With the Pac-12’s last, best hope for its first national title since 1997 left in a heap of smoldering ashes on Thursday afternoon by the highest-scoring team in the country — albeit a Gonzaga squad that got stifled in the Elite Eight by UConn — the league will enter its last year in this current formation with a brand new look and feel, even before bidding goodbye to UCLA and USC.

The Bruins and Trojans themselves will undergo massive change — as will Arizona and Arizona State, Oregon and more.

But it’s clear that even the league’s best has some pressing needs going into next season.

Here’s a look at each team’s biggest need…

Arizona: A dynamic point guard

The Wildcats wanted it to work so bad with Kerr Kriisa. The name. The game. The attitude. Alas, Kriisa’s long-distance shooting woes plagued him all year, including in a stunning opening round loss to 15-seed Princeton in the NCAA Tournament. For PGU, it continues an alarming trend. The school that produced Jason Terry and Mike Bibby and Jason Gardner and Salim Stoudemire hasn’t had an NBA-caliber point guard since T.J. McConnell a decade ago, and his NBA career has been almost as shocking as the Cats’ March Madness loss to an Ivy League school. You’ve to go back almost two decades for Arizona’s last truly great point guard, and that is the key to getting Arizona back into the Final Four.

Arizona State: Some size

The Sun Devils’ guard-oriented lineup was not quite dynamic to lift the squad past TCU in the Round of 32, but ASU also wasn’t big enough to do any damage on the glass. For the year, Arizona State ranked 10th in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage, 12th in rebounding defense and 10th in defensive rebounding percentage.

Cal: A pulse

The Bears were simply one of the worst teams in all of college basketball, winning just 3 games on the year and 2 wins in Pac-12 play. More than anything, they need a new head coach who injects a sense of urgency and excitement into the program. Cal lost a surprising amount of close games for a team that only won 3 games, so getting an excitable strategist who can get them back up to 10-15 wins is the charge.

Colorado: Better efficiency

A 4-5 start was too much for Colorado to overcome as one of the Pac-12’s most consistent teams for the last decade could not get over its shooting deficiencies. The Buffaloes shot just 43.4 percent from the field for the year, 6th in the conference, which is no surprise, considering their No. 2 and No. 4 top scorers — K.J. Simpson and Julian Hammond III  —  shot 39.9 and 39.6 percent from the field this year.

Oregon: Improved perimeter play

The Ducks have arguably been the Pac-12’s top team over the last dozen years, in large part because of terrific perimeter play. But 3-point range was no-man’s land for Oregon this year. The Ducks ranked 9th in the league in both 3-point shooting (32 percent) and 3-point defense (33.7 percent).

Oregon State: Better hops

Like their in-state mates Oregon, Oregon State struggled on the perimeter, ranking a notch below the Ducks in outside shooting. Unfortunately for Wayne Tinkle, the Beavers were not just bad from outside, but inside, as well. Oregon State ranked last in the country with just 31.13 rebounds per game, while ranking 10th in rebounding margin at negative-2.47.

Stanford: Some post defense

With an offense that ranked among the league’s best, certainly good enough to have the Cardinal vying for the NCAA Tournament, it was Stanford’s post defense that did it in in 2022-23. The Cardinal ranked 10th in opposing field goal percentage, a full half-point per game worse than league-leading USC.

UCLA: A triage table

What do you get for the team that has everything? Well, some Band-Aids would help. UCLA fans will argue for decades to come that a healthy version of this squad would have won the NCAA Tournament over a fallible field. If Mick Cronin can somehow, possibly convince either Jaime Jaquez Jr. or Tyger Campbell to utilize their super senior season and if either of them are joined by either Amari Bailey or Adem Bona, the Bruins should be considered a Final Four favorite. If only they can stay upright.

USC: Calf implants

The Trojans had a very good season that still felt unfulfilling, given Boogie Ellis’ ceiling and Drew Peterson’s floor. One big reason USC could never put together the run it desired was a surprising lack of rebounding. For a stingy defense that led the league in field goal percentage defense, allowing opposing offenses to hit just 39.3 percent of their shots, USC’s pedestrian numbers on the boards raised eyebrows. How can such an active, springy, athletic defense allow 35.79 rebounds per game, 10th in the conference?

Utah: Branden Carlson’s clone

The Utes’ all-around center declared for the NBA Draft this week, leaving a gaping hole in terms of production and talent in the post. Carlson blossomed as a senior, improving his numbers almost across the board and ranking among league leaders in 8 statistical categories, including ranking 2nd in the league in blocks.

Washington: Some intestinal fortitude

After making the NCAA Tournament six times between 2005 and 2011, the Huskies have earned just one bid since then. A 12-win turnaround last year made them optimistic about their odds this year, but they suffered three losing streaks of 3 games or more, including 4- and 5-game slides. It doesn’t help that UDub ranked second-worst in the league in defense.

Washington State: Klay Thompson?

Playing against the Huskies and their porous defense, the Cougars finally kicked it into high gear in their regular-season finale, putting up 93 points. It was the Cougs’ first 90-point scoring performance since an early season 96-point showing against Detroit Mercy, and just their 2nd of the year. Big surprise they ranked 10th in scoring, just ahead of Oregon State and Cal. Too bad Klay isn’t walking through that door.