Women’s Pac-12 Championships: Day 3 Ups/Mids/Downs – Can Anyone Keep Up With Cal’s Depth?

2024 WOMEN’S PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Dates: Wednesday, February 28 – Saturday, March 2
• Location: Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, Federal Way, WA
• Defending champions: Stanford (2x)
• Live results
• Live video: Pac-12 Network
• Championship central
• Event schedule
• Preview: Fan guide
• Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

If you’re unfamiliar with our up/downs, here’s a quick explanation:

• “Up” = number of ‘A’ finalists for each team
• “Mid” = number of ‘B’ finalists for each team
• “Down” = number of ‘C’ finalists for each team

They’re presented in the format “up/mid/down”, which, for example, if a team had 2 ‘A’ finalists, 1 ‘B’ finalist, and 3 ‘C’ finalists in an event would be represented as “2/1/3.”

Now, before we get into the data from this morning’s prelims session — courtesy of Andrew Mering — let’s quickly remind ourselves of the team scores heading into tonight’s finals session.

SCORES AFTER DAY 2

1. Cal – 479
2. USC – 401
3. Stanford – 398
4. Arizona State – 357
5. UCLA – 349
6. Utah – 245
7. Washington State – 166
8. Arizona – 163

USC (401 points) and two-time defending champion Stanford (398) battled back from the bottom of the standings after relay disqualifications on the first night, pulling within 100 points of Cal (479) on Thursday night. Arizona State (357) and UCLA (349) aren’t far behind, either.

The Cardinal had a huge Friday morning in the pool, putting 12 swimmers in A-finals tonight compared to the Bears’ 10. However, Cal did place nine swimmers in B-finals compared to Stanford’s three, using its depth to keep pace with the Cardinal.

The Trojans are next with six A-finalists while the Bruins boast five.

Day 3 Ups/Mids/Downs

Keep in mind: All this table represents is what the scoring would look like if the placement from this morning stayed exactly where it was tonight during finals. That won’t happen, but it’s still a good exercise for projecting tonight’s scores.

Scored Day 3 Prelims By Event

Despite having less A-finalists than Stanford, Cal is still expected to extend its lead on Friday night, at least in individual swimming events.

Scored Day 3 Prelims Total

Finally, let’s take a look at this morning’s scored prelims added into the actual scores from last night, which will give us an idea of what the scores will look like after tonight based on where things stand now.

The calculations below do not take into account 3-meter diving or the 400 medley relay, where USC owns the top time in the Pac-12 this season (1:34.07) ahead of Cal (1:34.23) and Stanford (1:35.58). The Trojans will need a clutch relay performance and some diving success tonight in order to hold off the Cardinal in the battle for 2nd place.

Utah has enjoyed success on the boards so far, so expect the Utes’ score to be boosted by their divers this evening.

Scored Day 3 Prelims + Day 2 Actual

1. Cal – 881
2. Stanford – 754
3. USC – 699
4. UCLA – 609
5. Arizona State – 574
6. Arizona – 320
7. Utah – 287
8. Washington State – 244

Halfway through the meet, head coach Dave Durden‘s Bears are in a great spot to capture their first Pac-12 crown since 2021. But it’s still early — stay tuned tonight for live updates beginning around 6:30 p.m. PST.