

Of course, if they don’t beat CU this week, it won’t matter, because they’d be playing on Wednesday, and have to win an extra game to move on in the tournament.

What are your thoughts on the Utes’ standing right now?