West Coast Woes: Pac-10 Basketball a League at the Bottom

Most people knew this would be a bad year for the Pac-10. However, no one predicted the conference’s performance would be this bad. I’ve never seen a BCS conference be this bad. What compounds the problem is the Pac-10’s best team may be USC, and it has self-imposed sanctions that makes it ineligible for the NCAA Tournament.

Washington was the preseason favorite and it has started 0-3 in league play. The Huskies just wrapped up a weekend in the desert where they lost to Arizona and Arizona St by 17 points each. Oregon looked like a team that was on the way up until it lost at home to Oregon St, a team that lost by 51 to Seattle (not the Supersonics—they're in Oklahoma City now).

Cal started slow due to the absence of Theo Robertson. The Bears have picked up their play since he’s returned and I expect them to be the team people expected them to be in the preseason.

However, who’s going to step up with them? Arizona State, Washington, Washington State, Oregon? Somebody else has to show they can play good basketball or the chance that a BCS conference only gets one team in the NCAA tournament becomes a very distinct possibility.

Stock Up: Jamie Dixon. I don’t know how he’s doing it, but I’m not sure anyone expected Pittsburgh to be this good this season. They lost Sam Young, DeJuan Blair, and LeVance Fields and they’re still rolling. Its win at Syracuse last week may have been the most impressive win by any team all year. Then, it followed that win with another road victory at Cincinnati.

Dixon is definitely doing his best to win Big East Coach of the Year honors.

Stock Down: Creighton. I don’t know what’s going on in Omaha, but this team is in the top-five of my most disappointing teams this year. I was confident in predicting this team as a strong at-large candidate, but any team that can’t beat Iona at home doesn’t deserve any postseason consideration.

Stock Up: The Ivy League. Last week, the nation witnessed Cornell take Kansas to the brink of one of the biggest regular season upsets in college basketball history. What people need to realize is the Ivy is a one-team show. Harvard is there as well and after it has beaten William & Mary, Boston College, and given UConn all it can handle, this conference may make a case for multiple NCAA tournament bids.

Stock Down: Schedule makers at North Carolina and Missouri. Both of these teams were in the Elite Eight last season. Both of these teams are in power conferences. Why would they play road games at the College of Charleston and Oral Roberts respectively. There’s a lot more risk than reward in playing those games and for both teams, they experienced the worst possible outcomes.

This week’s bracket projections:

Last Four In: Richmond, Louisville, Texas Tech, Notre Dame
Last Four Out: Old Dominion, Northwestern, Alabama, Missouri St

SOUTH
1.Texas 16. Prarie View/Long Island Oklahoma City
8.Cornell 9. New Mexico
5.North Carolina 12 .Texas Tech Jacksonville
4.Georgetown 13 .Richmond
6.Vanderbilt 11. St. Mary’s Providence
3.West Virginia 14. Murray St
7.Northern Iowa 10. Florida St Buffalo
2.Michigan St 15. Denver

WEST
1.Purdue 16. Morgan St Milwaukee
8.Texas A&M 9. Miami (FL)
5.Temple 12. Louisville Spokane
4.BYU 13. Louisiana Tech
6.Tennessee 11. California San Jose
3.Kansas St 14. Northern Colorado
7.Wake Forest 10. Illinois Buffalo
2.Syracuse 15. East Tennessee St

EAST
1.Kansas 16. Vermont Oklahoma City
8.Georgia Tech 9. Minnesota
5.Butler 12. Notre Dame Spokane
4.Gonzaga 13. Kent St
6.Oklahoma St 11. Mississippi New Orleans
3.Wisconsin 14. College of Charleston
7.Rhode Island 10. William & Mary Providence
2.Villanova 15. UT-San Antonio

MIDWEST
1.Kentucky 16. Lehigh Milwaukee
8.Baylor 9. Clemson
5.UConn 12. Siena San Jose
4.UAB 13. Pacific
6.Dayton 11. Mississippi St New Orleans
3.Pittsburgh 14. Oakland
7.UNLV 10. Missouri Jacksonville
2.Duke 15. Coastal Carolina