In any conference and in any rivalry there are benchmark victories. When Coach K got to Duke, UNC was the standard and you had to go through the Tar Heels to become great in the ACC. After Duke’s rise, it became Duke. Now it’s Duke and Virginia that set the standard for ACC regular-season competition (Tony Bennett has not yet proven his system in the post-season).
In the PAC-12, Arizona has been the standard since 1986. Other teams have had nice runs for a few years, but the Wildcats have been the dominant team in PAC-12 basketball for close to 35 years.