For most of this decade, the Pac-10 was UCLA and the rest. The Bruins have been the Pac-10's representation in the Final Four three of the four times the league has placed a team on the final weekend since 2000, failing to claim the championship each time, but pulling themselves ahead of the West Coast pack as the elite program.That all changed last season, when Washington won the Pac-10 regular season and head coach Lorenzo Romar was named conference coach of the year. Now, his team returns as a favorite to win in the conference, and Romar knows it.
"Our team this year has the benefit of having some players that were on our team last year that won a Pac-10 Championship and that certainly helps us," Romar said. "I think we have the fastest team since 2005 when we had Nate Robinson," Romar said.
It will be a down year for the normally mighty Pac-10, so with Washington returning as the defending regular season champ and adding freshman guard Abdul Gaddy to the roster, it appears on paper that they could run away with the league.
If you don't know Gaddy's name, get to know it. The 6-foot-3 guard comes from the state of Washington and is arguably the best freshman guard in the nation. He is being praised for his ability to see the court and make plays. Gaddy will join Isaiah Thomas in the backcourt, and will be a difficult duo to stop.
Romar sure seems to be glad Gaddy stayed in Washington.
"We have a host of guards on our roster, but I think Abdul is more of a point guard who can score points as well, but he is a pass-first guard and we haven't had very many of those in our program. He understands how to run a team. Although he wont be 18 until January, he is beyond his years in terms of maturity," he said.
The biggest test for Washington? Aside from dealing with the loss of Jon Brockman, that'll come from Mike Montgomery and the California Golden Bears, who return electrifying guard Jerome Randle, who averaged 18.3 points per game last season. Cal returns four of their five starters, including Randle, Jamal Boykin, Patrick Christopher and Theo Robertson, with Boykin being the other player that failed to average double-digits in points last season (but close, with 9.6 per game).Cal was the media's preseason pick to win the league.
The biggest concern for Cal comes with size. Losing 7-footer Jordan Wilkes last season would have been huge no matter what, but the tallest guy incoming for Montgomery is 6-foot-9 forward Bak Bak, and with 7-foot-3 center Max Zhang barely playing last season, the Golden Bears are pretty thin in the paint.
"There is a little optimism around with a lot of players returning," Montgomery said. "Practices aren't what I wish they were, but we are trying to get better from last year. We have four perimeter players who can shoot the ball. We need to be physical and a better defensive team."
And what about UCLA? It will be a different looking Bruins team to say the least. Their four best players from a year ago are all wearing NBA jerseys, leaving Nikola Dragovic as the lone returning starter. But UCLA has never had a problem drawing elite talent, so the cupboard isn't bare for Ben Howland. Mike Moser, Oregon's Mr. Basketball, will bring the 26 points and 14 rebounds he averaged per game to Westwood this season. Along with him will be third team Parade All-American Tyler Honeycutt, who should see plenty of time for the Bruins. Add sophomore Drew Gordon to the bunch, who had 17 points off the bench in a preseason win over Concordia, and you have a UCLA team that might surprise a lot of people.
What is left in the Pac-10? Well, a whole bunch of question marks. In a down year, the league may only get three berth into the Big Dance come mid-March, so unless one of the following teams does something special, they'll likely only be filling out brackets rather than playing in them.
A year ago, Arizona looked like a bottom dweller for the upcoming season, but new head coach Sean Miller brought in some impressive freshman. Still, the team will be run by Nic Wise and Jamelle Horne. Wise is Will Bynum 2.0 in the Old Pueblo, and after losing both Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill to the draft, it will be Wise's team to run. While the Wildcats look better than most thought at this point last season, there will still be a learning curve for Miller's team.The rest of the league is basically a battle for fifth. Oregon State has a star freshman in Roberto Nelson, but he is still not cleared to play this season. Oregon is a shade of its former self, with head coach Ernie Kent another disappointing season away from being let go. Arizona State will be lucky to win as many conference games this year as its football team did all season. Washington State, Stanford and USC will struggle in rebuilding years.
It might be the Pac-10, but this season, it should be the Pac-3. Not a lot of shifting from the bottom and a lot of teams working towards making their teams respectable enough to compete, but realistically looking ahead to next season.
The Team That Will Surprise: Arizona
A good mix of veteran talent with some freshman studs heading in, the Wildcats could build on a surprise Sweet 16 run last year and will continue their streak of NCAA appearances.
The Team on the Decline: Oregon
Tajuan Porter is the only one worth mentioning on this roster, and I'd expect a lot of hands on hips as Kent coaches his last season with the Ducks.
Player of the Year: Jerome Randle
He's too quick, too good of a shooter and on a team that could easily win the conference. If not Randle then who?
Best Chance to Win it All: Washington
I don't think it's crazy to say that this might be the first time this decade you could say, matter of factly, that the Pac-10 will not have a good chance at a Final Four berth, but if it happens, it's coming out of Washington.
