The Pac-12 Conference announced Thursday that it will increase from 18 to 20 the number of conference games that each of its men’s basketball teams will play starting with the 2020-21 season.
The move is intended to improve the teams’ strength of schedule and better position them for NCAA tournament bids. Only three Pac-12 teams have qualified for the NCAA tournament in each of the last two seasons.
The scheduling change will also increase the likelihood that marquee matchups such as UCLA-Arizona will be held twice per season; the rivals met only once in each of the last two seasons as part of the Pac-12’s unbalanced schedule.