Stanford 7-footers Brook and Robin Lopez have each decided to go to the NBA, according to this Associated Press report.

Stanford now joins Washington State and Oregon as teams that will take the court next season almost unrecognizable from their NCAA tournament teams of this season.

And here's an analysis from the San Jose Mercury News about where the Cardinal goes from here.

No one has asked, but the CBI has begun it's final round, with Bradley visiting Tulsa in a two-of-three series for the inaugural championship.

Here's a preview from the CBI Web site.

A few days ago and a few posts down, I thought we had a pretty good discussion to the question I asked about whether the UW football team is more likely to go bowling next season, or the UW basketball team is more likely to make the NCAA tournament.

In my column today, I weigh in on the side of basketball. But it's a close call and an interesting topic, which will evolve as we start learning more about the two teams.

For the football team, that starts Thursday with spring practice.

Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson is back at Arizona and has made it clear that he plans to stay a good long while.

Here are details from the Tucson Citizen.

Washington basketball assistant Cameron Dollar has been identified as one of three finalists for the head coaching job at Sacramento State.

Here are the details from the Sacramento Bee.

Former UW great Benji Olson of Port Orchard has announced his retirement after 10 NFL seasons.

Here is the report from the Tennessee Titans' Web site.

UW assistant men's basketball coach Cameron Dollar is in the running for the head coaching job at Sacramento State, according to this story in the Sacramento Bee.

Dollar, 32, was born in Atlanta, played at UCLA and just completed his sixth season at a UW assistant.

Meanwhile, in other Pac-10 coaching news, here's the link to California's announcement that they are parting company with head coach Ben Braun.

Arizona State's loss last night to Florida in the NIT reduces the Pac-10's postseason participation to three teams: UCLA, Stanford and Washington State, all headed to the Sweet 16.

The Cougars go against top-seeded North Carolina at 4:27 p.m. Thursday. Here's part of our preview coverage.

Interesting column in today's Los Angeles Times, talking to former UW/current UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel about the ongoing NCAA basketball tournament.

The College Basketball Invitational now has its inaugural Final Four, and Valparaiso isn't among them. The team that ended UW's season last week got bumped last night by the Houston Cougars.

I've gotta admit, no one has asked for it, but here's your CBI update.

The UW medical staff confirms that center Artem Wallace suffered a torn ACL and lateral bone contusions last Wednesday in the CBI game against Valparaiso.

He is expected to undergo surgery on April 8. The UW trainer says the normal recovery time after the surgery is between six and nine months. That means that he may -- or may not -- be ready when the Huskies return for preseason camp in October.

In the just-completed season, Wallace played in 31 games, including 25 starts. He averaged 3.2 points and 2.7 rebounds in an average of 14.2 minutes per game.

For the second consecutive season, the UW football team didn't go bowling and the basketball team didn't get invited to the Big Dance.

With basketball just over and spring football about to begin, that raises an interesting question: Which team is more likely to break through next season?

That will be my column topic for later in the week, but before I start writing, I thought it might be useful to hear from you: So, if you'd like to be heard, please hop into the "Comments" section with your thoughts on which team is more likely to make the postseason next season. (And yes, the answer could be both or neither ... but for now let's just consider which program is more likely to take that step up next season.)

The Huskies' spring football roster has been updated and is now available on the UW athletic Web site, GoHuskies.com.

There are a few interesting things on there to ponder in the final 10 days or so until the Huskies begin spring drills.

For one, note again that the roster lists academic classes, therefore, for example, Jake Locker is listed as a junior even though he has three seasons of eligibility remaining. Etc.

Also, Quintin Richardson is listed as a cornerback. Despite some earlier speculation, Johnie Kirton remains listed as a tight end. And incoming freshman Chris Polk is listed as a wide receiver.

Polk is one of two members of the most recent recruiting class who will be on campus in time to participate in spring work. The other is Arizona linebacker Kurt Mangum.

Spring practices begin April 3 and conclude with the annual spring game April 26. Only the spring game will be open to the public.

There have been some good comments on the UW basketball season in the threads below. I'll try to answer some of the questions and react to some of the comments later today and likely over the next few days.

For now, however, here's my column from today's paper, which tries to make the point that while, yes, these Huskies were hurt by free-throw shooting, they were also hurt by not being good enough to overcome poor free-throw shooting. In other words, it wasn't one thing, and it's almost never one thing.

This season, the Huskies weren't quite good enough to get into the top half of the tough Pacific-10 Conference. But in a loser-out situation, they also weren't quite good enough to get past a Horizon League also-ran such as Valparaiso.

I think next season could be considerably better. I think the Huskies gain from experience and another recruiting class more than what they lose from the graduation of Ryan Appleby and Tim Morris. Just as importantly, I think the rest of the Pac-10 is likely to come back to them a bit, with WSU and Oregon losing key seniors and USC and others perhaps losing NBA bound freshman.

And, of course, it's hard to imagine the Huskies being that bad at the free throw line again.

Here's my story on the game that ends what most will consider a disappointing UW basketball season.

And it ended in a way that fit the entire season. Close, but not quite. And specifically, with Jon Brockman missing two free throws in the final seconds that could have won the game, or at least sent it to overtime.

For the game, Washington was 11 of 24 at the free throw line: 45.8 percent.

Naturally, the Huskies were disappointed with the loss. But they said they were glad they had accepted the CBI bid and got to play in another game. They also said they believe that next year they'll improve enough to get back into the tournament that everybody actually wanted to be in.

I'll write more about that over the weekend. But for now, a last look at this last game:

Star of the game: Operating on a still-tender ankle, UW forward Jon Brockman came off the bench for a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds. It was his 23 double-double of the season, a UW record. He scored in double digits in every game this season.

Key stats: Washington took 24 free throws and missed 13 of them. … The Huskies also had shooting problems from the field, hitting 44 percent and 25 percent from the 3-point arc. … UW had a 20-2 advantage in points off turnovers, a 7-0 advantage in fast-break points and the bench outscored Valpo’s reserves 45-24.

Key run: Washington missed its last seven shots from the field while being shut out over the final three minutes and 10 seconds.

Observations: Artem Wallace suffered a knee injury in the opening minutes and never returned. “It kind of buckled on me,” he said. “I went to plant to take off and try to block a shot and the knee kind of just felt like there was a snap of some sort. It was pretty painful.” Wallace will undergo tests soon to determine the severity of the injury. … UW senior Ryan Appleby hit one 3-pointer to conclude his career with a school-record 231 treys and he ranks fourth with a 41.3 3-point shooting percentage. ... Freshman guard Venoy Overton ended the season with 107 assists, second only to Justin Dentmon’s freshman record of 124.

Next: Washington’s season is over. Valpo advances to the CBI quarterfinals Monday at Houston.

A few reactions:

Brockman on those final free throws:“I thought I was going to make them. That’s kind of been our (problem) all year, something that’s cost us a lot of games. (This) was an example: We could have won the game. … I just feel bad for our guys. I can’t help but feel that I let them down a little bit.”

Coach Lorenzo Romar, looking back: “Down the stretch, we certainly had our chances and didn’t capitalize.(Valparaiso) took advantage of their opportunities. I don’t think it (is) more complicated than that.”

Romar, looking backward and forward: “If we were a decent foul shooting team, I firmly believe we’d be in the NCAA tournament. … We did a lot of good down the stretch. If we can carry over into next season, with additional players coming in that shoot free throw well, we can take the next step and get back to where we need to be.”

Appleby, on if he's glad they accepted the CBI bid: “It was nice to be able to get another chance … to come out here and get one more game. Obviously, it would have been a lot better if we would have won."

The Crusaders had been playing with the lead most of the stretch run, and at times seemed on the verge of pulling away.

However, Joel Smith just put the Huskies ahead with a 3-pointer.

Somebody's season is ticking down to its end.

We have just received word that the extent of Artem Wallace's knee injury remains undetermined.

However, he will not return tonight.

Entertaining enough game so far.

Most encouragingly for the Huskies, Jon Brockman looks all right -- more than all right -- with a team-high 14 points. It is not a game-high, however, due to the amazing performance of Valpo 6-11 forward Bryan Bouchie, who had 15. That, in fact, has made for a nice little duel, as Brockman and Bouchie have regularly been guarding each other. Bouchie, by the way, averages less than seven points per game.

Elsewhere in the CBI tonight, Bradley beat Cincinnati, 70-67, meaning no CBI game has yet been decided by more than six points.

And this one might not change that.

Score tied, 19-19, with about seven minutes left in the first half.

Uw forward Jon Brockman entered the game at 13:35 of the first half, Huskies leading Valparaiso, 7-6.

On his first trip down court, he got a defensive rebound.

(Just by my eyeballs, I would estimate the crowd at about 3,000.)

Less than three minutes into the game, the Huskies are minus both of their usual starting big men. Jon Brockman didn't start due to continuing ankle trouble. And center Artem Wallace just went down with a knee injury and was not only helped off the court, but helped instantly into the locker room.

