West Coast!

Since we are now in full swing for college basketball and since it appears our team might be playing deep into March and maybe even early April I thought it would be a good idea to break down some of the other major conferences in America. Anyone is welcome to pick a conference and run. My choices of breakdown worth conferences: ACC, Big East, SEC, Big 12, Pac 10, and the Mizzou Valley. Since I am a big time Pac 10 afficionado and since it is the best conference in America so far, I thought I'd start there.

TR's PAC 10 Breakdown:

Like the Big 10 the Pac 10 appears to have 2 teams ahead of the "pac", however, unlike the BIg 10 the Pac 10 is incredibly deep this season. Only 8 teams get invites to the Staples Center for the conference tourney, and it appears that the two teams that will not be invited to LA will be Arizona State and Oregon State. Neither team has won a conference game yet, but that will change for one lucky winner tonight in the desert.

As for the remaining 8 teams, it appears so far that only Cal will be a long shot to make the big dance in March. The remaining 7 teams will all compete for what will be 5 or 6 spots in the tourney come March.

The two top teams are clearly Arizona and UCLA. One of these teams will most likely be a #1 seed and the one that isn't will be a #3 at worst. I think Arizona has more talent and is a better team, but UCLA might be more complete, they play better defense and they certainly have the experience to go deep into March. However, where I separate the teams is at the point. Arizona runs out one of the best point guards in America in Mustafa Shakur. UCLA lost Jordan Farmar to the pros. Darren Collison has done a great job stepping in for the Bruins. He routinely scores in double digits and is averaging 6 assists per game. However, while Shakur has the experience of leading a team through the rigors of a long season I'm just not sure if Collison can do the same. Ben Howland will have his team ready to play every game, but the Bruins probably finish #2 in the conference.

The next tier consists of 3 teams: 2 surprises in a good way and one surprise in a not so good way.

Washington has started 1-4 in conference, but they'll get better. The Huskies can run and could be a dangerous 8/9 seed come March.

Oregon beat the #1 Bruins last week and had a great non-conference run, albeit against suspect competition. They are very tough to beat at home, but will probably go 5-4 at best on the road in the conference. I think the Ducks finish 3rd or 4th in conference, which is nice because their cheerleaders are smoking hot.

Washington State is by far the biggest surprise in the conference, if not America, this season. However, their non-conference SOS would make Tom Crean blush and this team has 0, I mean NO big game experience at all. Still, Pullman is a terrible place for teams to travel, Tony Bennett has this team playing great basketball, and right now they've lost one conference game- at UCLA in a game they could have won. This week they drilled Cal in Berkeley. I think they'll get the 3rd or 4th place spot that Oregon does not and they'll get their first NCAA birth in over a decade. Tony Bennett will be coach of the year in conference and will deserve some national consideration as well.

Finally we have 2 teams that will be on and off the bubble all year. Either of these teams could sneak into the top 5, especially if the Huskies continue to struggle and both will be tough outs at the Staples Center:

USC plays 40 minutes of hell, and unlike UCLA they beat the Ducks at Mac Court. Tim Floyd (remember him) has a ton of talent on his squad. They are a great upset pick to beat UCLA at home today. They'll need a few good wins and probably a win at the Staples to get NCAA consideration, especially since their best non-conf win other than Wichita was Long Beach State.

Stanford was supposed to be a top 10 team last year, but since Trent Johnson is a moron they had a terrible season. They are actually playing the Wash State role this year- scaring the hell out of Arizona in Tucson, beating the Huskies in Palo Alto and winning at Virginia, while losing to San Jose State by 21. For these reasons Stanford needs more big wins than any other team in the Pac 10. Fortunately the Cardinal have the y2k version of the Collins twins in twin big men Brook and Robin Lopez (gee, anyone else think their mother thought she was having twin girls?) Robin has been a freaking stud so far, which is nice, because everyone else on this team is completely mediocre. This team really reminds me of the 01-02 Badgers, just without Kirk Penney. If Stanford had a sharp shooter like Penney or Matt Lottich they would be scarry. Instead they have to rely on two guys who cant shoot in Lawrence Hill and Tony "not so" Goods to score for them. I think they probably get the 7 seed, but if they get hot and dont lose games they shouldn't they could compete for a tourney slot.

So, here would be my PAC 10 predictions:

1. Arizona
2. UCLA
3. Oregon
4. Wash St
5. USC
6. Washington
7. Stanford
8. Cal
9. Ariz State
10. Oregon State

I think both USC and Wash will get NCAA births. Arizona will go to the final 4 while UCLA will probably get bounced in the elite 8.

Wash State, USC, and Wash will all compete for a birth in the sweet 16, with Wash St and USC getting by. Meanwhile, I think Oregon pulls a 5 seed and would be a great team to bet against in the first round