Utah will miss the trip to the Oregon schools and won't host Stanford and California in the Pac-12's men's basketball schedule, according to the 2018-19 pairings announced Monday.
Based on the Las Vegas odds for the conference's projected order of finish, the Utes will benefit from not playing at Oregon, while missing two good chances for home wins against the Bay Area schools.
The Utes will open conference play by visiting Arizona and Arizona State during the first week of January. The order of games and exact dates and times each week will be determined later by the Pac-12's television partners.
That trip creates a demanding three-game stretch for the Utes, who will conclude their nonconference schedule Dec. 29 by hosting Nevada
The 2018-19 pairings follow the usual pattern of rotating opponents. The conference plans to study alternatives for the future, such as ensuring that the top teams meet one another for the sake of scheduling strength, according to the Pac-12 news release.
UTAH’S PAC-12 PAIRINGS SCHEDULE
Jan. 2-6 – at Arizona/Arizona State.
Jan. 9-13 – vs. Washington/Washington State
Jan. 16-20 – vs. Colorado
Jan. 23-27 – at California/Stanford
Jan 30-Feb. 3 – vs. Oregon/Oregon State
Feb. 6-10 – at UCLA/USC
Feb. 13-17 – vs. Arizona/Arizona State
Feb. 20-24 – at Washington/Washington State
Feb. 27-March 3 – at Colorado
March 6-9 – vs. UCLA/USC