The Huskies are now going with a very small lineup: Overton, Appleby, Morris, Pondexter and freshma Matthew Bryan-Amaning.

The Huskies have just been introduced. The starting lineup includes seniors Tim Morris and Ryan Appleby along with Venoy Overton, Artem Wallace and Quincy Pondexter.

That means Jon Brockman will at least start on the bench.

In addition to live broadcast on Fox Sports Channel and the tape-delayed broadcast on FSN, tonight's game -- and all CBI games -- also is available live on the Internet at cbi2008.com.

Both teams are on the court for pregame warmups, and UW leading scorer and rebounder Jon Brockman is out there with the Huskies, looking amazingly more mobile than he did last week at the Pac-10 tournament. (He seems to be wearing some sort of soft support inside his shoe on his injured left ankle.

However, we have heard no official word on his status other than that it will be a gametime decision.

My preview story in today's paper recalls the moment when a lot of basketball fans first heard of Valparaiso Univerisy: March 13, 1998, when Bryce Drew hit a three pointer that pushed the Crusaders past Ole Miss in the NCAA tournament.

Now, through the magic of the Internet, here's an Associated Press story from that day.

And for a little more magic, here's the video from that day.

Flash forward 10 years and six days later, and the current Crusaders are on the court of Hec Edmundson Pavilion, lightly warming up for the CBI-opening game tonight against the Huskies.

The game is on live on Fox Sports Channel, but the FSN broadcast will be tape delayed until 11 p.m.

Usual game-day drill here: Any news as it breaks before the game (I'm figuring Pondexter starting for the still-injured Brockman), then a halftime update and postgame notes and quotes.

The first half of the College Basketball Invitation's first round had some solid basketball before some weak crowds.

The tournament's four Tuesday games had margins of victory of one point, two points, three points and six points. However, they also had crowds ranging from a low of 1,169 at Ohio to a high of 4,252 at Nevada.

Here's a good summary of CBI games from last night and the rest of the tournament.

UW officials say they can break even tonight with a crowd of about 5,000 for the 6 p.m. game against Valparaiso. Something over 2,000 were sold yesterday, however, I'm not sure how much that indicates the final crowd since there was little incentive for advanced purchase for a game certain to have good seats available at the box office tonight.

The Houston Cougars won an extremely entertaining game at Nevada tonight, 80-79, and will advance to the College Basketball Invitational against the winner of the Washington-Valparaiso game Wednesday at Hec Ed.

If UW advances, the Huskies will host the Cougars at 6 p.m. Monday at Hec Ed.

Here is my UW-Valpo story from today's paper.

UW forward Jon Brockman didn't practice again due to his ankle sprain, and his availability for tomorrow's CBI opener against Valparaiso will likely be a gametime decision.

Meanwhile, about 2,000 tickets were reported sold today, meaning there will be plenty of good seats available for walk-up purchase tomorrow at the box office.

Tickets are $15 ($5 for UW students).

I got a note from the Washington athletic department today that they received 45 resumes for the open football public address announcer position.

A department committee, headed by its marketing staff, will review the resumes, listen to the MP3 files of the applicants and trim the list to a final few who will be invited to try out, probably at the stadium.

The position came open when Lou Gellermann retired last fall after 35 seasons as the stadium voice of the Huskies. Men’s basketball announcer Eric Radovich took over on an interim basis and remains a candidate for the full-time position.

UW expects to have the new announcer selected by mid-April in time to debut at the football spring game on April 26.

The first couple of games of the College Basketball Invitational are in the books, with Old Dominion beating Rider and Virginia edging Richmond.

I got to watch most of the Virginia game, and it was a pretty entertaining one, going down to the final possession with the Cavs winning, 66-64. I didn't hear official attendance, but whatever I could see on TV appeared to be pretty full.

Starting in a few minutes -- 6 p.m. -- will be the game that more immediate affects UW: Houston at Nevada. If the Huskies win tomorrow against Valparaiso, the winner of the Houston-Nevada game will come to Hec Ed on Monday.

The games are on Fox Sports Channel -- not FSN -- and that means only on some cable and dish sports tiers.

The UW game tomorrow also will be taped and shown on FSN on a delayed basis: 11 p.m. Wednesday.

The Huskies have opened as the second-biggest favorites in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational. The biggest favorite is Virginia, 13 1/2- point favorites over Richmond in one of the CBI openers tonight.

If form holds, the Huskies will advance to host Nevada on Monday at Hec Ed. The Wolf Pack is a three point favorite at home tonight against Houston.

Here is a link to our CBI coverage in today's paper. Here's a look from the Crusaders' point of view from the Gary (Ind.) Post-Tribune.

The Post-Tribune story includes a nice quote -- echoing what some of the Huskies had to say -- from Valpo coach Homer Drew: "There are only 113 teams still playing out of 341 in Division I, so it's an honor just to be playing. Maybe we don't have our dancing shoes on, but we've still got our tennis shoes on."

We got to speak to coach Lorenzo Romar and a few of the Huskies this afternoon. No one is pretending that the CBI is the NCAA tournament ... or even the NIT. However, everyone seems happy to have more games to play, rather than simply turning on the TV as they were forced to do last season.

(Here's the story from our Tuesday paper.)

As for that game, Romar said that Jon Brockman (ankle) remains day-to-day: possible for Wednesday, but likely for Monday if the Huskies advance past Valpo.

Romar also said that Quincy Pondexter's performance in the Pac-10 tournament loss to Cal was good enough to merit another start -- whether Brockman starts or not.

Not much other real news, except that football coach Tyrone Willingham had a free-throw shooting contest with one of the basketball players -- let's call him, um, "Q" -- and Willingham won. They were taking turns shooting two free throws each. Willingham hit seven of his eight, when Q missed two of his first seven that was that. Willingham -- who was wearing green for St. Pat's day and made a point of sticking his head into the media room to make sure all the writers were wearing green (and fortunately we were)-- seemed pleased.

Here's a quick snapshot of the Valparaiso Crusaders, the Huskies' opening round opponent Wednesday at Hec Ed.

In general, they seem to be a well-balanced team that likes the 3-point shot.

Their high profile games this season included a 68-58 loss at Wisconsin, a 90-58 blowout loss at North Carolina, a 71-68 loss to Butler, a 99=94 double-overtime win over Miami of Ohio in an ESPNU BrackerBuster game, and a 78-73 loss to Cleveland State in the Horizon League championship game.

I'll file more this afternoon after we've had a chance to talk to coach Lorenzo Romar and the Huskies.

No. 4 CBI seed Valparaiso (21-13)

School location: Valparaiso, Ind.
Conference: Horizon League.
Coach: Homer Drew, 19th season (323-253 record). A nine-time coach of the year, Drew is in the fifth season of his second stint at Valparaiso. He originally arrived in 1988, taking over a program that had never had a winning record in Division I and took it to seven NCAA tournament appearances, including five straight from 1996-2000.
How the Crusaders got here: After a fourth-place finish during the regular season, Valparaiso advanced to the semifinals of the Horizon League. However, the Crusaders lost to Cleveland State, 78-73.
Outlook: Valparaiso won six of its last eight games, ranks 91st in Rating Percentage Index and has five wins against top-100 RPI teams. Senior guard Jarryd Loyd was named to the Horizon League All-Tournament team last week after averaging 17.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, three assists and 1.7 steals in the Crusaders’ three tournament games. He also was named regular season Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year. In the regular season, leading scorer Shawn Huff ranked as the nation’s fourth most-accurate 3-point shooter, hitting 79 of 162 attempts (48.8 percent). As a team, the Crusaders hit 40.2 percent of their treys, ranking 11th nationally.

There seems little in life less significant than the final college basketball rankings, topped every time by NCAA tournament seeding.

However, here's my final AP men's basketball ballot of the season, along with three All-America teams, college player of the year and coach of the year:

FINAL MEN'S NCAA Top 25

1. North Carolina
2. Memphis
3. Kansas
4. UCLA
5. Tennessee
6. Duke
7. Georgetown
8. Wisconsin
9. Texas
10. Stanford
11. Louisville
12. Indiana
13. Vanderbilt
14. Michigan State
15. Notre Dame
16. Drake
17. Butler
18. Xavier
19. Washington State
20. Connecticut
21. Gonzaga
22. BYU
23. Clemson
24. Pittsburgh
25. Davidson

ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM
Brook Lopez, Stanford
Michael Beasley, Kansas State
Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina
Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis
D.J. Augustin, Texas

ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM
Kevin Love, UCLA
Ryan Anderson, California
Roy Hibbert, Georgetown
Darren Collison, UCLA
Jerryd Bayless, Arizona

ALL-AMERICA THIRD TEAM
Sean Foster, Vanderbilt
Jon Brockman, Washington
Jeremy Pargo, Gonzaga
O.J. Mayo, Southern California
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina

COACH OF THE YEAR
John Calipari, Memphis

Washington will open the inaugural College Basketball Invitational at 6 p.m. Wednesday, hosting Valparaiso.

Here is our story from today. I'll have more information on Valpo later this morning, and then should have some UW information this afternoon after we hear from coach Lorenzo Romar and the players.

