Seattle University trustees voted unanimously to apply to return to Division I athletics as an independent after being rejected in a bid to resume membership in the West Coast Conference.
The process would begin immediately, with 2007-08 being the school's exploratory year, and a full Division I schedule beginning by the start of the 2009-10 year at the latest.
The Redhawks -- yeah, SU's mascot is the Redhawks. I've lived in Seattle for a while, have had friends go to SU and, until I had to do some research for this post, had absolutely no idea what Su's mascot was. That whole, "You learn something new everyday" has never been more true.
Ahem. As I was saying, the Redhawks, if they do move up to D-1, will likely be independent as the blockquote conveniently tells you. I was told that there's still an outside chance that SU would look to join the WCC with other Washington State Jesuit school Gonzaga, but logistically, the Redhawks joining the WCC could be problematic.
Oh, and if you answered "Elgin Baylor" to the question of who is Seattle University's most notable alum, you would be correct.
Hi again. I'm Zach. And you are? It's OK. I can guess. Your name must be Sunshine because you're hot. Or Fire. Because you're scorching. Anyway, feel free to come by and hang out the FanHouse headquarters. I'll show you a good time. We can talk UCLA hoops. Or cheerleading. What's that? You want to talk about shopping? Oh (expletive) that. I wanna talk about basketball...
Thanks for staying with me, folks. My girl (pictured to the right) and I are having some communication problems, as you can tell. Anyway, new week, new rankings. Here we go...
UCLA is still in the top five after a loss at Washington. The Bruins are No. 4 in the AP and No. 3 in the Coaches' Poll. Speaking of the Huskies, the Dawgs are getting votes -- just two of them, but still -- in the AP Poll. It seems as though there are a few writers who haven't seen UW play before this past weekend.
Washington State is still lingering outside of the top 10, at No. 11 in the AP and No. 12 in the Coaches'. Oregon is No. 16 and 18, respectively. And that's that.
Remember when there were six ranked Pac-10 teams? Not the case anymore. Arizona and USC are both getting some votes, but Stanford has fallen off the face of the Earth. We'll see if these top Pac-10 teams can make some noise when it counts.
Hey, so it's still clear that the Washington Huskies can play better than playground basketball when they're at home, as evident by beating two ranked teams in the span of three days. USC? No prob? UCLA? Well, easy, then heart-attack, then easy.
Tourney? Nope. Washington's still out like John Amechi even after beating the No. 2 Bruins 61-51 Saturday. But the Huskies might have caused some tourney problems for the Bruins.
UCLA might have been the No. 1 overall seed heading into the Pac-10 Tourney, which starts Wednesday. I'd still like to think the Bruins have a No. 1 seed waiting for them, but the Bruins could lose it if some things break wrong.
Hypotheticals:
-If UCLA wins the Pac-10 Tourney: Clearly a No. 1 seed. -If UCLA gets to the Pac-10 Tourney finals: Probably a No. 1. -If UCLA wins one, then loses one: A No. 1 if other teams lose (Florida, Wisconsin, etc.) -If UCLA loses first game (winner of Cal/OSU): No. 2 seed.
Losing the finale to Washington is no shame, but the Bruins need to win a game or two to maintain that No. 1 seed. Knowing the strength of these Bruins, that shouldn't be a problem.
*More Pac-10 Tourney talk and Pac-10 bubble watch to come Monday.
Home teams in all CAPS: Sorry for the lack of posts this week, folks. I've been stuck working 12-hour days covering the Washington 4A High School basketball tournament. (The talent isn't what it's been in the past...)
WASHINGTON STATE over Usc - Second place on the line, Friel Court will be rocking. Cougs are the better team and the defense will be too much.
Ucla over WASHINGTON - Like the Huskies can win back-to-back games...
Arizona over STANFORD - Arizona has way more athleticism, but height of Tree could cause problems for the 'Cats.
CAL over Arizona State - Arizona State is playing well, but on the road, going for its second win...yeah...don't think so.
OREGON over Oregon State - If Oregon State can shoot better than 70% from the free throw line, well, it will be a moral victory. Ducks win this one easily in the Civil War on the hardwood.
Oregon, which had lost three straight before this week, got it going again. Maybe it was the yellow unis. Maybe it was playing at home. Maybe it was smiling in team huddles. Who really knows?
But the Ducks used big run after big run to twist the knife that Oregon State put in the Huskies' back Thursday and beat U-Dub 93-85 Saturday at McArthur Court.
Sub-Zero Brooks, who was suspended for the first meeting between these teams for elbowing UW guard Ryan Appleby last season, went big in his first game of the year against UW. He had 30 points, bringing him back to the forefront of the Pac-10 Player of the Year discussion.
Appleby held some hard feelings for last season's cheap shot, as he refused to shake hands with Brooks before and after the game. Coincidentally, Appleby had one of his better games this season, hitting for 21.
This was a big home sweep for the Ducks who are challenging for the third or fourth spot in the Pac-10 Tourney, which is remarkably just about two weeks away. Washington has seemingly forgot what it's like to win and they can start making NIT arrangements.
This one hurts for U-Dub. The Huskies are trying to work their way on the bubble, and desperately need good wins. This would have qualified as a good win and also was a home game -- where UW can play all right. But now the Huskies probably need to win out, and that means three more road wins, two of those teams (Pitt and Oregon) being in the top 15. Ain't gonna happen.
