These days, the basketball being played out on the left coast is anything but inferior. In fact, the Pac-10 is the best it's been in years.
Four teams in the Pac-10 are ranked in the Top 25. UCLA is numero uno, Arizona is No. 1 in the RPI and Washington (17) and Oregon (22) are also among the nation's best. Just two ACC teams — North Carolina and Duke —are in the Top 25.
It's no surprise that the ACC is ranked as the top conference in the country by the RPI because of its balance and scheduling (the ACC-Big Ten Challenge helps). However, next up are the Missouri Valley and the Pac-10 — ahead of the SEC, Big Ten, Big East and Big 12.
"Top to bottom, the league has never been better," said the current godfather of Pac-10 hoops, Arizona's Lute Olson. "There were years where we've sent four teams to the Sweet 16, but overall this year is the strongest the league has been since I've been at Arizona."
That's been 24 years.
It's really no surprise that UCLA, Arizona and Washington are among the nation's top teams. The shock is that both Oregon and Washington State appear to be NCAA tournament caliber teams and that USC has made such a quick turnaround under Tim Floyd.
Oregon started the season with eight straight wins despite playing the first five games without arguably their most talented player, Malik Hairston. The Cougars, who received nine votes this week in the AP Poll and another handful by the coaches, are on the verge of cracking the Top 25 for the first time since the good old days of Craig Ehlo back in 1983.
USC is no pushover now that Floyd has settled in. The guy can flat-out coach. Just ask Kansas, which couldn't put the Trojans away despite the continued absence of star guard Gabe Pruitt for USC.
Cal has struggled of late, losing to Nevada and San Diego. However, Ben Braun has plenty of talent, especially up front with ultra-athletic big man DeVon Hardin and skilled freshman forward Ryan Anderson.
Stanford's only loss came against nationally ranked Air Force and the Cardinal have been without one-half of its twin towers for much of the season as highly touted Brook Lopez missed the first five games of the season recovering from a severe back injury.
The Pac-10 has racked up a 65-16 overall record this year. That's an impressive 80 percent winning percentage, which no other league in America can claim.
While the Pac-10 always seems to be fighting for credibility each year, that shouldn't be the case this year —or for the foreseeable future.
The Bruins are better than the boys in Chapel Hill because of experience and the ability to defend. Arizona is further ahead of Duke. Washington, Oregon and Washington State have shown as much, if not more, than Georgia Tech, Boston College and Clemson to date.
Yes, that's right. Today, the Pac-10 is the best conference in America. It's hard to argue.
The league has arguably the best freshman class of any league in the country. The ACC can make a valid case as well, but it doesn't have the depth to match the Pac-10.
Oregon's diminutive point guard Tajuan Porter leads the league in scoring (20.1). Arizona's Chase Budinger (17.6 ppg) has already established himself as one of the best wings to come through Tucson. Cal's Ryan Anderson (16.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg) is the surprise frosh in the entire nation. Add in the Washington duo of Spencer Hawes (13.5 ppg) and Quincy Pondexter and the conference's leading rebounder, USC's Taj Gibson (10.6 rpg). We haven't even mentioned the Lopez twins in Palo Alto or the Arizona State's Christian Polk, who ranks third in the Pac-10 at 17.7 points per game.
Part of the reason for the league's recent surge is because of the abundance of talent coming out of the entire west coast recently. Lorenzo Romar's program has been able to take advantage of elite players such as Hawes and Jon Brockman coming out of Washington. "There's no question the timing was right," Romar said.
Oregon has had more high-level talent than in recent memory with Kevin Love, Kyle Singler and Clint Chapman all coming out this year.
California has been, well, California. There's always plenty of talent and many of the elite players have decided to remain on the West Coast.
Next year will be much of the same as the Pac-10 welcomes arguably the two best players in the country. O.J. Mayo, Scout.com's top-ranked player in the Class of 2007, has signed with USC while Love, considered the best big man in the nation, heads across town to UCLA. Arizona will reload with a pair of probable McDonald's All-Americans —guard Jerryd Bayless and wing Jamelle Horne.
Oregon State (RPI, No. 259) and Arizona State (304) are the only teams outside of the Top 80 in the RPI, but that won't last long in Tempe.
Look for the Sun Devils to be much-improved in the next year or two now that Herb Sendek has taken over for Rob Evans. The Sun Devils have already landed a Top 25 caliber recruiting class that is headlined by James Harden (Scout.com, No. 15).
The last time that the Pac-10 had six teams in the NCAA tournament was in 2001-02. For the last three years, the league hasn't received more than four bids and got only three back in 2003-04.
"There aren't going to be any easy wins this year," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. "There's no doubt we can get at least five teams in the tournament this year and maybe even six or seven."
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