Talking Points: Pac-12 teams equally not good

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Not to confuse an epidemic of mediocrity with excellence, but next week’s Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament promises to be wide open and competitive. OK, OK, nobody in the league is any good, but at least they’re all equally non-good.

UCLA won the regular-season title with a 13-5 record. Arizona, Oregon, and California tied for second at 12-6. And a few spots down the standings, there was a four-way tie for sixth place at 9-9. That means that nine of the 12 teams went at least .500 in league play, leaving Utah, Oregon State, and Washington State to bring up the rear.

The Pac-12 tournament starts Wednesday, and it’s highly unlikely that a future Final Four team will be participating. But the contests should be close.

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Who says that nobody cares about the World Baseball Classic? Judging from the brawl that broke out Saturday during Canada’s 10-3 victory over Mexico, emotions are running high for the tournament.

“Whoever says that we’re just here as an extra spring training game or we’re just here to say we represented our country and then go home obviously didn’t see how intense that game was and what it means to everybody that was involved,” Canada’s Justin Morneau said.

Yes, nothing says national pride quite like getting into a brawl. The tensions, apparently, spilled into the stands, where skirmishes among fans took place. All of which means that the World Baseball Classic is nothing more than your typical regular-season NFL game.