Trust me, I'm feeling a lot of the same things all of you are at the moment.
Most notably, the fact that Capers and Casto, two players that could have had a huge impact for us down the stretch, were left sitting on the bench to watch. Capers could've prevented a lot of the things Isaiah Thomas did offensively, and Casto could've provided the athleticism we needed to get to the line and rebound.
But still, this shouldn't be shocking. UW beat us the way UW beats everybody - getting to the free throw line and rebounding like crazy.
The good news going forward is that next year, Tony's hand will be forced. He'll have to play Marcus and DeAngelo if he wants his team to have a fighting chance in a game like this.
We found out today that, in a lot of ways, we are who we thought we were. That is, a very good team with moments of brilliance - but just not good enough. That's tough to stomach, but it is what it is. This is a possible NIT team that must win the Pac-10 tournament to make the Big Dance. Close doesn't count. It's a shame this team doesn't play horseshoes, or hand grenades.
But at least we got our shots in, and at least we served notice to the higher-ups in this conference that you don't take Washington State lightly. I'm surprised the Husky fans legitimized our team by rushing the court (although I'm sure their fans will tell you it has more to do with the conference title then the win over their rival).
As for Washington, they are the champions of this conference. They earned it. There were numerous possessions where we played perfect defense, but Pondexter and Co. just made ridiculous shots anyway. Shots that good teams make.
So - credit where credit is due. Washington is a good basketball team.