New edition of Justify Where I Rank a Pac-10 Team is out today, and while UCLA stumbled in Morgantown, W. Va., Washington State did no stumbling (unless they went north and got in on some of those psychedelic mushrooms that the boys at Gonzaga were messing around with) this week, as they swept the Bay Area schools at home.The Cougs have now won six of seven games and come in this week at No. 9 on my ballot, which is after the jump. Wazzu has good wins over Gonzaga, Arizona (x2) and USC. At 21-4 (10-3 Pac-10) the Cougs are a lock at this point to make the Dance for their first time since possession of psychedelic mushrooms were a felony. Three of WSU's four losses are on the road and all are close games. The Cougars lost heart-breakers at UCLA and at home against Oregon.
The record is impressive. Sure. But why I Washington State in the top 10 this week is because of the way it can slow down a team. This is a squad that nobody should want to face in the Tourney. The style implemented by former coach Dick Bennett makes athletic teams look like clumsy middle-schoolers, big teams look like dwarfs and quick teams look like they're on slow motion.
I kept saying how the Cougs were my darkhorse pick to make the Final Four, but the way they're playing, there will be nothing darkhorse about this team. 1. Florida
2. Wisconsin
3. North Carolina
4. UCLA
5. Ohio State
6. Texas A&M
7. Kansas
8. Pitt
9. Washington State
10. Memphis
11. Nevada
12. Marquette
13. Butler
14. Georgetown
15. Arizona
16. Oregon
Next four:
Air Force, Oklahoma State, USC, Kentucky