All in all, this really felt like a game the Huskies should have won. Despite losing most of the game, I really felt they were the better team Thursday. But Washington was held scoreless for the final 3:31 and just couldn't hit that big shot; a shot that has been dropping for the last three seasons.
Taylor Rochestie (who the %*&# is Taylor Rochestie?!) came off the bench to score 16 for the Cougs and Spencer Hawes led Washington with 22.
Just another magical win in a magical season for WSU (22-4 overall, 11-3 Pac-10). The Cougs are now in a virtual tie for first place in the Pac-10 with UCLA. Washington's (16-9, 6-8) dreams of dancing just got shot through the heart. (No, not by Cupid, silly).
Most of the time when Washington and Washington State play, fans are really excited and goal posts get torn down and fields rushed and people probably maced. But that's for football.
Tonight the Huskies host the Cougars in the Apple Cup of basketball in a game that hasn't been more hyped in a long time. The Cougars are awfully good, ranked No. 10 and headed to its first NCAA Tournament in years. Meanwhile, the Huskies too are good -- but only at home. The Dawgs have only one loss in the cozy confines of Bank of America Arena (to then a top-10 ranked Arizona team), but just one win away from Seattle. So when tonight's game ends, something's gotta give.
Wazzu mauled the Huskies when U-Dub traveled to Pullman earlier this season. But that was on the road -- where Washington looks more lost than that damn kid from Home Alone -- and UW was without Spencer Hawes, who was injured. Now the Huskies are at home, Hawes is fine...but the Cougs still have Washington's number. WSU has won three straight in the series and its slow-down defense that will force a fast-paced U-Dub team into a half court offense really toys with Washington.
There's been lots of hype this week in Washington state about this game and the fans are ready. Hec Ed is expected to be awfully loud tonight and there's talk that there has never been higher expectations for the Apple Cup of hoops. Remember, until now, this game was only interesting on the football field.
Yep. No argument here. It rarely seems that a good time like the Panthers will drop two straight. Some of their weaknesses have been brought to light and they can focus this long week of practice on fixing what's broken. The Huskies' best chance at Pitt -- which is a win U-Dub badly needs to get arouse out of the selection committee -- would have been if Pitt had won a bunch in a row. But that' not the case now is it? Too bad for Washington. Might as well put this one in the books already.
Washington had a good week, sweeping the Bay Area schools at home, and no player was more instrumental in the Huskies' success than sophomore forward Jon Brockman.
His solid play won't go unrecognized either. He has been recognized as the Pac-10 Player of the Week.
Brockman, a sophomore from Snohomish, Wash., averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds over the weekend as the Huskies swept the Bay Area schools. In the 79-71 win over California, Brockman recorded 22 points, shooting .615 from the field, and tied his career-high with 14 rebounds against the Bears. His efforts continued to shine in Washington's 64-52 upset over then No. 25 Stanford as he tallied 14 points, 10 boards and a block against the Cardinal. For the week, Brockman was 12-of-24 (.500) from the floor, including 12-for-19 (.632) at the line.
Brock now has 11 double-doubles on the season and his hustle and energy on the court has been said to be contagious. He displays the kind of intensity that coach Lorenzo Romar loves to see.
Lot of top teams losing around these parts this past week, but all the losses maintain a status quo. Washington is playing well at home, but is yet to look better than a rec-league team on the road. UCLA has a tough loss in West Virginia, but handling business in conference is more important now.
As always, if you think I'm smoking the same stuff as those Gonzaga players, call me out in the comments. 1. UCLA - Win over USC does much more good than road loss to West Virginia does bad. 2. Washington State - Sweep of Bay Area schools just solidifies the Cougs as the Pac-10's second best team. 3. Oregon - Ducks, despite recent losses, still athletic as anyone and can run plenty of teams out of the gym. If only Sub-Zero Brooks can relocate his shot. 4. Arizona - Just when you think the Wildcats are done... 5. USC - Two close losses against UCLA doesn't score brownie points. 6. Washington - If only they can bottle up their play at home and take it on the road. 7. Stanford - It's just about that time of the year for Tree to start hitting the bottle again. 8. Cal - Six straight losses won't have Ben Braun clapping anytime soon. 9. Oregon State - Sweep of ASU feels like making Final Four for the Beavers. 10. Arizona State - At least the weather's good.
After about 30 years playing at the Division II level, the Seattle University Redhawks might be heading back to playing with the big boys.
Hi again. I'm Zach. And you are? It's OK. I can guess. Your name must be Sunshine because you're hot. Or Fire. Because you're scorching. Anyway, feel free to come by and hang out the FanHouse headquarters. I'll show you a good time. We can talk UCLA hoops. Or cheerleading. What's that? You want to talk about shopping? Oh (expletive) that. I wanna talk about basketball...
Hey, so it's still clear that the Washington Huskies can play better than playground basketball when they're at home, as evident by beating two ranked teams in the span of three days. USC? No prob? UCLA? Well, easy, then heart-attack, then easy.
Home teams in all CAPS:
That there is Washington coach Lorenzo Romar thinking deeply about what it would be like to beat Washington State.
Washington had a good week, sweeping the Bay Area schools at home, and no player was more instrumental in the Huskies' success than sophomore forward Jon Brockman.
Lot of top teams losing around these parts this past week, but all the losses maintain a status quo. Washington is playing well at home, but is yet to look better than a rec-league team on the road. UCLA has a tough loss in West Virginia, but handling business in conference is more important now. 