Here is the UW release, including ticket details:

SEATTLE -- The Washington men's basketball team received a postseason berth to the inaugural College Basketball Invitational and will host Valparaiso, the CBI committee announced late Sunday night.

The Huskies (16-16) and Valpo (21-13) meet, Wednesday, Mar. 19 at 6 p.m. in Bank of America Arena on the UW campus. The game will be televised live on Fox College Sports (FCS). Washington is the No. 1 seed in the West Region and the Crusaders are No. 4.

If the Huskies win, they play at home again on Monday, Mar. 24 in a quarterfinal contest against the winner of Tuesday's Houston at Nevada clash.

CBI tickets for Wednesday's first-round game in Seattle are priced at $15, with a $5 rate for UW students.

Season ticket holders have priority and immediate access to purchase tickets online. To guarantee priority, season ticket holders must order CBI tickets by 5 p.m. on Monday, Mar. 17.

Tickets to the general public are available beginning, Tuesday, Mar. 18 at 8:30 a.m. They can be purchased on-line (www.gohuskies.com), via telephone (206-543-2200) or at the Husky Ticket Office from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The CBI features a 16-team field with all games taking place on campus sites. First-round games are scheduled for Mar. 18 and 19 at eight different venues.

The championship round is unique, implementing a best-of-three format with the two participants alternating as hosts.

Washington registered a 7-11 record to finish eighth in the tough Pac-10 Conference standings. Six Pac-10 teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament, including No. 1 seed UCLA whose last loss was a 71-61 decision at Washington on Feb. 10.

In their last outing, the Huskies lost 84-81 to California on Mar. 12 in the first round of the Pac-10 Tournament.

This season’s participation in the inaugural CBI marks Washington’s 19th foray into postseason play. The Huskies appeared in the NCAA Tournament 13 times, registering a 14-14 combined record. Most recently, UW advanced to back-to-back Sweet Sixteens, in 2005 and 2006.

The Huskies have a 3-5 record in five postseason NIT berths, including a first-round loss at Nebraska in 1997 during their last appearance.

Washington has never before played against Valpo in men's basketball. The Crusaders tied for fourth place in the Horizon League with a 9-9 record. Valpo won six of its last seven games.

The College Basketball Invitational has released the bracket for its inaugural tournament.

The Washington Huskies will open the tournament vs. Valparaiso at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Here's our story from today's paper, which was mostly written before the CBI bracket was released.

The Crusaders went 21-13 this season, and 9-9 in the Horizon League. They feature balanced scoring, with five players averaging between 12.9 and 9.8 points. The high-scorer is 6-foot-7 forward Shawn Huff, while 6-0 guard Jarryd Loyd was recently named to the Horizon League all-tournament team.

Here is a link to the Valparaiso men's basketball Web site.

The UW-Valpo winner will advance to meet the Houston-at-Nevada winner. That game would be March 24, and if I'm reading the bracket correctly, it would again be at Hec Ed, assuming the Huskies advance.

Other CBI first-round games: Richmond at Virginia, Rider at Old Dominion, Utah at UTEP, Miami of Ohio at Tulsa, Cincinnati at Bradley and Brown at Ohio.

The Washington Huskies apparently will open the College Basketball Invitational with a home game Wednesday against an opponent to be named later. Maybe Houston. Maybe Utah. It will likely be Monday before we find out.

(In any case, here is a link to the CBI bracket. It remains blank as I type this, but it could be filled in by the time you click it.)

A Sunday press conference with coach Lorenzo Romar was pushed from 5 o'clock to 8 o'clock and several times more while the CBI apparently scrambled to get its 16-team field together.

Finally, Romar addressed the media about 9:30. And even though he still didn't know his opponent, he didn't seem concerned about the CBI confusion.

“It’s in its first year and whenever you start something out sometimes you’re working to do some last-minute details, details that would have been worked through if it had gone on for a couple of years,” he said. "But I’m not concerned. I’m sure once it’s time to go play everything will be worked out.”

As 11 p.m., the names of several participants had surfaced: Washington, Utah, Houston, Seton Hall, Nevada, Virginia, Richmond, Cincinnati and Ohio.

Houston and Utah were told that they will open on the road, so one of those might make geographic sense for UW.

“We’re excited that we still have an opportunity to play,” Romar said. “We are in finals this week: There is one game on Wednesday, and then after that we’re out of school. So it is an opportunity for our guys to continue to play. Our two seniors (Ryan Appleby and Tim Morris) get to continue to play a couple of extra games, hopefully, and our guys get to be together more, we get to practice more. So, we’re excited that they want us to be a part of it.”

All CBI games will be played on the home floor of the higher-ranked team. The tournament will tip off with four games Tuesday, and the first round will conclude with four more games Wednesday, including the Huskies’ date at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

All quarterfinal games will be played March 24.

The tournament will be re-seeded for the semifinals, which will be played March 26.

The best-of-three championship series will run March 31, April 2 and April 4, if needed.

At least two games per day in each round will be televised nationally by Fox College Sport.

“If you’re not in the Big Dance and you would like to continue playing, a tournament like this is great,” Romar said. “I think it has its positives to it. There’s always a number of teams that are very very worthy of competing in postseason play but don’t get that opportunity for whatever reason, and if they got the chance they’d do a good job. This allows some additional teams to come in and make their case.”

The Huskies went through a practice session at 6 p.m. today, getting ready for their still-unknown opponent in Wednesday's CBI opener.

Jon Brockman did not practice on his apparently still sprained ankle.

We should get an update on Brockman's status later tonight, because we're supposed to hear from coach Lorenzo Romar once the CBI pairings are set.

Meanwhile, one more member of the field has surfaced: Utah, meaning we now know five participating teams including three from the West: Virginia, Ohio, Houston, Utah and Washington.

The CBI has given the Huskies word that they will be in the College Basketball Invitational field, apparently hosting a first-round game on Wednesday.

However, the opponent isn't yet known, and the official bracket isn't yet out.

However, that is expected anytime.

Arizona State and California will be part of this season's National Invitation Tournament, the Sun Devils as a No. 1 seed, and the Bears as a No. 4.

However, the Huskies were once again bypassed.

That sets the stage for them to accept an expected bid from the CBI ... which is expected maybe in just a matter of minutes.

A few teams have already received and accepted invitations to play in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational: Houston, Virginia and Ohio among them.

Washington, however, is still waiting. But probably not waiting long. We're expecting word within the next hour or so ... perhaps indicating UW wants to make sure no NIT offer is coming before accepting anything from the CBI.

I'll pop back with the news when it comes, and then later in the evening once we hear from coach Lorenzo Romar and pick up details such as opening opponent, site, date, etc.

Six Pac-10 teams were picked for the NCAA tournament this afternoon: UCLA, Stanford, Washington State, Oregon and Arizona.

The NIT field is going to be revealed at 6 p.m. on ESPN2, with Arizona State and California likely to be among the 32 teams.

The CBI doesn't have any television fanfare for its bracket unveiling, but word is expected to trickle out around 8 p.m., and it's still expected that Washington will make the field as a high enough seed to host a game this week.

Naturally, I'll pop in here as soon as I hear anything.

It's Selection Sunday, and here's our overview from today's paper on the chances of the Washington Huskies and eight other Pac-10 teams -- everyone but Oregon State -- awaiting a call today. It includes some comment from Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen about what the league is doing or can do to help its teams. Bottom line answer: Not much.

As for those Huskies, the latest NIT-ology projection keeps them as a No. 1 seed in the College Basketball Invitational, likely hosting someone -- this project says Sam Houston State -- Tuesday or Wednesday at Hec Ed.

I think Huskies in the CBI and hosting is probably what we'll hear today. However, I think the bigger question is between CBI and nothing, rather than NIT or CBI.

In any case, the NCAA makes its picks at 3 p.m., so I would expect the NIT and CBI selections (and word on Washington) to be settled between 4 and 5 this afternoon.

I'll pop in here as soon as word comes.

Washington State guard Kyle Weaver was named to the Pacific-10 Conference all-tournament team.

Other members were O.J. Mayo of USC, Brook Lopez of Stanford, and Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love of UCLA.

UCLA guard Darren Collison, who had 28 points in the title game -- a 67-64 Bruins win -- was named most valuable player.

This one went down to the final shot -- a desperation 3-point heave by Anthony Goods that drew iron, but not net. The result was the Bruins backing up their regular season Pac-10 title with a tournament title as well.

In fact, this tournament ended with the higher seed winning every game ... with the single exception of No. 9 Cal beating No. 8 Washington. However, even that was no upset as the Huskies were going without leading scorer and rebounder Jon Brockman.

In addition to the Pac-10 tournament trophy, the Bruins also almost certainly wrapped up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

We'll find out for sure tomorrow.

Stanford jumped ahead early, and UCLA answered with a little run led by Russell Westbrook and Darren Collison.

The biggest problem/concern for the Bruins may be that Pac-10 player of the year Kevin Love has been in and out of the game with apparent back issues. That said, he was on the court when the half ended, so I assume the prognosis is good ... as it must be as the Bruins head into NCAA tournament play next week.

