One more day until WSU, OSU

• Washington State: With Boston College falling to Northwestern on Saturday, the Cougars’ game with Oklahoma State all of sudden means a bit more. Both teams are playing for homecourt in the NIT’s third round. Though, watching the game, it’s obvious Northwestern at home still might be a tougher out than BC on the road. The Wildcats are playing that well. … We took a look at Oklahoma State in this morning’s paper, a story I would have posted last night for you folks but it never appeared on the web. … Other than that, we have nothing. I will have another story for tomorrow, and it includes a history lesson, so bring your No. 2 pencils and a blue book with you when you return here in the next 24 hours or so.

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• Around the Pac-10: There’s no getting around it. Not even in the NCAA tournament. Key missed calls can kill you. We’re not talking about the Butler game, because those were the right calls, as hard as that can be for some folks to admit it. No, we’re talking the UCLA loss to Florida. Trailing by one late in the game, the Bruins forced a tough Florida shot. Malcolm Lee blocked out well and was hammered by a Gator on the rebound. No call, which is fine, because the Gator – as the DVR replay showed – knocked the ball out of bounds. But the official underneath, after ignoring the contact, gave the ball to Florida. Following a time out, the Gators threw it in, Lee went for an ill-advised steal and boom, a 3-pointer. Instead of being down one with the ball, UCLA’s down four. Game over. By the way, the official underneath? No names, but he’s a Pac-10 guy. Think Ben Howland will remind him of that call next season? … The Bruins season may have ended with the 73-65 loss to Florida (and has one school ruined another school’s NCAA runs more often recently?) but the future is bright in Westwood. … The Huskies’ immediate future is clouded by the bigs of North Carolina this morning . After reading everything Lorenzo Romar had to say, it almost seemed as if he was using the media to motivate his inside players. A coach wouldn’t do that, would he? … One other Pac-10 team is still playing. The Arizona Wildcats take on up-and-down (and financially well off) Texas today, still looking for a win over a top 25 team.

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• That’s all for this morning. If our story appears on the web this evening, we’ll link it. If not, we’ll have it for you tomorrow morning. Until then …