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Pac 10 Conference Tournament Preview
The Pac 10 has caught a lot of flack for being down this year and deservedly so. There isn’t one dominant team in the league that looks to be a threat to make it to the Final Four. California is however the best team in this conference and have to be regarded as the favorites. They won the regular season crown going 13-5 in conference play, finishing one game ahead of Arizona State. Arizona State could pose some problems for Cal but they did lose both meetings during the year. ASU is 22-9 but in watching them a few weeks ago against Cal, they simply seemed overmatched.
The only other team to post more than 20 wins overall is the Washington Huskies. Washington won a majority of their games in the friendly confines of their home court which is a very tough place to play in Seattle. They struggled mightily away from home and it will be a big test for them to play in Los Angeles on a neutral floor against the likes of California and Arizona State. The Arizona Wildcats round out the list of teams that finished with an above .500 record in conference action, going 10-8. However, they are just 16-14 overall and have failed to show that they are a consistent winning team that should be taken seriously in this tournament. After Arizona there is a tremendous drop off in terms of talented teams. Perennial powerhouse UCLA finished just 8-10 in the Pac 10 and 13-17 overall. It looks as if the Bruins will not be headed to the post-season unless Ben Howland can find a magic potion to make his team to be competitive against the likes of California, Arizona State, and Washington.
Cal has shown to be the most consistent team in this conference and have beaten the top tier teams in the league at least once this year. They are undoubtedly the team to beat but that’s not to say they aren’t susceptible to an upset. Arizona State has enough scoring power to take out Cal despite failing to beat them in the regular season. Washington has to prove they can win away from home as they were manhandled on the road by California. Arizona will have to play perfect basketball in order to have any chance to take home the Pac 10 Conference Tournament crown and after them, there really are no threats or dark horses that are capable of winning this tournament, Cal is the best team and has beaten the other top teams and boast the most impressive resume for an at-large bid should they stumble in the conference tournament.
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