Friday, February 22, 2008

Pac Ten Tightens Up

The Pac Ten Conference standings have tightened considerably over the last couple of weeks and every team other than Oregon State now has a chance to go to the Big Dance.

UCLA, Stanford, and WSU are assured of participating in March Madness, but behind them a big scramble has developed for what looks will be the three remaining spots.

Washington finishes with Arizona State at home, Stanford, California, and WSU on the road. The Huskies have a half way decent chance of finishing 3-1 which would allow them to finish with a 9-9 conference record, and 18-13 on the season. They would still need a strong finish in the Pac Ten tournament probably to get in.

UW beat Arizona State on the road so I think they are more than capable of handling them at home. The Dawgs need to gain at least a split in the Bay Area, and then pull the upset in Pullman. The Huskies and the Cougars played close to a draw to open the season in Seattle with the Cougars overcoming the Dawgs in the last couple minutes of the game. Cal and Stanford dominated Washington at home a few weeks ago, and UW needs to come out with the same type of fire they had in their bellies last night to gain at least a split on the road.

Pacific-10 Conference

UCLA 11-2 / 23-3
Stanford 10-3 / 21-4
Washington State 9-5 / 21-5
USC 7-6 / 16-9
Arizona State 6-7 / 16-9
California 6-7 / 15-9
Arizona 6-7 / 16-10
Oregon 6-8 / 15-11
Washington 6-8 / 15-12
Oregon State 0-14 / 6-20

1 comment:

hairofthedawg said...

One can only hope for a resurgence like the one a few years ago. The guys are learning, that's for sure. I guess I was just impatient because they gave a a few nice tastes early in the year.

One thing I do agree with from the dawgman boards is that we have the depth to work the tournament well, but I'm still not certain whether I'd prefer the NCAA or a lesser tournament. I'd rather they play more in a pressure(away from home) environment and I'm just not sure they'll get a chance to play much in the NCAA with their likely seed.

Either would be good for the team, don't get me wrong, it's just a matter of degree I guess.