The Pac-10 tournament could have tournament ramifications for seven teams. Three Pac-10 teams enter the conference tournament dangerously close to the bubble (Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon), USC, Stanford and Washington St could improve their seeding with a strong performance while UCLA is looking to lock up a #1 seed. Arizona is the only potential tournament team playing in the first round, but their first-round match-up with Oregon St should not be a problem. The quarterfinals will provide an opportunity for each bubble team to pick up a huge win; that's the good news. The bad news for those teams is that they were all swept by their quarterfinal opponent (ASU by USC, Arizona by Stanford, and Oregon by Washington St).
What We're Rooting For
The Pac-10 deserves more than four teams in the tournament, so we will be rooting for at least one of those bubble teams to earn a bid with a quarterfinal victory. I've been unimpressed with Arizona all year long, so if there's one bubble team that I will be cheering against in the quarterfinals it will be the Wildcats.
What Will Happen
Your guess is as good as mine. Any of the potential NCAA teams could make a run to a Pac-10 title. UCLA appears to be the class of the conference but if the Pac-10 had competent officials they would be entering the tournament with a two-game losing streak. The Bruins are still the odds on favorite to win the tournament but my dark horse pick is USC. The Trojans finished the year strong and have defeated UCLA, so a run by USC would not be surprising.
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