Huskies playing matchup game
Lorenzo Romar, the Pac-10 coach of the year this season, shouldn’t have to worry too much.
Romar’s Washington Huskies went run-and-gun through the league to 14 conference wins. His team is a good bet to make it to the conference tournament final in the Staples Center this week.
So why is Romar still looking at the Pac-10 bracket with a wary eye?
“Certain teams match up better with other teams and vice versa,” he said. “I think this is a year where there may be someone out there saying, ‘I’m glad we got this particular seed and not a higher one. Because we don’t match up against those teams as well.’ “
Romar’s team hasn’t done too badly with the draw, playing an Arizona State team it defeated twice. But others are not so lucky, and with the upside-down nature of some Pac-10 games this year, anything could happen.
“There were some unusual circumstances,” WSU head coach Dick Bennett said. “USC didn’t play as well against us, and they played well against some other teams. We didn’t play well against Cal, while other teams didn’t have trouble against Cal. Us and Stanford, who could have figured that one?”
Trying to peg the tournament might not be easy, but here’s one guess at who has a chance and who needs help if things are going to go their way this week in Los Angeles.
The favorites
Top seed Arizona and No. 2 seed Washington are the Pac-10’s lone two locks for the NCAA Tournament and are clearly the top teams in the conference this season.
The Wildcats and Huskies split their season series this year with both teams winning at home, and everything this season has pointed toward a final showdown on Saturday. These teams appeared headed for a deadlock atop the league standings, but Washington’s loss on the last day of the regular season gave Arizona the title outright. With the momentum from winning that regular season crown, give Arizona the slight edge if the teams meet for a third time.
The dark horses
No. 4 seed UCLA and, possibly, No. 7 seed Arizona State could be looking at a bracket favorable for a three-day run for a conference tournament title.
UCLA is the more intriguing possibility here because the Bruins’ freshmen have the potential to complement Dijon Thompson and make a run. They’re also playing for a shot at the NCAA Tournament, and head coach Ben Howland will certainly have his team playing tough in its own back yard.
Arizona State may seem like an odd pick here, but the Sun Devils do have the conference’s player of the year in Ike Diogu.
Need a lot of luck
That leaves No. 3 seed Stanford, No. 5 seed Oregon State, No. 6 seed WSU and No. 8 seed Cal as teams that would have to get a significant break or two to have a chance to win the league’s automatic bid to go dancing.
Stanford might register as a surprise here, but two factors play against the Cardinal. First, the opening-round matchup against WSU is as unfavorable as it gets for an upper-echelon team. And let’s not forget that Stanford has been decimated by injuries and ineligibilities this year, meaning it may be too thin to sustain three tough games in three days. Oregon State hasn’t won a game in the conference away from Gill Coliseum; it’s not likely to happen any time soon. WSU faces a potential second-round game against Washington and hasn’t swept any week of play in the league all season. Cal shouldn’t beat Arizona unless the Wildcats’ team bus gets lost.