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.
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.
The few weeks after the NCAA Basketball season concludes are traditionally chock full of player movement announcements -- new recruits, transfers, entry entrants into the NBA draft, etc. This year has been no exception, but there is a trend gaining more steam. Having a collegiate basketball player become a football player isn't a new thing. Antonio Gates is an All-Pro tight end who didn't play a snap of college football, for example.
Still, the movement from football to basketball seems to be increasing in recent weeks. It makes sense, considering the speed, quickness and agility needed in both. For post players in basketball, they've become accustomed to a physical game anyway, and have the necessary strength-athleticism combo for a position like tight end. Here are four currently considering the shift:
There was a forgettable movie released around 10 years ago called The Sixth Man starring Marlon Wayans and Kadeem Hardison as brothers -- one from beyond the grave -- who lead the University of Washington to an NCAA title.
The movie always seemed like make believe. No, not that a ghost came back from the dead to lead a college basketball team to a championship. Rather, that it was Washington winning a championship. The Huskies have never been thought of as a national power.
But those days are over now that Washington has won the Pac-10 title outright for the first time since 1953.
It wasn't very pretty, but the Washington Huskies did what they hoped to do: Sweep the Arizona schools and assure the program at least a share of the Pac-10 regular season championship for the first time in nearly a quarter century.
Washington took down Arizona State on Thursday 73-70 in Seattle, and today had the Wildcats come to town in desperate need of one more big win to assure they'd be returning to the NCAA tournament for the 25th straight time. The Wildcats dominated in the first half on the back of Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger, but an injury to Hill in the second half and foul trouble for the 'Cats allowed the Huskies to pull away and take it 83-78.
UCLA finally did something that it hadn't done all season: beat a ranked opponent. Doesn't seem right, does it? It's not like the Bruins play a Utah State-like schedule, dodging powerhouses and choosing to beat some of the Weak Sisters of the Poor. And Cal Poly.
Yet, here in late February, the Bruins finally notched that elusive win over a Top-25 foe, beating Washington, 85-76. UCLA was able to avenge an earlier loss in Seattle, when the Huskies made a conga line to the charity stripe -- something reminiscent of a Bugs Bunny cartoon, only not as funny.
Sometimes, old ball coaches do learn new tricks. Heck, even Giants coach Tom Coughlin loosened up enough last season to win a Super Bowl. So it came as no surprise when UCLA's coach Ben Howland met with team leaders and let the offense run-and-gun a little on their suggestion, leading to the high point of the Bruins' roller coaster season.
Life was good.
UCLA went on a winning streak, and crushed USC and Notre Dame. But then came the desert debacle, as the Arizona schools swept the Bruins. Suddenly, run-and-gun or not, a Pac-10 title that seemed inevitable is, well, wholly evitable. So will Howland rein in the Bruins after this two-game stumble?
This is never why you listen to the stat heads. They will let you down. Just when you start to doubt UCLA, the Bruins go on a huge winning streak with impressive wins. And just when you completely buy in and believe that UCLA has turned the corner, the Bruins lose on the road at Arizona State, 74-67.
Are we ever going to get an accurate read on this team or are we doomed to be on the back end of a trend?
UCLA doesn't care much about second place. That was evident on Thursday night as the UCLA put away Cal, 81-66. If Cal thought it smelled blood in the water, Thursday's game was nothing but a clever ambush by the Bruins.
UCLA played like a desperate team trying to send a message. The passive, eight-pass and settle for a horrible shot offense was flushed. Darren Collison was driving to the basket, drawing fouls and converting free throws to finish with 18 points. In fact, UCLA shot 91 percent from the line. The Bruins played defense like a Ben Howland team, forcing 16 turnovers. In short, it was the kind of dominating performance that fans in Westwood have come accustomed to.
UCLA not only crushed its NorCal rival, but also sent a message to the rest of the conference that they were still a the alpha male of the conference. The Bruins also moved into their rightful place -- that being first -- after Washington lost at Arizona. (Somebody must have been looking ahead, right?) Seems silly that a team like UCLA would need a conference win in January, but the freshman really did. Guys like Jrue Holliday, who had 13 points, needed to step up.
The leading question now is if UCLA can match the intensity against Stanford on Saturday.
This wasn't the way the season was supposed to go for the Bruins. Despite losing a bevy of talent, UCLA was still expected to stand tall. The Bruins don't rebuild, they reload. The freshman class led by Jrue Holiday was supposed to be Ben Howland's best yet and the team was supposed to look forward to a fourth consecutive Final Four.
But it hasn't worked out that way.
The Bruins are 15-4, 5-2 in the Pac-10 and ranked No. 17 in the country. That's a good year. If you are Oregon State, or one of the other teams in the Pac-10. But this is UCLA. A place where only championship banners hang from the rafters. Something, however, is way worse for UCLA. Something nobody in Westwood is comfortable talking about.
NCAA Basketball 
The upheaval at USC and constant defections at UCLA may have sent conference supremacy north.
The few weeks after the NCAA Basketball season concludes are traditionally chock full of player movement announcements -- new recruits, transfers, entry entrants into the NBA draft, etc. This year has been no exception, but there is a trend gaining more steam. Having a collegiate basketball player become a football player isn't a new thing. 
There was a forgettable movie released around 10 years ago called The Sixth Man starring Marlon Wayans and Kadeem Hardison as brothers -- one from beyond the grave -- who lead the University of Washington to an NCAA title.
It wasn't very pretty, but the Washington Huskies did what they hoped to do: Sweep the Arizona schools and assure the program at least a share of the Pac-10 regular season championship for the first time in nearly a quarter century. 
UCLA finally did something that it hadn't done all season: beat a ranked opponent. Doesn't seem right, does it? It's not like the Bruins play a Utah State-like schedule, dodging powerhouses and choosing to beat some of the Weak Sisters of the Poor. And Cal Poly.
Sometimes, old ball coaches do learn new tricks. Heck, even Giants coach Tom Coughlin loosened up enough last season to win a Super Bowl. So it came as no surprise when UCLA's coach Ben Howland met with team leaders and let the offense run-and-gun a little on their suggestion, leading to the high point of the Bruins' roller coaster season.
This is never why you listen to the stat heads. They will let you down. Just when 
UCLA doesn't care much about second place. That was evident on Thursday night as the UCLA put away Cal, 
This wasn't the way the season was supposed to go for the Bruins. Despite losing a bevy of talent, UCLA was still expected to stand tall. The Bruins don't rebuild, they reload. The freshman class led by Jrue Holiday was supposed to be Ben Howland's best yet and the team was supposed to look forward to a fourth consecutive Final Four.
