Pac-10 Tournament Preview
As the NCAA Tournament approaches and bracketologists make their final predictions on who will crack the beloved field of 65, the Pac-10 will do its final tuning up with its conference tournament starting tonight. An already wild regular season ended with UCLA winning two extremely controversial games, Oregon sweeping the Arizona schools to keep their waning tournament hopes alive, and the lowly Oregon State Beavers finishing conference play winless. The tournament means little to UCLA and Stanford, as they will have a high seed in the NCAA Tournament regardless, but while USC and Washington State look to bolster their seeds, Oregon, Arizona State and Arizona will do all they can to impress the selection committee to try and get a low seed. So with no further adieu:
California v. Washington:
California sure does have a fire under them after controversially losing to UCLA on Saturday, and would love nothing more than another shot at them on Friday. The problem is that the pesky Huskies stand in the way of this rematch, but probably without star Jon Brockman, who badly sprained his ankle in the waning moments of his team’s 76-73 loss to Washington State on Saturday. The Bears will have the services of center DeVon Hardin, who has been out the past two games with a strained hip flexor, which should help the newly undersized Huskies. Cal wins a close one and gets a second shot at UCLA.
PICK: Cal
Arizona v. Oregon State
Come on, seriously?
PICK: Arizona
FRIDAY
USC vs. Arizona State:
This might be the most fun game of the tournament, and almost nobody will see it because of its 12 PM start time. ASU won the last meeting between the teams in a hotly contested, foul filled game in Tempe. The most intriguing matchup is certainly between super-Freshmen O.J. Mayo and James Harden, and a great deal of ASU’s success depends on Harden’s ability to overcome Mayo’s shut-down D. I’d love to see ASU win this one and continue their trek from last year’s laughing stock to tournament bound, but USC is playing too good of basketball right now.
Pick: USC
UCLA vs. CAL:
Josh Shipp’s miraculous(ly questionable) shot instantly lit up YouTube and ESPN Classic and sent Bruin Nation into a frenzy while Cal fans sat fuming over questionable calls and another missed opportunity. The matchup is certainly reminiscent of last year, a UCLA team with nothing to play for and a Cal team with nothing to lose. Cal fans still remember the heroics of Ayinde Ubaka en route to a 76-69 upset in the quarterfinal game last year, a loss this year may cost UCLA a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. UCLA will come out lazy, and Cal will capitalize. UCLA fans need to pray that Dan Guerrero saves their #1 seed.
Pick: Cal
Washington State v. Oregon:
This game all comes down to post presence. Nobody is better at Washington State than establishing the big Australian Aron Baynes as an offensive threat, making teams over-correct, and in turn opening up perimeter guns Derrick Low and Taylor Rochestie. Oregon must find a way to gain their perimeter touch that Washington State shut down very effectively in both games this season, and I do not see that happening especially without Oregon’s home crowd.Pick: WSU
Stanford v. Arizona:
While Cal has no shot of making the tournament unless they win the whole tournament, this could be the make or break game for Arizona’s season, as a win over Stanford would most likely secure their NCAA Tournament bid. Arizona has struggled with Stanford’s size both times this year, but Stanford does not have the defensive answer for sharpshooting “point guard” Jerryd Bayless. I think the Lopezes are too much for Jordan Hill and the rest of Arizona’s mediocre post.
Pick: Stanford (in a close one)
Assuming I’ll be wrong at least once, I’ll pick the semifinals when appropriate. Until then, let the games begin!