[OutsiderFan]

It seems to me it's all a matter of how it is positioned.  Far be it from a twerp like Tom Hansen to know thing one about marketing and promotion, so it is no surprise to see the Pac-12 tournament held is such low regard. 

This is sports.  It's about competition.  You can't have one regular season winner and a tournament winner.  It's one trophy and one champion.  If you want it to be based on who has the best record after a regular season, kill the tournament.  If you want the tournament to be meaningful, as it is clear the conference does, it must do away with the notion that there is or can be a regular season champion.  You can't have two champions.  That's too much of an "everyone gets a trophy" mentality.  Ergo, Colorado gets to hang a banner and record a championship this season.  Washington does not.

Once it is clear that to win the league you must win the tournament, coaches and fans will take it more seriously and interest in it will grow.  I'd even suggest coaching contracts include bonuses for conference tournament placement.  No better way to get coaches to care about the tournament than to allow them to gain benefit from where their teams finish in it.

[OutsiderFan]

It seems to me it's all a matter of how it is positioned.  Far be it from a twerp like Tom Hansen to know thing one about marketing and promotion, so it is no surprise to see the Pac-12 tournament held is such low regard. 

This is sports.  It's about competition.  You can't have one regular season winner and a tournament winner.  It's one trophy and one champion.  If you want it to be based on who has the best record after a regular season, kill the tournament.  If you want the tournament to be meaningful, as it is clear the conference does, it must do away with the notion that there is or can be a regular season champion.  You can't have two champions.  That's too much of an "everyone gets a trophy" mentality.  Ergo, Colorado gets to hang a banner and record a championship this season.  Washington does not.

Once it is clear that to win the league you must win the tournament, coaches and fans will take it more seriously and interest in it will grow.  I'd even suggest coaching contracts include bonuses for conference tournament placement.  No better way to get coaches to care about the tournament than to allow them to gain benefit from where their teams finish in it.