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Pac-10 Weekend Wrap

Dvieira over at Addicted To Quack coordinates a conference basketball power poll with the Pac-10 bloggers at SBN, and I'm a voter. Here's my ballot with my thoughts on each team's weekend; I'll post a link to the full power rankings when they're up at ATQ.

Abbreviated thoughts since it's kinda late.

1. Washington (1)

Just a quick followup to last week's note on the Huskies' defense. The Huskies are just 2-4 when allowing above 54 eFG%, but 18-3 when holding teams under that. Now, it's not like 54 percent is stellar -- the national average is 49.1 -- but it just shows that Washington simply needs its defense to be good enough because the offense is generally very good. If the Huskies are serious about not just returning to the NCAA Tournament but making some noise once they get there, they'll take their defense seriously -- or, at least, seriously enough.

2. ASU (3)

Once again, the Sun Devils get contributions from everyone to knock off a strong conference foe. A lot of people have been reluctant to fully embrace ASU this year, but they still only have five losses -- four in the second-best conference in the country -- and they haven't lost to a team rated lower than 53 by kenpom.com.

There's a reason why they're ranked No. 11 by kenpom.com, and I hope the actual Tournament committee is smarter than this collaboration between the NCAA and ESPN, which has the Sun Devils as a No. 5 seed. The second place team in the second best conference not earning a protected seed? That seems a tad ridiculous.

3. Arizona (2)

No shame in losing that great game at Arizona State. The Wildcats had a chance to win it at the end, and if not for a bad outlet pass, might very well have won that game. The best part for Arizona fans? The Wildcats were in great position to win this game despite posting just a 48.4 eFG% -- their second lowest in the previous eight games. That's a good sign, people.

4. UCLA (4)

Where in the heck is the Bruins' defense? The inconsistency has got to be killing Ben Howland. Until they figure out how to bring a strong defensive performance every night, you can count on UCLA being out of the NCAA Tournament no later than the Sweet 16.

5. Cal (5)

Don't read too much into getting swept by Oregon State. The first time around, it was because of bad defense. The second time? Just some unlucky shooting -- only 35.6 eFG%, by far the Bears' lowest of the season. It's not often the top 3-point shooting team in the country is going to shoot 3-of-20 against a team that's merely average defending the 3. No, Cal shouldn't be losing to the Beavers -- twice -- and I don't want to take anything away from OSU, but I'll chalk up Saturday's loss as a bit of a fluke.

6. USC (6)

Chemistry is a funny thing, and while I think it can be vastly overrated in other sports, I think it definitely is important in basketball -- especially college basketball, where emotion tends to play a stronger role. I say that because as USC lost for the fourth time in five games and watched itself land squarely on the bubble, this can't be a good sign:

About 20 minutes after the game ended, witnesses said USC guards Daniel Hackett and Dwight Lewis got into a shoving match on the court and arena security needed to break up the altercation. According to witnesses, Hackett originally became agitated toward a group of college-age students. Lewis then appeared on the court and appeared to defend the students. That led to words between Lewis and Hackett, and the pair began shoving each other.

Two of your three best players shoving each other after a critical loss? Yeah, that's bad.

7. Oregon State (8)

Just as the Trojans seem to be melting down, the Beavers are heading in the opposite direction, seemingly propelled by an unwavering confidence. No way in a million years would I have believed this kind of a turnaround was possible, and if Craig Robinson didn't have the Pac-10 coach of the year locked up before last weekend, he certainly does now after completing a season sweep of the Bay Area schools. Spectacular.

8. WSU (9)

Oh, what could have been. Let's just enjoy these last few games and hope that the seniors get the proper sendoff.

9. Stanford (7)

The Cardinal ought to feel darn lucky I didn't drop them down to the bottom. They've lost seven of eight Pac-10 games, and gave up Oregon's first win of the year. If the Ducks hadn't been so absurdly terrible for their first 14 games, Stanford would be No. 10. But the fact that they're the first Pac-10 team to not exceed 100 offensive efficiency against Oregon ought to tell you just how bad Stanford is playing right now.

10. Oregon (10)

This ought to pacify the Ernie Kent haters! Just kidding. But in all seriousness, nobody wants to go 0-18, and the Ducks now have that off their back.

0 recs  |  Comment 9 comments |

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Comments

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Power Polls

Don’t they measure who is playing best right now – e.g., the 5th team would beat the 6th on a neutral floor? If so, I would consider switching Arizona and ASU. I don’t think ASU pulls that one out if they’re in Tucson. But sort of combining “playing well” and “resume” definitely ASU deserves to be on top. I’d also consider switching OSU and USC, especially in light of your comments on the after-game blowups. Overall I agree with the order though. “Oh what might have been” indeed…

By the way, I believe the Bracketology mock-selections also had UW as a 5th seed.

Tony Bennett for Heisman!

by johnnycougar on Feb 23, 2009 10:01 PM PST reply actions   0 recs

Fair points

I’ve been a staunch ASU supporter all year long, and they’ve proven they can win home or road. Not necessarily true of Arizona, whose only road wins are Oregon and OSU. As for USC, I still feel like the Trojans are the better team, but I’m starting to think I’ve been underselling OSU for too long.

Don’t get me started on that mock bracket. I cannot for the life of me figure out why the Pac-10 has such a bad rap, and I think it’s totally unfair.

by Nuss on Feb 23, 2009 10:07 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

FWIW

I believe the actual committee seems to over-rank Pac 10 teams compared to the national media come Selection Sunday. I was pretty shocked we got a 4 seed last year, and UCLA got a couple sketchy 1 seeds the last several years as well. And wasn’t UW a shock #1 not too long ago? Oh and Stanford snuck in two years ago when most “media” thought Syracuse deserved it. Maybe I just have selective memory but I think the committee rates our basketball higher than the media usually does.

Tony Bennett for Heisman!

by johnnycougar on Feb 23, 2009 10:17 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Is Arizona playing on the road this week?

[checks schedule]

[moves Arizona to #8 on poll]

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 24, 2009 8:38 AM PST reply actions   0 recs

Yeah, this I think will be the true litmus test of how far Arizona really has come

They came very close to winning at ASU … if they go 0-2 this weekend the doubters will be back out in full force.

by Nuss on Feb 24, 2009 8:53 AM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Forget "doubters..."

I’m pretty convinced that getting swept in Washington would eliminate them as NCAA at-large contenders. Even a win at WSU would leave their resume extremely suspect and make the first-round conference tournament game virtually a must-win.

The selection committee hates teams that don’t win on the road. Arizona is the epitome of the major-conference bubble team that gets kicked out of the field for a combination of incompetent scheduling and winning the wrong games.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 24, 2009 10:35 AM PST up reply actions   0 recs

One thing to note, though

As Luke Winn pointed out in his blog post this week (which I’ll be referencing more in a post later) is that there’s a very weak crop of midmajors this year vying for at-large bids. That should, theoretically, open up some spots for some less-than-stellar big major teams.

by Nuss on Feb 24, 2009 12:30 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

Let's hope they suck on the road

I would definitely enjoy another Coug victory.

by Dancing Football on Feb 24, 2009 12:04 PM PST up reply actions   0 recs

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