Pac-10 Deserves More

Dick Vitale - the name alone usually is enough to aggravate most college basketball purists.

But coaches across the land more often than not cozy up to the broadcasting blabbermouth because of the considerable power he wields. But Vitale finally said something so ludicrous that Eddie Payne at Oregon State could no longer hold his tongue.

“I listened to Vitale last night trumpeting Missouri (to get in the NCAA Tournament) at 15-9,” said Payne. “I can’t imagine them being in a better place to go than our fourth-place team.

“It’s a source of frustration, and it shows a lack of understanding,” he continued. “I don’t think there is any doubt that a team that finishes fourth in our league with 10 wins is one of the 64 best teams in the country.”

But with less than two weeks until selection Sunday, doubt is creeping in. The Pac-10, which only advanced one of its four teams into the second round last season, is staring at the possibility of having only Stanford, Arizona and Oregon in the tournament.

Meanwhile the Big 10, Big East, Big 12 and SEC could have six schools each. This despite the fact that the Pac-10 is No. 2 in the Sagarin and CBSSportsline rankings and has a 13-8 record against schools from the aforementioned conferences this year.

“When you have the No. 1 and No. 3 team in the country, our fourth-place team shouldn’t be a bubble team,” said Oregon’s Ernie Kent. “They should be in and maybe our No. 5 as well.”

“The Pac-10 this year should be like the Big Tens and ACCs of years past,” added UCLA’s Steve Lavin.

If a fourth team does get in, it could be Lavin’s. The Bruins (15-11, 6-8) have an RPI of 27 (Missouri’s is 30) and will be favored in three of their last four games.

Two other teams could vie for a fifth bid.

Arizona State (16-10, 8-6) has an RPI of 59 and needs to win the rest of its games (at the Oregon schools and Cal at home). If the Sun Devils do that, they would have an 11-6 Pac-10 mark and 19 overall wins. Since 1985 only three Pac-10 teams with 11-7 conference records have not gone to the NCAA Tournament.

USC (14-12, 7-7) has an RPI of 64 and will also have to win its remaining games to get in. The problem is the first of those games is on the road at No. 1 Stanford. But remember USC was the one Pac-10 team to beat Stanford at Maples Pavilion last season. The Trojans also pulled off an upset of Arizona earlier this year.

Cal (15-11, 6-8) had a chance at the tourney before losing at Washington State Saturday.

More tourney talk

Let’s assume for the moment only three Pac-10 teams get into the NCAA Tournament. If that’s true, here’s a look at where they would go:

Stanford, assuming it beats Arizona on March 9 (an easy assumption), is a lock for the No. 1 seed in the West. ESPN.com has the Cardinal playing in Tucson against the MEAC winner. CBSSportsLine.com has Stanford in Salt Lake City against the Big Sky winner.

Arizona is headed to the South to play either against the TAAC winner in Birmingham (ESPN.com) or Valparaiso in Nashville (CBSSportsLine.com).

Oregon may face the most interesting and toughest road to the Sweet 16. According to ESPN.com, the Ducks will be a No. 9 seed and play Seton Hall in Cleveland. The winner would get Cincinnati.

CBSSportsLine.com has the Ducks as a No. 6 seed in Buffalo against Butler. Butler is coached by Barry Collier, a former Oregon and Idaho assistant. Win that and the Ducks could meet Tennessee, which is coached by Jerry Green, who took Oregon to the NCAA Tournament in 1995.

Injury scene

While three of the Pac-10’s highest-profile players appear to be headed back into action, two more are just getting comfortable on the sideline.

Arizona’s Loren Woods and Oregon’s A.D. Smith are out for the rest of the regular season with injuries.

Woods, a strong candidate for Pac-10 player of the year, has a compression injury to a disc in his back.

Smith, the Ducks’ leading rebounder and second-leading scorer, fractured his left cheekbone Saturday at USC. He underwent surgery during which doctors inserted three metal plates to hold the bone in place.

Both might make it back for the postseason.

The three playes coming back are UCLA’s JaRon Rush, USC’s Sam Clancy and Arizona’s Richard Jefferson.

Clancy, the Trojans’ leading scorer and rebounder, has been out since Jan. 20 with a broken foot. He will return Thrusday at Stanford.

Rush also will return to action against Stanford. The sophomore had his suspension for taking money from an agent reduced from 29 games to nine. The wing player has sat out eight games already and will sit out the ninth against Cal on Thursday.

Jefferson, who broke his foot against Stanford on Jan. 8, has been cleared to play at Oregon State on Thursday.

Cougar curse

Since Washington State began its slide in the Pac-10 in 1997, the Cougars are 3-15 in Pac-10 games decided either in overtime or by four points or less. They are 8-21 overall in games decided by four points or overtime. Included in the latter total is a six-game overtime losing streak which was broken in Saturday night’s victory over Cal.

Player of the week

UCLA guard Earl Watson was named Pac-10 player of the week after averaging 20.5 points, seven rebounds and three assists in wins over Oregon and Oregon State. For the week, the junior his 55 percent of his shots, including 53 percent from behind the arc.