Pac-10 basketball: It could be one-and-done on Selection Sunday
LOS ANGELES — The Pacific 10 Conference's basketball resume includes the first NCAA champion (Oregon), a dynasty that may never be duplicated (UCLA) and a team that has the longest active streak for appearing in the NCAA tournament (Arizona).
None of which will mean anything when the NCAA tournament selection committee debates which teams will be included in this year's 65-team field.
The working theory heading into Selection Sunday is the Pac-10 will have no more than two teams — and maybe only one — make a bracket. That may seem like real March Madness to those in the conference, but the Pac-10's demise could alter the tournament landscape, at least for this season.
"Rather than look at the sub-par performance of another league, I think more about our strength," Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson said. But, he added, "the Pac-10 is not having a good season and that might open some doors."
Those viewed as, but loathe to be called, "mid-majors" are lining up for their share.
Thompson says the Mountain West has four tournament-worthy teams. The West Coast Conference, viewed nationally as "Gonzaga and the Pips," received a boost Monday when St. Mary's won the conference tournament, putting the 18th-ranked Bulldogs in line for an at-large spot.
The Atlantic 10 Conference hopes to ride a sea of change, challenging a sub-par Atlantic Coast Conference for the most teams.
But for the West's most prestigious conference, there might not be much afterlife beyond the Pacific Life Pac-10 tournament, which begins Wednesday night when Washington State plays Oregon at 8 at Staples Center.
California, the Pac-10's regular-season champion, is probably NCAA-bound, but this may be a beggar's ball to get to the "Big Dance" for Arizona State and Washington, the conference's second- and third-place teams.
"The leagues benefiting from this will be the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West," West Coast Conference Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich said. "I mean, the Atlantic 10 has four or five teams that should get strong consideration. That's a beast of a number for a non-BCS conference."
Pac-10 coaches are lobbying for something as close as possible to the status quo.
Arizona State has a 22-9 record. But during December the Sun Devils were 0-4 against teams currently ranked in the top 25. Arizona State is 54th in the RPI ratings, five spots behind Cornell.
"I'm not in the case-making business," Arizona State Coach Herb Sendek said. "I do believe our league is a great deal better now than it was at the beginning of the year, and probably much better than we are perceived nationally."
