The 2010–11 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season began with practices on October 18, 2010 and ended with the 2011 Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament from March 9–11, 2011 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The regular season began on the weekend of November 12, with the conference schedule starting on December 30. The conference dedicated the season to legendary UCLA coach John Wooden, who died in June 2010 at age 99.
The Washington Huskies defeated the regular season champions Arizona Wildcats 77–75 in overtime to capture the tournament championship. Four Pac-10 teams were selected to participate in the NCAA Tournament: Arizona, Washington, UCLA and USC.
This was the final season for the Pac-10 under that name. In July 2011, two schools joined the conference, at which time its name officially changed to Pac-12 Conference. Colorado arrived from the Big 12 and Utah entered from the Mountain West.
Pre-season media day was held on October 28, 2010 at L.A. Live's Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.
Dana Altman was named the head coach of the Oregon Ducks.
2010–11 PAC-10 Men's Basketball Media Poll:
Rank, School (first-place votes), Points
1. Washington (33) 348
2. Arizona (1) 296
3. UCLA (1) 281
4. Arizona State 215
5. Washington State 191
6. USC 178
7. California 151
8. Oregon State 120
9. Stanford 98
10. Oregon 47
November 8, 2010 – Washington #17 (Coaches)
November 15, 2010 – Washington #17 (AP), #15 (Coaches)
November 22, 2010 – Washington #13 (AP), #11 (Coaches)
November 29, 2010 – Washington #23 (AP), #22 (Coaches)
December 6, 2010 – Washington #21 (AP), #22 (Coaches)
January 3, 2011 – Washington #23 (AP)
January 10, 2011 – Washington #17 (AP), #18 (Coaches)
November 24, 2010 – UCLA lost to No. 7 Villanova at the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
December 18, 2010 – UCLA upset No. 16 (AP) BYU 86–79 at the John R. Wooden Classic.
December 29 – First conference games.
March 9–11, 2011 – Pac-10 Conference Basketball Tournament, Staples Center, Los Angeles, California.
March 15, 2011 – Tournament begins.
April 4, 2011 – National Championship game.
March 13, 2011 – Four Pac-10 teams were selected: Arizona (West Region), Washington (East Region), UCLA (Southeast Region) and USC (Southwest Region).
March 16, 2011 – USC ended its tournament hopes when they were defeated in the first round to VCU.
March 17, 2011 – UCLA defeated Michigan State to advance to the third round to face Florida on Saturday, March 19, 2011.
March 19, 2011 – UCLA was defeated by Florida 65–73 and ended its season.
March 20, 2011 – Arizona defeated Texas 70–69 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen and Washington was defeated by North Carolina 83–86 to end the season.
March 24, 2011 – Arizona defeated 1-seed Duke 93–77 in the Sweet Sixteen to advance to the Elite 8.
March 26, 2011 – Arizona was defeated by UConn 65–63 in the Elite 8.
March 13, 2011 – Two Pac-10 teams were selected to play in the NIT: California (Colorado bracket), Washington State (Boston College bracket).
Awards and honors
The Pac-10 Coach of the Year Award in both men’s and women’s basketball is now known as the John Wooden Coach of the Year Award.
Voting was by conference coaches:
Player of The Year: Derrick Williams, Arizona
Freshman of The Year: Allen Crabbe, California
Defensive Player of The Year: Marcus Simmons, USC
Most Improved Player of The Year: Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Washington
John R. Wooden Coach of the Year: Sean Miller, Arizona
FIRST TEAM:
First Team:
Second Team:
