COUGARS

Well, it seems the Seattle University Redhawks are not yet ready to play with the big guys in Washington after all. OK, that's not fair. One nonconference game at UW isn't a true test, but the Huskies did blow them out last night, leading to many television sets in Seattle turning over to the last part of Reaper on the WB. Which would have been an appropriate metaphor for UW's postseason chances if the injury to Quincy Pondexter was as serious as it initially looked. But Pondexter, who went down hard in the first half and took a long time to get up, returned to play in the second half, suffering from bruised ribs. He looks to be OK. Read on.
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• The Huskies' easy victory primes them for Saturday's showdown with WSU. Win and UW wins the Pac-10 outright for the first time since 1953 (Jake Curtis also has an interesting Stanford note near the bottom of his notebook). ... The Cougars recent play has improved their chances for the postseason, something we discussed in depth here yesterday. Freelancer Howie Stalwick writes about it as well in today's P-I. ... Buster Sports' Nick Daschel, who predicted six wins for WSU this Pac-10 season, bites the bullet, accepts your shots and ranks the Cougars as his No. 4 team in the conference this week. ... Who is the Pac-10 coach of the year? The Times' Bud Withers says you can't go wrong with UW's Lorenzo Romar (my choice) or Oregon State's Craig Robinson (who will probably win the award). ... The Oregonian has its usual Pac-10 roundup. ... And, finally, ASU's Herb Sendek is speaking out for an NCAA berth – for archrival Arizona.

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• That's it for this morning. We will be back later with our Thursday story and other notes. Until then …

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