johnnyroadtrip.com - Pac-10 Basketball Tournament Information

The Pac-10 Basketball Tournament

The Pac-10 held firm for many years as one of the few conferences without a tournament. In 1987, the league decided to hold its first tournament. The tourney was a colossal failure; not a single session came close to selling out, despite host UCLA and All-American Reggie Miller winning the tournament. The tournament stumbled along for three more years without selling out a single session at three new sites (Tucson, The Forum in LA, and Tempe). The tourney was dropped after 1990 and the league recognized the first-place finisher in the regular season as its champion.

The Pac-10 revived the tournament in 2002, and the results were much better. The Staples Center in Los Angeles hosted the event, drawing a sellout crowd for the final after a near-sellout in the semis. Attendance may have been helped by local favorite USC's presence in the championship, but the results were encouraging nonetheless. The Staples Center has hosted every tournament since.

All ten teams participate in the Pac-10 tournament. The tournament runs Wednesday through Saturday, with the 8-9 and 7-10 games Wednesday at 6 pm. Thursday's quarterfinals are played in two doubleheaders beginning at 12 noon and 6 pm. Friday's semifinals begin at 6 pm, with the championship game tipping off Saturday at 3 pm.

Pac-10 Tournament Tickets

Pac-10 tickets are not an overly tough find; tickets are available through the conference and most of the league's schools prior to the tournament. The first round is never filled to capacity, and the semifinals have never sold out either. This year's semifinals and championship might be a different story, depending on who is playing.

If you don't have tickets in advance, you shouldn't have too much trouble procuring them outside the arena. When buying on the street, we recommend buying as soon as you find a price you are comfortable paying.

Tickets to the tournament are sold in booklets; you cannot buy an advance ticket for a single session, although the booklets can be broken up and sold individually.

To buy Pac-10 Tournament tickets, click here.

Pac-10 Travel Information

The Pac-10 tournament is not much of a draw for fans of the participating schools. Los Angeles is a big city with lots of hotel space that easily absorbs the incoming crowds. Click here for LA hotels.

Future Pac-10 Tournament Sites and Dates

The Pac-10 Tournament is held in early March, and runs from Wednesday afternoon through Saturday night's championship.

2009 - March 11-14, Staples Center, Los Angeles (Los Angeles hotels)

2010 - March 10-13

2011 - March 9-12