UCLA and Stanford have just taken the floor to decide the Pac-10 tournament champion.

The game has only mild meaning beyond bragging rights and perhaps some influence on whether UCLA is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament ... the one these teams are far more concerned about.

I'll pop in with any news as it develops, then give a halftime score and some game-ending notes and quotes.

THe game is on CBS.

Then I've got a plane to catch to get back home for the real excitment that comes tomorrow: Selection Sunday, with the Huskies appearing very much in the CBI mix.

UCLA and Stanford will meet for the tournament championship at 3 p.m. Saturday (on CBS).

Meanwhile, Washington State now waits for Selection Sunday to find out who they'll play and where they'll start this season's NCAA tournament. They're probably looking at a five or six seed.

Some game highlights:

Star of the game: Stanford 7-foot forward Brook Lopez had a game-high 30 points, and a game-high tying 12 rebounds. He also managed three steals.

Key stats: The Cougars had 11 assists and 14 turnovers, a ratio that coach Tony Bennett pointed to as crucial. Stanford also outrebounded WSU, 37-28. The Cardinal blocked five shots, while the Cougars blocked none. The teams shot almost evenly: 44.4 percent by Stanford, 44 percent by WSU.

Key run: About five minutes into the second half, Washington State’s Derrick Low nailed three 3-pointers in a quick burst. However, Lopez matched and exceeded it with 14 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half as the Cardinal increased its lead and took control once Low cooled.

Observations: Washington State has never gotten past the Pac-10 tournament’s semifinal round. … WSU was trying to clinch back-to-back 25-win seasons, something it has never accomplished. Last season’s team finished 26-8. … The Cougars are now 4-9 all-time in the Pacific-10 Conference tournament and 0-3 against Stanford.

A few quotes from WSU coach Tony Bennett.

On Robin Lopez: Robin had 30 and 12. We had a hard time. When ever we kind of got close he’d either get a big offensive rebound put-back or just made a real difficult shot. I thought we for a while made him earn some, but then he got some easy ones.

On Stanford: They’re a good team, but we didn’t play the way we had to to win a game like this. I told our kids I respected their comeback – I thought it was a gutsy comeback and we made some shots and did some nice things and showed some moxie, but I didn’t think we played a smart sound game. I thought we got a little out of our game and that’s hard for us with an opponent of this caliber.

On the mix of emotions: We’re in the NCAA tournament which is a tremendous opportunity for us. Every game that you play now is for your seniors with the possibility of being your last. I hope that whoever we play, that we will play with a level of intelligence and toughness and soundness that has earmarked out program and what I think has brought these guys to a place where they wanted to be as young guys. (Friday) it was there at times, but not enough. That’s the disappointing part. I respect some of the things that happened and how impressive the Lopezes are and (Stanford coach Trent Johnson) does a great job. He has those kids locked in to play the way that they have to to win. But for us to advance or for us to play at a high level in the tournament, we have to play at a high level and it was lacking at time tonight.

On WSU's 14 turnovers: That’s too many (turnovers). Too many for us. I don’t know if we were forcing it at times and making some bad decisions. That hurt us.

On going 0-3 vs. Stanford: They beat us three times this year and we obviously couldn’t crack the code. I thought that maybe tonight was our least impressive outing against them of the three.

Finally, additional game notes from the WSU sports information department:

WASHINGTON STATE NOTES

· Kyle Weaver’s 12 first-half points ties his season high for the opening period…he scored a career-high 25 points…his previous career high was 23 points at Stanford…only 20-plus games were all three games against Stanford this year…second double-double of the season…both came against Stanford.

· For the first time in six games against the Cardinal, the Cougars did not lead at half…WSU was previously 1-4 against Stanford when leading at half in the last five games.

· Stanford’s Brook Lopez became the first player to score 30-plus points against the Cougars this season…he finished with 30 points.

· Derrick Low moved into second on the WSU season records list for 3-pointers made…he now has 85…the school record is 89.

· Low reached double-figure points for the 10th-consecutive game…he finished with 15...Eleven of his 15 points came in the second half.

· The Cougars have dropped seven of the last eight meetings with the Cardinal, including three this season and the last four…Stanford holds a 66-55 all-time advantage in the series…4-1 at neutral sites.

· The Cougars drop to 4-9 in the Pac-10 Tournament…fall in semifinals for second-straight season.

· Weaver has shot 31 free throws in the three meetings with Stanford this season…he was 24-for-31 from the charity stripe in the three games.

· Daven Harmeling made his first 3-pointer since Feb. 16 at Oregon…he finished 4-for-4 from the field (all 3-pointers) and with 13 points…had his second 4-point play of the season.

Stanford has played with the lead most of the way, but never by much.

WSU guards Kyle Weaver and Taylor Rochestie are both in double figures and carrying the Cougs. Stanford is relying on its bigs, led by Brook Lopez's 11.

SC freshman O.J. Mayo let the clock run down and then launched a 3-pointer to send it into overtime. It missed, and top-seeded UCLA is on its way to the Pac-10 tournament championship game.

That will be at 3 p.m. Friday, when the Bruins will meet the winner of the next game: No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 3 Washington State.

By the way, we haven't a health update on UCLA forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who went down in the first half with an injury that appeared to be to his calf or shin.

Good game. No stats yet.

Both teams are solid for the NCAA tournament, and UCLA might even be solid for a No. 1 seed ... but winning here wouldn't hurt.

Pretty nice crowd here right now, as there should be for this pairing of the two local teams. However, not a sellout ... a fair number of open seats in the end zones of the upper, upper, upper deck.

UCLA starting forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute was just helped off the court in obvious pain from an apparent lower left leg injury suffered about 13 minutes into the Bruins semifinal Pac-10 Conference tournament game against USC. ... And he has now been taken to the locker room.

USC has held a modest lead most of the way, and leads now, 22-20.

The Pac-10's top four seeds all survived to the semifinals, and there should be a couple of pretty good games tonight.

As I type, fourth-seeded USC and top-seeded UCLA are warming up for their game that will tip off a bit after 6 p.m. The teams split their two regular season meetings.

After that, No. 2 Stanford and No. 3 Washington State will meet. The Cardinal swept the regular season series.

I'll click in here with news as it happens, and with halftime and postgame reports.

Both games are on FSN.

With no more UW games before Selection Sunday, the NIT-ology Web Site now has the Huskies not only in the College Basketball Invitational, but in as the Western region's No.1 seed, meaning they would host the first game -- and second if they advance -- at Hec Ed.

However, the site seems to have at least one error in that it lists Missouri as the No. 1 seed in the CBI Midwest region, and according to the Kansas City Star, Missouri says it won't accept a CBI invitation if one comes.

Beyond that, ather teams' results through other conference tournaments could still move the Huskies up or down a bit, but I think this seems like a pretty realistic projection for the Dawgs.

The Huskies are back in Seattle, but continue to make some news while awaiting their postseason fates on Selection Sunday.

Before leaving LA, coach Lorenzo Romar and some of his players took a look not only at their NIT/CBI chances, but also at what the Huskies might look like next season. Short version: They'll run. Here's our story from today's paper.

And the university also made some news off the court, as they look forward on their Husky Stadium renovation plans after the state Legislature closed yesterday without providing the requested funds to help.

Here's our game story. And some highlights:

Star of the game: Oregon guard Tajuan Porter led the Ducks’ comeback attempt with 17 second-half points. He hit seven of 12 shots, including four 3-pointers and ended the night with 20 points, tied for game honors with teammate Malik Hairston.

Key stats: WSU outscored Oregon 34-24 in the paint. … Oregon committed 13 turnovers, WSU seven. … The Cougars shot 61.5 percent in the first half, 40.9 percent in the second. The Ducks shot 47.6 percent in the first half, 57.7 in the second.

Key run: Washington State guard Taylor Rochestie scored the game’s first five points, igniting the Cougars’ fast start that forced Oregon to play catch-up the whole way.

Observations: This was the Cougars’ third straight win over the Ducks after previously dropping 13 in a row. … The victory sends WSU to the Pac-10 tournament semifinals for the second consecutive season. The Cougs have never been to the finals. … This was Washington State’s second-highest scoring output of the season, and their 42 points at halftime were a season high. …This was WSU coach Tony Bennett’s 50th career victory.

Quotable: “You know, in this league the team that plays the best basketball wins. It’s just so close and tightly contested that you have to play well, and if you play well and the other team is not on the top of their game you usually win it. Nobody’s that dominant – maybe UCLA at times.” – Bennett, on advancing in the tournament.

Next: Washington State meets Stanford in the tournament semifinals tonight. The Cardinal swept the Cougars during the regular season, winning 67-65 in Stanford, Calif., and 60-53 in Pullman. Oregon is eliminated and will learn its postseason fate on Sunday.

Other Thursday results: No. 4 Southern California 59, No. 5 Arizona State 55; No. 1 UCLA 88, No. 9 California 66; No. 2 Stanford 75, No. 7 Arizona 64.

