Face-off with USC critical in UCLA’s battle for conference title

It’s shaping up to be more of a Pac-3 or 4 than a Pac-12.

The top three teams in the conference each have at least 10 conference wins while eight other teams each have less than eight, highlighting the two distinct levels of play in the league.

With No. 6 UCLA (23-3, 10-3 Pac-12) facing off against USC (21-5, 8-5) Saturday, the Bruins, who are third in the league, will have a chance to further distance themselves from the fray.

“If you look at our league, there’s a line you can draw right in half,” said coach Steve Alford. “There’s six teams with five or fewer losses and the rest have eight or more. If we can win on Saturday, there’ll be another line drawn and that line that could be drawn would be Arizona, Oregon and us.”

In the last stretch of the regular season, the Wildcats, Ducks and Bruins will be able to not only separate themselves further from the lower part of the conference but also battle each other to secure the No. 1 seed at the Pac-12 tournament.

Taking the conference title will be critical for all three teams, who hope to earn a favorable spot in the West Region on Selection Sunday and avoid traveling across the country in the early rounds.

The top three teams are within two games of first place, with four of their six losses coming against each other.

Oregon pummeled Arizona 85-58 before losing to UCLA at Pauley Pavilion days later. The Bruins had dropped games to the Ducks, Wildcats and Trojans before rebounding to win their last four games.

[Related: Men’s basketball defeats Oregon 82-79 in rematch upset]

“You look at our losses – we lost at Oregon and we lost at USC; we lost to Arizona at home, who is a top-10 team.” Alford said. “If anything, it’s motivation for our guys.”

Of the three teams, the Bruins will have the toughest slate with Arizona, USC and a Markelle Fultz-led Washington to round out the season.

Even if UCLA wins out, beating Arizona on the road and USC at home, the Bruins will still need a loss from the Ducks and an additional one from the Wildcats to enter a three-way tie for the regular-season title.

Oregon will face a much easier schedule than UCLA over the final five games. The Ducks close out the regular season against the Oregon State Beavers, who have yet to pick up a conference win, with their toughest opponent being the Cal Bears, who have a 9-4 Pac-12 record.

Three of Arizona’s final opponents are under .500 in league play, save for UCLA and USC.

But right now, it’s not about the “what ifs” or the potential scenarios for the Bruins.

It’s about the game Saturday against their crosstown rival.

“It’s about getting this game,” Alford said. “If we get this game, we put three games between us and them in the conference race, and that’s big when you get into late February and start distancing yourself.”