March Madness: California, Colorado Make The Field Of 68

The speculation is over.

For weeks, we have heard seemingly thousands of licensed bracketologists dissect the bubble and project just, exactly, how many teams from the Pac-12 would make the NCAA tournament.

Would it end up as a one-bid league? Would two, maybe even three teams make the field of 68?

We know now: It's two.

Colorado, which won five of its last seven games and the Pac-12 tournament at Staples Center over the weekend, nabbed the conference's automatic bid and secured the No. 11 seed in the South region -- good for a matchup against No. 6-seeded UNLV in Albuquerque, N.M. The Rebels were among four teams from the Mountain West Conference to make the NCAA tournament, and most recently, fell to New Mexico by five points in its conference tournament.

The other Pac-12 team to crack the field? Cal.

The Golden Bears had the highest RPI of any team from the Pac-12, but failed to win the regular season title after a six-point loss at Stanford on March 4. To complicate matters, they didn't boast a top-50 RPI win and stumbled against Colorado, 70-59 in the semifinals of the Pac-12 tournament. So no auto bid, either.

As a result, Cal will head to Dayton, Ohio, for a play-in game against South Florida on Wednesday. Similarly, 20-win USF had been on the bubble for much of the last month, boasting marquee wins over Cincinnati, Louisville and Seton Hall. The rundown on the Bulls: Good defensive team, but struggle to score -- rank 328th nationally in points per game.

The winner will face No. 5-seeded Temple on Friday in Nashville, Tenn.

But hey, it's not over just yet.

Though only two Pac-12 teams will head to the NCAA tournament, four are headed to the NIT!

Arizona and Washington each nabbed No. 1 seeds. The Wildcats will face Bucknell in the first round, while the Huskies, who became the first regular season champions from a power conference to miss the Big Dance, will square off against Texas-Arlington, which did manage to win the west division of the Southland Conference but fell in the semifinals of the conference tournament.

Don't worry. There is more. Both Oregon and Stanford secured No. 3 seeds and will face LSU and Cleveland State, respectively.

Ah, don't you love March?