Friday’s schedule: 6 p.m. USC vs. UCLA; 8:30 p.m. Stanford vs. Washington State. Both games on FSN.

And now a few additional notes from the WSU sports information department:

WASHINGTON STATE NOTES
· Second-year WSU head coach Tony Bennett won the 50th game of his career…he is 50-15 (.769) in his two seasons with the Cougars.

· WSU improved to 154-118 all-time against Oregon…have won three-straight.

· Derrick Low moved into a tie for third place in the WSU season record books for 3-pointers made…he now has 81…the record is 89 set by Jan-Michael Thomas in 1999.

· WSU scored a season-high first half points with 42 points…previous high was 36 points against Idaho Nov. 16.

· Cougars improve to 4-8 all-time in the Pac-10 Tournament…2-1 against Oregon in the tourney.

· Derrick Low is averaging 20.8 points per game against the Ducks in the last five meetings (104 points coming into this game).

The Cougars opened a double-digit lead almost immediately and have been in control the whole way.

Washington State is shooting 61.5 percent, while Oregon is shooting 47.6 percent. The Ducks have committed seven turnovers, the Cougs two. And significantly, Washington State is getting inside, dominating points in the paint, 18-4.

Individually, Derrick Low leads all scorers with 11 points, but WSU has lots of scoring balance as Taylor Rochestie and Kyle Weaver have nine each, and Robbie Cowgill has eight.

Malik Hairston leads Oregon with nine points, Maarty Leunen is next with five and Bryce Taylor four.

Obviously, no last-gasp behind-the-basket miracle shots needed this time.

UCLA goes on to meet USC tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the first semifinal game.

Cal goes on, probably, to either the NIT or CBI.

And by my reckoning, not purely good news for the Huskies.

The Sun Devils project as a bubble team, and if this slips them down to the NIT, that could slip, say, Cal down to the CBI, which could slip UW into the mix.

I still don't really expect that, but I think an ASU win would have been better for UW.

The Washington Legislature will wrap up its session today without approving any tax dollars for the proposed renovation of Husky Stadium.

Scott Woodward, UW’s acting athletic director, said the university will try again next year.

“I think (the problem) was timing,” he said. “I think they want to look at the whole stream of revenue in a holistic view, instead of piece by piece.”

The university had hoped that if money was handed over in this legislative session, that stadium construction might begin ahead of a major Sound Transit construction project in the southwest stadium parking lot. Now, Woodward said, the university will plan for the projects to proceed concurrently.

The stadium renovation funds would be used not only to improve the comfort and sightlines in the stadium, but also for maintenance, seismic and other safety issues.

However, Woodward assured that the stadium is safe for fans.

“We’ve inspected it,” he said. “We’re making darn sure that it’s 100 percent safe. … A lot of (short-term fixes are) wasting money the further out we go; but I guarantee for our fans and students that it’s going to be a safe environment.”

Acting UW atletic director Scott Woodward is here at the Pac-10 tournament.

He said he is leaning toward throwing his hat in the ring for the permanent AD's job, but that he won’t officially do so until speaking with university president Mark Emmert, probably next week.

Emmert recently appointed a committee to create a short list of candidates for the job.

I've been writing rather than watching, but that's what the scoreboard says.

The Huskies are gone, but I'm sticking around for the remainder of the Pac-10 tournament, including all four games today.

I'll pop in with UW and conference news as it breaks, including scores on all four games ... including the opener, which has just begun with Arizona State taking a quick 6-5 lead on USC as I type this.

I'll be back on with Dave "The Groz" Grosby on KJR, 950-AM, at 1:35 p.m. today, talking about the end -- or not -- of the Huskies' basketball season and looking forward to the postseason invitation that may -- or may not -- come on Sunday.

The conversation also will be streamed over the Internet.

The updated predictions on the NIT-ology Web site has dropped Washington from the near the bottom of the NIT bracket to missing entirely from the NIT or CBI fields.

However, it is a perplexing entry, because it is accompanied by text implying that Washington and a couple of big schools might be happier near the top of the CBI bracket -- meaning home games -- than the bottom of the NIT bracket -- meaning road games. However, his mock bracket doesn't show UW anywhere in the CBI bracket.

(He's wrong about his general implication, by the way: All indications are that if UW had a choice, they would take the NIT regardless of seeding.)

However, the more realistic question in light of the Huskies loss last night to Cal is, will any invitation come? At 16-16 and with top player Jon Brockman questionable, I think the NIT seems unlikely, while I think the chances of a CBI bid may still be 50-50 or better.

Certainly, coach Lorenzo Romar believes his team should keep playing.

"With the conference that we’re in? No doubt," he said. "But I thought that last year."

This one might have been decided by a possession arrow, which pointed Cal's way, setting the stage for Ryan Anderson to drain a rushed, moving, desperation 3-pointer in the final minute.

A last-second Venoy Overton 3 failed.

Cal goes on to meet UCLA tomorrow. UW, which finishes its season 16-16, returns home awaiting Selection Sunday in hopes of an NIT or -- more likely -- CBI invitiation.

Here's our game story from today's paper.

A few reactions:

LORENZO ROMAR on the difference in the game: I think we can point to one statistic that was the deciding factor: They had 20 second chance points to our 14,” UW coach Lorenzo Romar said. “And that’s probably too many for them in a game that wound up being decided by three points.

JON BROCKMAN on players stepping up in his absence:
It’s good to see. I think on the offensive end Quincy stepped up and was assertive. It’s just something that he has to do consistently: It makes our team just that much better. Artem had some strong moves. It was good to see some guys step up.

ROMAR on Cal's 21-2 run that turned the game:(Cal) came down to score without any resistance from us three consecutive possessions. We took a forced shot and had a turnover during that period, and there it was.

JUSTIN DENTMON on the same run:
At that time I guess they wanted it more than we did. I think we fell back and got lackadaisical.
The Huskies never got ahead again, but they whittled the lead to one “

CAL'S RYAN ANDERSON on his final 3-pointer:
We ran a play that had a couple of options. … We played for me to come off a screen, and I guess I had an opening for a second. There was a hand in my face, but I tried to shoot it as normal as possible, and it went in.

ROMAR on if he thinks the Huskies deserve a postseason bid:
With the conference that we’re in? No doubt. But I thought that last year.

QUINCY PONDEXTER, on why he doesn't play that way more often:I was deferring to (Brockman) this last season and making him a better player. It’s one of those things, a coach’s decision. I just follow. I’m a team player.

Here's a quick game capsule:

NO. 9 CALIFORNIA 84, NO. 8 WASHINGTON 81
Star of the game: California all-league forward Ryan Anderson scored 22 points and had a game-high 16 rebounds. Twelve of his points came in a game-changing 21-2 second-half run. And his 3-pointer in the final minute as the shot clock ran down was the clincher.

Key stats: Cal outrebounded Washington, 43-34. The Bears also outscored UW 20-14 in second-chance points, a difference that coach Lorenzo Romar considered decisive. The Golden Bears hit 32.4 percent of their shots in the first half, but 50 percent in the second.

Key run: Washington seemed on the verge of putting the game away early in the second half when three quick Ryan Appleby 3-pointers pushed their lead to 12 points. However, a DeVon Hardin dunk started a 21-2 run that gave the Bears a lead they never surrendered.

Observations: UW played without leading scorer and rebounder Jon Brockman, who sat on the bench with an ankle sprain. This was the first game he has missed in a 96-game college career, and it snapped a 69-game streak as a starter. … This was Washington’s fourth loss in its last five games and ends the Huskies’ season at 16-16 – unless they receive a postseason tournament bid on Sunday. … UW forward Quincy Pondexter got his first start since the seventh game of the season and led the Huskies with a season-high 23 points.

Game 2: No. 7 Arizona 87, No. 10 Oregon State 56.

Thursday’s schedule: noon, No. 4 Southern California vs. No. 5 Arizona State; 2:30 p.m., No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 9 California; 6 p.m., No. 3 Washington State vs. No. 6 Oregon; 8:30 p.m., No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 7 Arizona. (All games on FSN.)

Immediately after that last post, Cal went on an 18-2 run, to pull ahead 59-55.

Ryan Appleby came out and nailed three quick 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the half, and suddenly the lead is up to double digits.

(Also, I'm assuming the Sonics game is over and the game is on FSN, and therefore will probably slow down on the updates. However, I'll be back with anything major, and again certainly after the game with notes and quotes and -- ideally -- discussion.

Inspired half by the Huskies. Nicely elevated games by Pondexter (11 points), Morris (7), Artem Wallace (7) and Joel Smith (6).

They've also been solid on defense, with Cal hitting only 32.4 percent from the field.

All that said, Cal is still right there.

Tim Morris is stepping up nicely with seven points. And so is Pondexter, with nine. Romar also returned freshman Justin Holiday to the rotation.

The UW bench has regularly outscored the opponent's bench this season, so Romar is using everyone in an effort to make up for the loss of Brockman.

