A funny thing happened on the way to a showdown between Oregon and Stanford with Pac-12 supremacy on the line in the Bay Area next week. Put simply, Utah happened.
Entering conference play last week, the Ducks and Cardinal were the two remaining unbeaten Pac-12 teams. It looked like their game Feb. 10 at Stanford could be for first place in the league, a year after the two programs met in the conference tournament championship game.
Instead, Utah has played itself into the pantheon of Pac-12 elite — and set up a showdown in Matthew Knight Arena on Friday.