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Has UConn Already Written the Ending?

By Michelle Smith 12/28/2009 6:25 PM ET

Maya Moore, Kayla Pedersen After watching Connecticut and Stanford in last week's pre-holiday prelude to a title rematch, one has to wonder if we already know the ending of this story.

The Cardinal hung for a half before Connecticut responded to its first halftime deficit in 48 games, flipped the switch and won going away.

So, does this mean what we think it means? Is this a whole season of people playing games for fun while we watch the Huskies to run up ridiculous margins of victory before ultimately fulfilling their destiny to win it all again?

Probably. But maybe not.
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UCLA: In Need of Wins, Wizardry

By David Steele 12/17/2009 1:30 PM ET

When programs like UCLA -- and there aren't many programs like UCLA -- go through what the Bruins are going through right now, only time will tell whether they've hit a bump in the road or gone careening off a cliff. Then again, starts like the one UCLA is on -- 3-6 going into a weekend game at Notre Dame -- feel like a trip off the cliff no matter what.

So the only explanation that fits right now is the one that explains right now: UCLA has lost a ton of talent in the years since its run of three straight Final Fours from 2006 to '08, and it has not replaced it. Ben Howland himself can't even deny that, not that he tends toward denial in general.

"It all comes down to recruiting,'' Howland said last week. "The reason we've had success in the past is because we've had good players. We have a very young team right now. I wish there was an easier answer and you could plan better. It is difficult.''
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Cal Women Struggle to Regain Top Form

By Michelle Smith 12/06/2009 11:59 PM ET

Cal BasketballBERKELEY, Ca. -- What's that old saying? The two things you never want to watch being made are sausages and laws? Add young basketball teams to that list.

It's not always so appealing to watch a team full of youthful, inexperienced athletes learn to play at the next level -- not to mention the upper level of the next level. And the Cal women's basketball team is the midst of that awkward, difficult transition as the non-conference part of the schedule moves into its final phase.

The 20th-ranked Bears will almost certainly tumble out of the national rankings Monday after a 68-61 home loss to No. 7 Texas A&M in the final of the Colliers International Tournament that the Bears host every year.
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Mississippi State Rack and Rollin'

By Michelle Smith 11/23/2009 2:54 PM ET

Alexis RackTwo weeks ago, Pat Summitt surveyed the national scene and said this:

"A lot of people don't have Mississippi State on their radar screen and they should."

Never argue with Pat.

Mississippi State is climbing the rankings -- moving from No. 25 to No. 19 in this week's poll -- and the ladder of national recognition, particularly after Sunday's 84-55 win over No. 20 Maryland.

Granted, Maryland is remodeling after the graduation of Kristi Tolliver and Marisa Coleman and the transfer of Marah Strickland, and Brenda Frese's program will likely struggle with change most of the year, but the Bulldogs took it to the Terrapins on their home floor.
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Griner's Influence Extends Beyond Dunk

By Michelle Smith 11/22/2009 11:59 PM ET

Change doesn't always come quickly.

For example, when everyone says that Baylor freshman Brittney Griner will change women's basketball. Well, sure, she will.

But did we all expect it to happen in the first couple of weeks?

In the first three games of her college career, she has tried to dunk twice and missed both. Sunday at No. 17 Cal in Berkeley, Calif., Griner had an opportunity in the closing moments of a 69-49 victory. Baylor had the ball in transition and guard Melissa Jones passed the ball to Griner behind her back at the baseline. Griner went up with her right hand to dunk and the ball bounced off the rim. She pulled down the rebound and was fouled.
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Cal's Youth Movement Taking Hold

By Michelle Smith 10/29/2009 10:32 AM ET

DeNesha StallworthJoanne Boyle came to Cal four years ago as the head coach, inheriting a team built on freshmen talent.

And here she is again, in a gym full of young, inexperienced players, not entirely sure what she has or how they will perform when games begin in two weeks.

"It's going to be an interesting season," Boyle said. "I think we're going to be good. I'm just not sure when."

Boyle has taken the Bears from a struggling program to one that has cemented itself among the national elite -- a regular member of the rankings, an NCAA participant, a player in the Pac-10.
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After Defections, Cal, Washington Are Pac-10 Favorites

By Gary Washburn 5/16/2009 9:15 PM ET

The upheaval at USC and constant defections at UCLA may have sent conference supremacy north.

The NBA draft's early entries have one month to return to school (June 15), but it doesn't appear any of the Pac-10 entries are coming back. Six underclassmen -- USC's DeMar DeRozan and Taj Gibson, UCLA's Jrue Holiday, the Arizona duo of Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger and Arizona State's James Harden -- will participate in the draft combine beginning May 28 in Chicago, and none are likely to return to their schools. Even Holiday, a projected late first-rounder, is reportedly close to hiring an agent and remaining in the draft.
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Women's Hoops Gets Serious in Pac-10

By Gary Washburn 5/07/2009 3:43 PM ET


Stanford has ruled the Pac-10 Women's basketball landscape for the past 20 years, and California and Arizona State have recently emerged to make the conference a three-team scramble for supremacy. But two recent hires by Oregon and USC have made it apparent that women's basketball is indeed becoming a higher priority on the West Coast.
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Pac-10 Roundup: Arizona Teams Struggle, LA Teams Roll

By Shane Bacon 3/06/2009 9:48 AM ET

On a night when the University of Arizona honored famed coach Lute Olson during halftime, something became very clear as the ceremonial speeches ended and the basketball began. If the Wildcats want to continue their NCAA streak of 25 consecutive tournament appearances, they would need more than an uplifting video (it got dusty in my apartment) and the memory of a coach that has been through a lot the last two years. The Wildcats need a W.

It wasn't happening, as Jerome Randle absolutely murdered the 'Cats in the second half, helping California (22-8, 11-6) improve to third in the Pac-10 with the 83-77 win and put the Wildcats in another uncomfortable position similar to last season -- leaving their March Madness dreams up to chance.
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Digger Phelps Bumps, Grinds and Jives

By Will Brinson 3/01/2009 8:00 PM ET

Digger Phelps is one of ESPN's most colorful characters. I mean that literally, too. The guy matches his highlighters to his ties. Which, all ridiculousness aside, seems like it would be really difficult to manage in terms of a long-term dress code. Well, Digger only added to his colorful notoriety Saturday night, when he got down with some Cal cheerleaders during a timeout. On the bright side, at least he wasn't talking about Notre Dame. Via Bruins Nation.

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