As one of the more pessimistic authors at CougCenter, it's sad I have to come in and play the role of optimist. But here goes.

Last year, a Pac-10 team with a surefire NBA player and a lot of youth had a good non-conference season. They only suffered two losses before Pac-10 play. They had wins over Texas A&M and a Montana team that turned out to be NCAA tournament dynamite.

Then the Pac-10 slate started. They lost at home to Oregon, and then were swept on their first conference road trip. They started the season 1-3 and it looked as if they were going to struggle in a very winnable Pac-10 conference.

That team was your 2010 Pac-10 Tournament Champion Washington Huskies.

They finished the regular season 24-9 and went to the Sweet Sixteen.

It's a sad day when we have to use the Huskies to invoke some hope in Cougar basketball, but this is how far we've fallen at the moment.

The season is far from over.