Conference-wide there is a sense that more teams than normal could be in the NCAA tournament

By Cliff Kirkpatrick
Corvallis Gazette-Times

Momentum was built up by the Pacific-10 Conference before the men’s basketball teams started to play each other.

There was a feeling that this could be the best season for the Pac-10 since 2002, when six teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Two more teams could make the secondary National Invitation Tournament.

UCLA was the No. 1-ranked team in the country, while Arizona, Washington and Oregon were playing well. There was the surprising resurgence of Washington State, solid play from Southern California and Stanford and California were on the rise.

Success came in the polls because of victories over strong programs such as Gonzaga, Georgetown and Louisiana State.

“I think so, as many as six teams,” USC coach Tim Floyd said of the Pac-10’s postseason chances. “We have teams playing at a high level. Lower teams are good. Oregon State, Washington State — the perceived bottom half of the conference is good. There are no gimmes.”

Now they are knocking each other off. Oregon upset UCLA on Saturday, and dropped the Bruins to No. 4 while the Ducks rose to No. 15.

Washington has fallen out of the top 25, replaced by Washington State. The Cougars upset Arizona over the weekend and the Wildcats dropped to No. 10.

All these surprises could help or hurt the momentum, depending on perspective.

“The Pac-10 is clearly the best conference in the country,” Washington State coach Tony Bennett said. “It should get as many (bids as) any conference. It deserves more than it had in the past, whatever that means.”

However, with what appears to be a bias against the West Coast when it comes to filling out the NCAA bracket and concerns about teams not finishing strong, the Pac-10 could be in trouble. When a conference champion has five-or-so losses, it doesn’t look impressive.

Parity gets misconstrued. It is almost better for a pecking order to be set early and no one deviating from the expected.

But that wouldn’t be fun.

“I would hope we helped ourselves a lot with the teams we’ve beat in the nonconference,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “I hope people in the East notice what we’ve done out here because it’s a good conference.”

For the conference to earn postseason respect, those early games must be looked at next to the competition within the Pac-10.

Washington is an example. The Huskies played an 11-game schedule with 10 wins. The highlight was a victory over a ranked Louisiana State team. Since the Pac-10 season arrived they are 1-3.

If the Huskies struggle for wins for the rest of the season, they are still a quality win. They could be a good team, but without the record.

“I believe our conference can get six teams, and that’s where these wins were so important,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said of the nonconference games. “When the committee sits down in March they have to go back and look at them. When we are in conference, we are going to beat up on each other. Whoever goes through the conference with three or four loses, that’s the winner.”

This revival just began. The Pac-10 did well last year in the tournament with four teams. UCLA reached the championship game, but fell to Florida. Washington reached the Sweet 16 for the second season in a row.

With the influx of talented freshmen being used regularly on most teams, if the Pac-10 places six teams in the NCAA this season it could become a regular occurrence.

“It started last year getting teams in the NCAA Tournament getting seeded high and doing well,” California coach Ben Braun said. “And then it was good recruiting, and now this season with teams getting quality wins. The conference has done a good job making it look good getting quality wins. I think this is as strong as I’ve seen the conference.”

AROUND THE PAC-10

• No. 15 Oregon (14-1, 2-1): The Ducks beat the No. 1 team in the country and only ranked No. 15? Come on.

• No. 4 UCLA (14-1, 3-1): It was a little slip up in Eugene, but the Bruins will return to their regular dominance.

• No. 22 Washington State (14-2, 3-1): The Cougars are for real after defeating Arizona last weekend. Are they Pac-10 contenders?

• No. 10 Arizona (12-2, 3-1): Beavers make a good warm-up for a big showdown with the Ducks on Sunday.

• Southern California (13-4, 3-1): Defeating the Ducks is one thing, but now it is crosstown rival time against UCLA on Saturday.

• Washington (11-4, 1-3): The win over Arizona State could have turned the season around for the young Huskies.

• California (10-5, 2-1): Bears could wear out since injuries have them down to nine scholarship players available.

• Stanford (9-4, 1-2): Big nonconference win over Virginia over the weekend may signal a surge by the Cardinal.

• Oregon State (8-8), 0-3): It doesn’t get any easier as the Beavers go on their first Pac-10 road trip, starting at Arizona.

• Arizona State (6-9, 0-4): The second game of OSU’s road trip could be interesting at ASU. Neither one wants to be in last place.