Will UCLA win it all and follow up one of its best seasons in the past quarter-century with a Pac-12 Tournament title? Or will Arizona, USC, Oregon or a cast of contenders knock off the tournament favorites?

Here’s a look at how I think the Pac-12 Tournament will play out, starting with first-round action Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Wednesday’s opening round

Game 1: No. 8 Washington vs. No. 9 Colorado

I had Colorado emerging victorious, particularly because of the Huskies’ poor record against ranked teams: a Pac-12-worst 0-6. That tells you all you need to know about UDub in pressure situations. But with KJ Simpson battling mono and missing the trip to Las Vegas, it’s hard to imagine the Buffaloes coming up with the firepower to take down Keion Brooks and Co. The Huskies also won both games this year over the Buffs.

Prediction: Washington

Game 2: No. 5 Washington State vs. No. 12 Cal

This is the easiest prediction of them all. While the Bears put up a good fight in their last matchup, ultimately falling by 6 points, Cal doesn’t have the goods to handle TJ Bamba and Mouhamed Gueye.

Prediction: Washington State

Game 3: No. 7 Utah vs. No. 10 Stanford

A combined 1 point is all that separated these teams in their regular-season matchups, a 5-point Stanford win early in conference play and a 6-point Utah win on Feb. 2. Both have impressive individual talent, but the Cardinal fared better down the stretch as the Utes faltered. Utah lost 5 straight to end the regular season, each loss by more than 7 points. Star Branden Carlson faltered offensively down the stretch, shooting 24-of-73 in the final 5 games.

Prediction: Stanford

Game 4: No. 6 Arizona State vs. No. 11 Oregon State

The Sun Devils enter the Pac-12 Tournament play fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives, and they get a gimme in Round 1 with laboring Oregon State. The Beavers haven’t been right for 2 years, and it’s not going to start now. Arizona State snuck past OSU by 5 in their first matchup but nearly won by double-figures in their last game; they’re simply a much better team.

Prediction: Arizona State

Thursday’s quarterfinals

Game 5: No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 8 Washington

Even without the services of Jaylen Clark, this is a no-brainer. The Huskies had one of the most embarrassing losses this year with a 25-point beatdown on New Year’s Day at the hands of the Bruins. Braxton Meah was quite literally almost half of the Washington offense, scoring 20 of the team’s 49 points on a day they shot 35% as a team. Aside from Meah, the Huskies were just 10-of-45 from the field.

They probably won’t be quite so cold this time around, but it’ll be a tough test to beat a UCLA team even not at full strength.

Prediction: UCLA

Game 6: No. 4 Oregon vs. No. 5 Washington State

The Cougars have been soaring, winners of 6 straight, including a 68-65 victory over the Ducks on Feb. 19. In that matchup, the Cougars limited the Ducks’ top scorers, N’Faly Dante and Will Richardson, to a combined 18 points. The first time they met, on Dec. 1, was an Oregon 74-60 romp that happened while Washington State was still trying to find its footing amid a 5-9 start.

Dana Altman has had much success in Las Vegas during his Oregon tenure, but this Ducks squad doesn’t have the star power and the depth to avoid an upset.

Prediction: Washington State

Game 7: No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 10 Stanford

On Feb. 11, the Cardinal scored its biggest ranked upset in years, beating the then-No. 4 Wildcats, 88-79, for their first win over a top-3 tam since beating UCLA in 2007. Azuolas Tubelis had easily his worst game of the year, and maybe the worst of his career, scoring just 4 points and zero boards for the Cats, whose 7-game winning streak was snapped. Spencer Jones, meanwhile, had 18 2nd-half points to lead Stanford to the win.

That’s not going to happen again. The Wildcats may have struggled down the stretch, losing 3 of their final 6, but they’re a much better squad than the Cardinal, and Tubelis won’t flail again.

Prediction: Arizona

Game 8: No. 3 USC vs. No. 6 Arizona State

Now we’ve got a matchup. In a tournament tango with major NCAA Tournament implications, the Trojans and Sun Devils square off less than a week after the Trojans’ 3-point home win over Arizona State in both teams’ regular-season finales. ASU came back from a 12-point second-half deficit to at least make it a game on Saturday, but the Trojans pulled it out in a key home win.

That game went a long way in sealing ASU’s fate. This game will even further cement the Sun Devils’ faded NCAA Tournament fate.

Prediction: USC

Friday’s semifinals

Game 9: No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 5 Washington State

The rubber match in this topsy-turvy 3-game series could go one of a couple ways. The first time they met, on Dec. 30 at Wazzu’s Beasley Coliseum, UCLA rebounded from a sizable 2nd-half deficit to sneak away with a 1-point victory. On Feb. 4, they met at Pauley Pavilion, and the Bruins won by 24 points.

Whether it’s by a lot, a little or somewhere in between, the Bruins would win this one once again.

Prediction: UCLA

Game 10: No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 3 USC

Now it gets interesting.

I didn’t like how Arizona looked down the stretch. Not how the Wildcats played so much as how they looked. They looked tense against UCLA on Saturday, forcing shots. They played well against the Trojans just a couple days earlier, but we know how things went down against Arizona State the week before.

Now firmly off the bubble after a 5-1 stretch to end the regular season, with the lone loss coming at the hands of the Wildcats on Thursday, and winners of 11 of 15, the Trojans are soaring ever since Boogie Ellis caught fire. Ellis has 63 points in his past 2 games and 155 during USC’s 5-1 stretch. With him playing at an All-American pace down the stretch, the Trojans seem to be building confidence. The Cats better watch out.

Prediction: USC

Saturday’s championship game

Game 11: No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 3 USC

How fitting would it be that, just months after the two SoCal squads announced their departure for the Big Ten, they would meet up in Las Vegas in the final of the Pac-12 Tournament. It almost feels scripted, and well, it is. I’m taking UCLA’s overall team strength and the Trojans’ late-season magic into account here, but of course, these are just projections.

And projecting it out, my crystal ball sees the Trojans taking home their very first Pac-12 Tournament trophy. I like the combination of Ellis and Drew Peterson. I like Andy Enfield and the culture he’s built at USC, which is heading toward another season north of 22 wins, which would be the 4th straight. I don’t like Jaylen Clark’s absence, and Mick Cronin having to go back to the drawing board just before the postseason.

Lest we forget, the Trojans narrowly pulled off a major comeback win over the Bruins in their first matchup, a 2-point UCLA win, and USC dominated its home game against the Bruins, 77-64, just one of its two conference losses on the year. Given all that, I’m picking the Trojans to win their first conference tournament since 2009, making up for the football team’s loss to Utah in the Pac-12 football title game.

Prediction: USC