Pac-10 tourney could help Arizona

Tue., March 8, 2005

Associated Press

TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona coach Lute Olson believes there is a No. 1 seed still up for grabs in the NCAA Tournament, and is not ruling out the Wildcats’ chances of getting it.

But the Pac-10 regular-season champions need a good showing in the league tournament this week, starting with a first-round game against California on Thursday.

“The fourth spot is absolutely wide open,” Olson said Monday. “That is going to be filled based on how teams play in the (conference tournaments). I personally feel Illinois, North Carolina and Wake Forest are probably pretty well established. You take a look at who is No. 4. I think that fourth spot among the No. 1 seed is up for grabs.”

Olson said the Pac-10 tournament, which he fought against for years, could help or hurt.

Olson originally opposed a conference postseason because it takes away from class time, doesn’t give enough credit to the regular-season champ and eliminates two schools in advance by only giving the top eight teams berths for a three-day, single-elimination event.

But even he knows this year’s tournament could pay dividends.

Arizona, which finished 25-5 after going 15-3 in conference play, would likely be the second- or third-seeded team in one of the four NCAA regionals without Pac-10 tourney play.

That ruffled some feelings in Tucson, where players already felt slighted because Arizona State’s Ike Diogu was given the Pac-10 Player of the Year award Monday over Arizona guard Salim Stoudamire and Washington’s Lorenzo Romar got the coaching award over Olson.

“I don’t need someone to reassure me that I did good,” Stoudamire said. “I know deep inside my heart that it should be me.”

Diogu and Stoudamire, the conference’s 1-2 scorers, will have another chance to impress in the tournament.

The Sun Devils play Washington, which beat them twice, hours after Arizona meets California in the first round. The Wildcats routed the Golden Bears twice.

“They are excited about winning the Pac-10 title outright,” Olson said. “I think they are excited about continuing and having the opportunity to get better before the NCAA playoffs. This group has been that way all year long. It is not a case where they feel, ‘I am really good; I don’t have to work any more.’ “

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Pac-10 tourney could help Arizona

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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