One negative: The Joe Wolfinger magic hasn't returned. I believe he has three touches so far, resulting in two turnovers and an air ball.

Small crowd in a big arena.

Brockman is on the bench -- in uniform -- but my hunch is he'll stay there.

Meanwhile, the early minutes are showing the Cal is intent at attacking the basket in Brockman's absence. Almost no jumpers ... they're taking everything to the cup.

Starting in place of Brockman, Quincy Pondexter got the game's first rebound. And he's hit a three. But this Huskies lineup looks mighty small.

We just got the word that sophomore forward Quincy Pondexter will start tonight in place of Jon Brockman.

Brockman is still walking gingerly on his sprained ankle, but he's wearing basketball shoes instead of the protective plastic boot, so that's an upgrade since last time I saw him on Monday.

This will be Pondexter's first start since the seventh game of the season. He averaged 9.5 points per game, and is the team's No. 2 rebounder, averaging 4.6 boards.

Interesting story in the LA Daily News today, with some UCLA Bruins saying they'll be pulling for the Huskies tonight in their game against Cal.

For one, the Bruins would like to avenge their loss at Washington. For another, they remember the incident late in the game when Tim Morris retained possession for the Huskies by throwing the ball off of the face of Alfred Aboya.

The winner of tonight's UW-Cal game advances to meet No. 1 seed UCLA at 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

3:15: I've made it to Staples Center, almost three hours ahead of the 6 p.m. tip for the Huskies and Cal, and the opening of the Pacific-10 Conference tournament.

I'll click in here with any pregame news -- I assume we'll get some advance word on who Lorenzo Romar will put in the starting lineup to replace Jon Brockman, etc.

Then, usual drill: a halftime report, postgame notes and quotes, and of course your own reactions are always welcomed.

We're juggling this week's conversation(s) with Dave "The Groz" Grosby on KJR, 950-AM, due to the Pacific-10 Conference basketball tournament.

We'll be on today at 2:35 p.m. to preview the Huskies opening game against California. Then we're likely to meet up again Thursday afternoon to either preview the UW-UCLA game or to look back at the season and -- perhaps -- to feel for a pulse on NIT or CBI chances.

Today's conversation also will be streamed over the Internet.

One of the highlights of the first day of the Pacific-10 Conference survey is a feature by Oakland Tribune reporter Jeff Faraudo, who polls the Pac-10 basketball writers on a variety of topics around the league -- some serious, some a bit more whimsical.

This season's survey, for example, found that Kevin Love is the league's top play, Cal's Ben Braun is the league's most endangered coach, and Oregon's Pit Crew student section make up the league's most classless fans.

A look at the full story from the survey. And here's a Faraudo follow-up with more opinions from the writers.

Here's my preview story of Washington's game vs. California.

Here's my look at all 10 tournament team.

And here's an Oakland Tribune preview from the Golden Bears' point of view, and another from the Mercury News.

Here's an early look at Washington's tournament opening game against Cal:

NO. 9 CALIFORNIA (15-14 OVERALL, 6-12 PAC-10)
VS. NO. 8 WASHINGTON (16-15, 7-11)
6 p.m., Staples Center, Los Angeles.

TV: FSN (joined in progress following Sonics game).
Radio: 950-AM.
Series: UW leads, 74-72. The teams split this season, with Cal winning 79-75 on Feb. 2 in Seattle, and UW winning 87-84 on March 1 in Berkeley, Calif. This is their first meeting in the Pac-10 tournament.
Statistical leaders: For Cal, F Ryan Anderson, 21.5 ppg and 9.9 rpg; G Jerome Randle, 3.9 apg. For UW, G Ryan Appleby, 11.5 ppg; F Quincy Pondexter, 4.6 rpg (F Jon Brockman leads both categories, but isn’t expected to play); G Venoy Overton, 3.3 apg.
Scouting report: Brockman is doubtful due to a sprained left ankle suffered Saturday at Washington State. … Each team would have to win this tournament to make the NCAA tournament, and both are considered on the bubble for NIT or CBI bids. … UW 7-foot center Joe Wolfinger scored a career-high 17 points, including four 3-pointers, the last time these teams met. Cal coach Ben Braun said defensive adjustments will be made to guard against a repeat performance. … Cal leads the Pac-10 with a 77.5 scoring average. The Golden Bears also lead the league and are second nationally in free throw percentage (78.3 percent), while UW ranks last in the league and second-to-last nationally (57.5). … Anderson was named first-team All-Pac-10, and is the Pac-10’s second-leading scorer. … Last season, Cal entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed and advanced to the semifinals with wins over No. 9 Oregon State and No. 1 UCLA. … The Bears ended their regular season in Los Angles with an overtime loss to USC and a one-point loss to UCLA. … Cal center DeVon Hardin, who sat out the UCLA game with a hip flexor strain, is expected to play.
Next: Winner meets No. 1 UCLA at 2:30 p.m. Thursday; loser is eliminated.

And a quick look at the rest of the participants:

No. 1 UCLA (28-3 overall, 16-2 Pac-10) Opens 2:30 p.m. Thursday vs. Washington-California winner: Even in an improved Pac-10, the Bruins are pulling away from the field. Two seasons ago, they won the regular season title by one game. Last season they won it by two. And this season by three over Stanford. However, the Final Four-bound Bruins were upset in their Pac-10 tournament opener last season. Coach Ben Howland says they want both titles this time.

No. 2 Stanford (24-6, 13-5) Opens 8:30 p.m. Thursday vs. Arizona-OSU winner: The Cardinal staggered to the finish, barely surviving UW and WSU at home before being swept by the Los Angeles schools last week. However, Pac-10 coach of the year Trent Johnson has the Lopez twins towering in the middle, and that means a challenge for anyone.

No. 3 Washington State (23-7, 11-7) Opens 6 p.m. Thursday vs. Oregon: Looking back at the regular season, coach Tony Bennett said he is proud of how his team dealt with unprecedented expectations and also with how they played their way out of a mid-season run of three straight home losses. The Cougars are certain of another NCAA tournament invitation, but their path to the Sweet 16 would likely be easier than their probable Oregon-Stanford-UCLA path to the Pac-10 tournament title.

No. 4 Southern California (20-10, 11-7) Opens noon Thursday vs. Arizona State: The Trojans head into this tournament as the final Pac-10 team seemingly assured of going on to the Big Dance regardless of what happens this week. And that’s fortunate, because this week began amid distracting reports that coach Tim Floyd has been contacted about the job opening at Louisiana State. On Tuesday, Floyd wouldn’t confirm or deny contact, but he repeated that USC is “my last job.”

No. 5 Arizona State (19-11, 9-9) Opens noon Thursday vs. USC: Despite a fifth-place finish in what might be the nation’s best and deepest conference, the Sun Devils report to L.A. as an NCAA bubble team. Coach Herb Sendek believes his team already has done enough to merit an invitation, but he concedes that winning a game in the tournament would be safer than one-and-done.

No. 6 Oregon (18-12, 9-9) Opens 6 p.m. Thursday vs. WSU: The Ducks are the defending tournament champion and the only two-time champion since the tournament was reinstated in 2002. However, Oregon also projects as an NCAA bubble team. And this senior-dominated team might need another trip to the Big Dance to secure coach Ernie Kent’s job.

No. 7 Arizona (18-13, 8-10) Opens 8:30 tonight vs. Oregon State: The Wildcats might need a couple of wins to extend their 23-season streak of NCAA tournament appearances. They should benefit from the expected return of point guard Nic Wise. However, these will be the Wildcats final games under interim coach Kevin O’Neill, as Lute Olson announced this week that he will return as head coach at the end of the season. O’Neill greeted the news as “great,” but he hasn’t committed to sticking around as an Arizona assistant.

No. 10 Oregon State (6-24, 0-18) Opens 8:30 p.m. vs. Arizona: This is an instant rematch for the Beavers, who faced the Wildcats last Thursday and were handed their heads, 81-45. Unless interim coach Kevin Mouton can think up a 36-point adjustment, OSU will end its historically dismal season on a 21-game losing streak.

I'm in Los Angeles for the Wednesday start of the Pac-10 Conference men's basketball tournament.

On the same plane down from Sea-Tac ... the Washington State Cougars, who begin play Thursday against Oregon.

They were kind enough to give 6-foot-11 senior Robbie Cowgill an exit row.

UW coach Lorenzo Romar reported today that leading scorer and rebounder Jon Brockman remains hobbled by his sprained left ankle.

Romar said that if the Pac-10 tournament opener against California were held today, Brockman certainly couldn't play. And he remains doubtful that Brockman will be able to play tomorrow, when the tournament actually begins.

Meanwhile, Cal coach Ben Braun seemed skeptical that Brockman won't be able to go, said that his team will practice with the assumption that Brockman will play, and that even if Brockman doesn't play, he expects other Huskies to step up to fill the void.

Tipoff is 6 p.m. Wednesday. FSN will join the game in progress after the conclusion of the Sonics game.

By the way, another honor came Brockman's way, being named to the all-district team of the United States Basketball Writers Association.

