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56 // 2014-15 PAC-12 MEN'S BASKETBALL MEDIA GUIDE // PAC-12 TOURNAMENT The Pac-12 Tournament enters its third year at the MGM's Grand Garden Arena. The Tournament will get underway on Wednesday, March 11 and conclude with the championship game on Saturday, March 14. The Pac-12 Networks will broadcast all four men's games on Wednesday, three of the four men's quarterfinals on Thursday, and one semifinal on Friday. Meanwhile, one quarterfinal, one semifinal and the championship game will be broadcast by ESPN. The Conference previously held a 10-team postseason tournament from 1987-90. On October 23, 2000, the Conference CEO Group/Council voted to reinstate a men's basketball tournament following the 2002 season. The original Pac-10 Tournament was inaugurated following the 1986-87 season at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion where the host UCLA Bruins captured the first Pac-10 postseason title. Subsequent Tournaments were held at Arizona's McKale Center (1988), the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles (1989), and Arizona State's University Activity Center (1990). Arizona's Sean Elliott was tabbed the Most Outstanding Player in 1988 and again in 1989 as he led the Wildcats to a pair of Conference crowns. Arizona captured its third Pac-10 crown following the 1990 season, which happened to mark the end of the first run of the Pac-10 Tournament. Arizona made it four in a row with the return of the Pac-10 Tournament in 2002. It was the first year in an 11-year run with the Los Angeles STAPLES Center serving as host of the league's postseason tournament. The WIldcats' streak ended the next year as Oregon captured its first tournament crown in 2003. In 2004, Stanford nearly ran the table in the regular season, finishing league play with a 17-1 record. It's only loss came at Washington in the last game of the season. However, the Cardinal retaliated with a 77-66 victory over Washington in the championship game to capture the school's first-ever postseason conference crown. In 2005, it was Washington's turn. For the fourth consecutive year, a different school cut down the nets on Saturday as the Huskies claimed their first Tournament crown with a 81-72 victory over Arizona. The UCLA Bruins were the fifth different team over five seasons to capture the Tournament title with their 71-52 victory over California in the 2006 championship game. What was different about the 2006 Pacific Life Tournament? It was the first time since the Pac-10 resurrected the league tournament that all 10 teams participated. In the previous four tournaments, only the top eight teams qualified for the Pac-10 Tournament. Oregon returned to the award stand in 2007 with its' 81-57 victory over USC in the championship game. A record 84,477 fans attended the four-day Tournament. UCLA returned to the victory stand in 2008 with its 67-64 win over Stanford, catapulting the Bruins to their third consecutive NCAA Final Four appearance. In 2009, USC became the lowest seeded team to win the Pac-10 Tour- nament. The Trojans entered tournament play as the No. 6 seed, then proceded to knock off No. 3 California and No. 2 UCLA to reach the championship game. It was the fourth time USC played in the champi- onship game, but this time it came out victorious with a 66-63 win over No. 4 Arizona State to win the Pac-10 Tournament crown. Washington raised the championship hardware for the second time, with a 79-75 win over California in the 2010 Tournament, then successfully defended its crown with a thrilling 77-75 overtime victory over Arizona in 2011 as Husky guard Isaiah Thomas nailed the game-winner at the buzzer. Thomas earned his second Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors, joining former Arizona All-American Sean Elliott as the only two- time recipients of the award. In 2012, the league's postseason tournament grew from nine to 11 games with the addition of expansion members Colorado and Utah. And it was the Colorado Buffaloes who ran the table, becoming the first team in the league's postseason history to win four games in four days to capture the 2012 Pac-12 Tournament title. Carlon Brown, the Pac-12 Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, led the Buffaloes with 15.8 points and 4.8 rebounds as Colorado earned the Pac-12's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The 2012 Tournament marked the last year of an 11-year run for STAPLES Center. Viva Las Vegas! The Pac-12 moved the 2013 Tournament location to the bright lights of Las Vegas and the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Oregon Ducks knocked off the Pac-12 regular season champion, 78- 69, to capture their third Tournament crown. The Ducks were the fifth different school in a six-year span to win the Pac-12 Championship game. UCLA captured its fourth Tournament crown in 2014, matching Arizona for most in league history. The Bruins knocked off regular season champion Arizona, 74-71 before a capacity crowd. UCLA's Kyle Anderson, the 2014 Pac-12 Tournament MVP 2015 PAC-12 TOURNAMENT