NCAA Basketball Washington State

Rankings: AP: 10; Coaches: 10; BlogPoll: 11.

Predicted Pac-10 finish: Media: 2; FanHouse: 3

Last year: 26-8 overall, 13-5 in the Pac-10; lost in second round of NCAA tournament.

Key returners/newcomers: Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver, Robbie Cowgill

Key losses: None

Why they might be good: The Cougs have six of their top seven back from last season's history-making team and have tons of experience. The back court of Low and Weaver might be the best in the Pac-10 and among the best in the country

Why they might suck: The element of surprise is gone. No longer will Wazzu be able to catch teams off guard. This is a team people expect to be good, so opponents will bring their A games to tackle the Cougs.

Yes, run the Tony Bennett jokes into the ground early. The AP Coach of the Year finally gets his contract extension/raise completed with Washington State. After his first season in Pullman as the head coach, his old 5-year, $2 million contract was made into a 7-year deal that pays $800,000 per season.

It is the richest contract ever given by Washington State. Bennett is now one of the rare college basketball coaches at a BCS school making more than the football coach. Despite the raise, the salary still puts Bennett somewhere in the lower-half of salaries paid to Pac-10 basketball coaches. But there is the low cost of living in Pullman, Washington to consider.

If Bennett continues to have success, expect another new contract in the next two years. Bennett's buyout only starts at $500,000 and drops by $50,000 every year.

The University of Washington Alumni Association had a swell idea: Put a poll on its web site asking who has more pride, the Washington Huskies or the Washington State Cougars. I think a statistician would tell you that this sort of poll is unscientific, but the Washington folks must have figured they'd win the poll easily, since it was on their own web site.

Actually, not quite. Cougar fans mobilized and voted en masse.

"This is hilarious. They are getting beat on their own Web site," said Zach Wurtz, student-body president at Washington State University. "Cougar pride is unmatched and unparalleled anywhere around the world."

Polls like this are kinda stupid anyway, but if you're going to do it, you'd better make sure your alumni are going to vote.

Hat tip: Sports by Brooks.