The updated NIT-ology Web site still has the Huskies on the bubble but in the National Invitation Tournament, which should project them solidly in the College Basketball Invitational.

The current projected bracket shows the Huskies opening at Syracuse. Oddly, the two teams met earlier this season in the NIT Preseason Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden, with the Orange winning, 91-85.

Coach Lorenzo Romar said Monday that Jon Brockman -- Washington's leading scorer and rebounder -- is doubtful for the Pac-10 tournament-opening game against California. (Here is the story from today's paper.)

Brockman, who is still walking in boot and on crutches, agreed.

"'Doubtful' was a word that was used, and I think that’s a pretty good way to put it," Brockman said. "But it’s not a shut door by any means. ... (The medical staff) also said if it’s tollerable, give it a go. But at the same time, not being able to walk, I don’t think it would be verysmart to step on the court and try to contribute when I would just be hurting the team.

"I’ll be involved doing whatever I can, whatever the team needs. It’s a good team and they know they can do it without me. It’s not impossible by any means. I played 23 minutes in the last Cal game and didn’t have a major impact and guys stepped up and made big plays."

No one seemed sure if Brockman would be able to play later in the week, if the Huskies advance. However, Romar said he thinks Brockman would be ready to play in the postseason, if either an NIT or CBI invitation comes on Sunday.

The Pac-10 announced their basketball honors lists Monday. UW forward Jon Brockman was selected to the second team.

“There’s a lot of great, great players on that list,” Brockman said. “… It would be cool to be first team -- I’m not saying I didn’t want that. But it’s an honor to be even mentioned on the list.”

The only other Husky honored was guard Venoy Overton, an all-freshman honorable mention.

“Honorable mention is just people heard about you, and that’s not too much,” said Overton, who played last season at Seattle’s Franklin High School. “I knew I would have had to average 20 if I was going to make first team. The players that came in, I knew, they basically had their spots on lock.”

Here is the News Tribune story, and here is the Pac-10 release.

A few highlights: UCLA's Kevin Love named Pac-10 Player of the Year and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.

UCLA's Russell Westbrook named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year.

Stanford's Trent Johnson named Pac-10 Coach of the Year.

The honors were determined by a vote of the league coaches, who were not permitted for vote for themselves or their own players.

This ESPN column by Pat Forde depicts the Huskies as the most disappointing team in the Pac-10 this season.

But are they? Back in the preseason media poll, the folks who cover Pac-10 basketball picked Washington eighth this season. And Washington finished eighth.

Here is the final Pac-10 regular season rankings, along with the preseason predicted finish:

1. UCLA (predicted 1)
2. Stanford (predicted 5)
3. WSU (predicted 2)
4. USC (predicted 6)
5. ASU (predicted 9)
6. Oregon (predicted 3)
7. Arizona (predicted 4)
8. Washington (predicted 8)
9. California (predicted 7)
10. Oregon State (predicted 10)

So, playing off of those expectations, the most disappointing teams in the league were Oregon and Arizona, each finishing three spots lower than expected.

UCLA, UW and Oregon State were the only teams finishing right where expected.

The biggest over-achiever was Arizona State, finishing four spots higher than expected.

Here's our weekly look back at the past week of UW basketball and a look ahead to what could be the final week of the season:

LAST WEEK
Washington lost in double overtime to rival Washington State, 76-73. If that wasn’t enough, leading scorer and rebounder Jon Brockman suffered an ankle injury and is listed as questionable for this week. (Without any particular inside information, I think "doubtful" is probably more accurate.) UW ended regular season at 16-15 overall and 7-11 in the Pac-10, eighth in the league.

SOMETHING TO BUILD ONThe Huskies actually had a relatively good game from the foul line, hitting 14 of 20 free throws (70 percent). Freshmen Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Venoy Overton looked comfortable in a high-pressure environment. Washington dominated the boards, outrebounding the Cougars, 47-29.

SOMETHING TO WORK ON
UW committed 22 turnovers, which coach Lorenzo Romar identified as the smoking gun. After two breakout games, Joe Wolfinger managed only a 3-pointer and a couple of rebounds. Someone – and perhaps several someones – will have to step up if Brockman can’t play or is limited.

THE WEEK AHEAD
The eighth-seeded Huskies will open the Pac-10 tournament at 6 p.m. Wednesday against ninth-seeded California. The teams split in the regular season: Cal winning 79-75 on Feb. 2 in Seattle, UW winning 87-84 on March 1 at Cal. The winner advances to face top-seeded UCLA on Thursday.

POSTSEASON OUTLOOK
The Huskies’ hopes took multiple hits Saturday. They were denied a road win against a ranked opponent, a guaranteed winning record and a Pac-10 tournament-opening pairing against Oregon State. And if a marquee player like Brockman is out long, even the CBI may back off of the Huskies. My hunch is that UW probably needs to beat Cal to make the postseason.

Doctors today confirmed that Jon Brockman suffered a left ankle sprain yesterday at Washington State.

He is considered questionable for Wednesday, when Washington opens the Pac-10 tournament vs. California.

We're expected to get an update on Jon Brockman's ankle injury later today, and of course I'll pass it along on the blog as quickly as I hear.

However, nothing looked very encouraging at the arena last night. It's unusual to see the big guy down ... he later said it was the first time he had to be taken out of a game since his freshman season when he suffered a concussion.

Then it was very sobering to see him hobbling out of the arena on crutches.

In between, the Huskies said all the right things. They think -- and hope -- that it's only a sprain, and if so, Brockman vowed to play (see blog post below).

However, we all know from following sports or from personal experience that sprains aren't nothing. They can certainly keep you out of action -- or limit you -- for more than a week, and that may suddenly be all that remains in the Huskies' season.

The Huskies will return to action Wednesday in in the Pac-10 tournament against California. The teams split two close games during the regular season with Brockman healthy. But the No. 8-seeded Huskies would become underdogs to the No. 9-seeded Bears if Brockman can't go or goes at much less than full strength.

And suddenly that game looms as potentially critical to UW's postseason chances. UW now stands at 16-15. A win Wednesday guarantees them a winning record heading into selection Sunday one week from today.

However, a loss makes the Huskies a .500 team -- and potentially worse, a .500 team without its best player. In that circumstance, even a CBI invitation seems suddenly uncertain.

Washington State won in double overtime, 76-73, when a last-chance Ryan Appleby 3-point attmept bounced off.

"It felt good when it left my hand," Dentmon said. "But I didn’t have time to square it all the way up. It was kind of grab it and shoot it on the run."

Here is Todd Milles' game story.

Had the Huskies won, they would have moved up to the No. 7 seed, which would have given them an opening-round date against Oregon State, the first team to go 0-18 in league play.

Instead, as No. 8 seeds, the Huskies will open the tournament at 6 p.m. Wednesday against No. 9 California, a team they split with during the regular season.

Increasing the degree of difficulty, UW may have to do it without leading scorer and rebounder Jon Brockman, who went down with an ankle injury that leaves his status for this week uncertain.

Not surprisingly, that was the No. 1 topic of conversation after the game.

Here's some of what was said:

BROCKMAN
It looks like it’s just a pretty good sprain. Hopefully, that’s it: just a sprain.

I couldn’t play right now. But we’ve started treating it already and we’ll just treat it non-stop until then. If it’s just sprained, I’m playing. You can play on a sprained ankle. You just put so much tape on it it’s like a cast, and you can play. I’ll be out there if it’s just a sprain.

I just remember going up for a rebound and my left foot just turned right over. I don’t know if I landed on someone’s foot or what happened. I remember getting it good, though. I turnedit over about all the way I could.

Sprains are always different. Some of them hurt like crazy and after a minute it just stops and your all right. This hurts pretty good still. I haven’t sprained it like this since high school.

I would have gone back in if I could have walked. But I couldn’t put any weight on it, I can’t put any weight on it, so… I tried.

COACH LORENZO ROMAR ON BROCKMAN
Sprained ankle. You know how those things go after 48 hours you have a better idea of what it’s going to be. ... I'm taking the position that he's going to play.

ROMAR ON CAL
I’m still getting over this loss here. We’ll meet as a staff and talk about Cal later.

I think our team feels pretty confident right now. I think our team understands that if we can control our effort and focus we’ve got a good chance to be successful. There were times this year that we weren’t sure.

JUSTIN DENTMON ON BROCKMAN
I think we really need him. It’s going to be hard for us to win without him, but I think if we all pull together as a team we can do it.

VENOY OVERTON ON BROCKMAN
He’s fine. He’ll be all right. He’s a tough guy.

Taylor Rochestie missed a 3-to win, but Robbie Cowgill got the rebound and put it back to tie it at 67.

UW let a 58-54 lead get away in the final minute.

So now they'll play an extra five minutes, tied at 58.

The Cougars ended the half on a 10-0 run to take the lead. Before that, the Cougars had been up 26-20 and the crowd was drifting out of the game.

Both teams missed a lot of open shots in the half, but WSU ended hot and leads in shooting percentage, .423-.379. Washington is dominating the boards, 24-13. The Huskies have turned the ball over eight times, the Cougars only three times.

