Around the Pac-10

The conference’s postseason hopes seem to be growing dimmer by the week. At the beginning of conference play, Arizona coach Lute Olson predicted it would take a favorable outcome to get five teams in the NCAA Tournament. Now he thinks four bids is the optimistic outlook. … Olson also said the “ball is in his court” when asked about Chris Rodgers, who was kicked off the team last week. … UCLA coach Ben Howland has been outspoken this week in criticizing the scheduling of some conference teams. Howland has circled the non-conference road games against mid- or low-major schools as unnecessary risks for teams in a major conference. This season, Oregon State lost at Tennessee Tech and Stanford lost at Montana and UC Davis. … UCLA’s Cedric Bozeman might return this week from what was once thought to be a season-ending injury.