All of the ifs and buts of this morning have given away to clarity.

Now that Arizona State has put away surprisingly pesky Oregon State it comes down to this:

If UW beats Washington State they will finish seventh in league seeding and will open against OSU -- 0-18 OSU -- in their Pac-10 tournament opener Wednesday.

If the Huskies lose, they will finish with an eighth seed and will open the tournament Wednesday against Cal, who they split with during the regular season.

4:30: This historic WSU senior class has just been introduced. The crowd is into it. Heeeeere we go...

3:15 p.m.: The WSU student section is settled in, well over an hour before the 4:30 tip. They seem in good voice, heartily booing first Jon Brockman, then Justin Dentmon and now Joe Wolfinger and Joel Smith as the first Huskies are wandering out for early warm-ups.

Usual drill today: I'll click in with any pregame news as it develops. Then give a quick halftime update, and then return after the game with notes and quotes and a look ahead to the Pac-10 tournament pairings.

Two games into the five-game Pac-10 schedule, and a pair of fascinating results ... both with some implications for the Huskies and Cougars.

In the first game, Southern California beat Stanford. That means that Washington State will be playing for Pac-10 tournament seeding when they tip at 4:30 against the Huskies. A WSU win makes the Cougs the No. 3 seed, but they fall to No. 4 with a loss.

Then UCLA came from behind again, this time against Cal. That means that Washington will certainly finish ahead of the Golden Bears and no lower than eighth in the league ... even is they lose today. (That would make Cal their opening opponent in the Pac-10 tournament Wednesday.) With a win they would almost certainly finish seventh, which would mean a first-round Pac-10 game against currently winless Oregon State.

The latest version of NIT-ology has the Huskies as the 32nd and final team invited (although with a fascinating projected opening match: at Florida).

However, that outer-edge-of-the-bubble status emphasizes just how big a victory today in Pullman would be, and how damaging a loss might be.

Anyway, I'm about to board my putt-putt-puttering little prop plane over the mountains and will -- hopefully -- file this afternoon from WSU.

Meanwhile, the scouting report:

WASHINGTON (16-14 OVERALL, 7-10 PAC-10)
AT NO. 23 WASHINGTON STATE (22-7, 10-7)
4:30 p.m., Friel Court, Pullman.

TV: FSN.
Radio: 950-AM

Series: UW leads, 167-97. However, WSU has matched a school record with six straight wins in the series, including 56-52 in the first meeting this season, Jan. 5 in Seattle.

Statistical leaders: For UW, F Jon Brockman, 17.6 ppg and 11.6 rpg; G Venoy Overton, 3.2 apg. For WSU, G Derrick Low, 13.8 ppg, C Aron Baynes, 5.8 ppg, G Taylor Rochestie, 4.6 apg.

Scouting report: The Cougars lead the league in scoring defense (55.4 ppg), while the Huskies are fourth in scoring offense (73 ppg). … WSU also leads the league in turnover margin and has committed a league-low 10.2 tunovers per game. UW leads the Pac-10 in offensive rebounds. … Brockman has a league-high 21 double-doubles, including 17 in his last 21 games. His 347 rebounds are the most at UW since Steve Hawes’ school-record 386 in 1971. … UW 7-footer Joe Wolfinger, who didn’t get off the bench in the first WSU game, has scored 29 points over his last two games. … UW freshman Justin Holiday (ankle, knee) returned to practice Thursday and is cleared to play. … This is WSU Senior Day, as the home crowd will say goodbye to Low, Kyle Weaver, Robbie Cowgill, Jeremy Cross and Chris Henry. … WSU will establish a home season attendance record today, starting the day 753 spectators short of the current record of 110,206.

Next: Pacific-10 Conference tournament, Wednesday through March 15, Staples Center, Los Angeles.

The Huskies leave for Pullman at about 5:30 this evening.

Before going, coach Lorenzo Romar shared one piece of news: that freshman Justin Holiday returned to practice yesterday and is cleared to play Saturday at Washington State.

As far as the stakes, the Huskies will head into the Pac-10 tournament next week seeded...

No. 6 with a win over WSU, an Arizona win at Oregon, and an Arizona State loss at Oregon State.

No. 7 with a win and an ASU win.

No. 8 with a loss and a California loss to UCLA.

No. 9 with a loss and a Cal win.

The Pac-10 tournament opens Wednesday with the No. 7 seed meeting No. 10, and No. 8 meeting No. 9. The other teams get a bye into the second round on Thursday, which will pair the No. 4 and 5 seeds, the No. 8/9 winner against No. 1 seed UCLA, the No. 3 and 6 seeds, and the No. 7/10 winner vs. No. 2 Stanford.

I'll be having my weekly conversation with Dave "The Groz" Grosby at 2:35 today on KJR, 950-AM. Likely topics would be UW's encouraging Bay Area trip of last week, the Apple Cup of basketball tomorrow, a look ahead to the Pac-10 tournament, and the completion of Tyrone Willingham's football staff. Plenty. As usual.

The conversation also will be streamed over the Internet.

The Huskies and Cougars were only interested bystanders Thursday, while four other Pac-10 games played out.

But the result of those four games added intrigue to the Apple Cup of basketball at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Pullman.

UCLA's win over Stanford on Thursday wrapped up a third-straight Pac-10 title for the Bruins.

However, it also gave the Huskies the second tie-breaker against any team they might yet catch in the standings.

If the Huskies win Saturday, they would tie the loser of the Arizona-Oregon game, and they would also catch Arizona State if the Sun Devils somehow lost to Oregon State.

The first tie-breaker for Pac-10 tournament seeding is head-to-head competition. However, because Washington split with the Sun Devils, Ducks and Wildcats, they would have to move on to the second tie-breaker: record against the highest-ranked opponent. Because Washington split with champion UCLA, while the other three teams were swept, the tie-breaker would go to UW.

That means that if UW beats WSU on Saturday, the Huskies would move up in the standings: either to seventh place, which would mean a Wednesday opening game against the Pac-10-winless Beavers; or they could even jump as high as sixth, thereby avoiding a Wednesday game altogether. (However, that would depend on ASU losing to OSU plus the complication of a multi-team tie-breaker, which is the results of collective head-to-head competition among the tied teams.)

If UW loses to WSU, they would remain in eighth place -- unless the Golden Bears beat UCLA -- but in either case would open the tournament at 6 p.m. Wednesday vs. Cal.

As for the Cougars, they slipped ito a third-place tie with Southern California by virtue of the Trojans' overtime win over the Golden Bears. That means a WSU loss to the Huskies combined with a USC win over Stanford would drop the Cougars into fourth place. However, if both WSU and USC win or if they both lose, then the Cougars would become the No. 3 seed due to their head-to-head sweep of the Trojans.

Here are the current conference standings:
UCLA 15-2
Stanford 13-4
WSU 10-7
USC 10-7
ASU 8-9
Arizona 8-9
Oregon 8-9
Washington 7-10
California 6-11
OSU 0-17

Here is the Saturday schedule:
11 a.m., Stanford at USC, CBS
12:30 p.m., Cal at UCLA, ABC
2:30 p.m., ASU at OSU, FSN
4:30 p.m., UW at WSU, FSN
7:30 p.m., Arizon at Oregon, FSN

And here is a link to the Pac-10 tournament Web site.

That was kind of the point of my column today.

Here's a skimmer's version for the blog:

The Pac-10 title: This issue will likely be settled tonight when the league’s top two teams meet: No. 7 Stanford at No. 3 UCLA (8 p.m. on FSN). The Bruins’ current one-game lead can be traced back to their Jan. 24 win at Stanford, 76-67. However, UCLA coach Ben Howland is quick to point out that Cardinal forward Brook Lopez was relatively new to his team then, just having cleared up his academic problems. Now he is up to full speed – perhaps the best player in a conference that is stuffed with good players. Still, the hunch here is that the fully focused Bruins playing at home will defend their conference title.

All-conference team: Nine Pac-10 players project as first-round NBA picks, so that means at least four ultra-talented players won’t merit a spot on the all-league first team. That overload of skill makes it almost impossible to pick a clear all-league five. However, it also makes it pretty difficult to be far wrong. I’d line them up like this: an all-freshman backcourt of Arizona’s Jerryd Bayless and Southern California’s O.J. Mayo, and a frontcourt of UCLA’s Kevin Love, Stanford’s Brook Lopez and Cal’s Ryan Anderson. Having watched Washington’s hyper-productive Jon Brockman all season, there may be no greater indication of the league’s strength this season than my inability to fit him on the first team. Or UCLA’s Russell Westbrook, who might be a lottery pick. Or any Cougar. What a league.

Player of the year: Once again, there are a lot of solid cases to be made. And if the award were called “most valuable player,” it was be hard to bypass Brockman. But it’s called “player of the year,” and I think the most skilled, most game-dictating player I saw this season was Brook Lopez, who is averaging 19.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in league play.

Freshman of the year: The best freshman I saw opposite the Huskies this year was Bayless, who has the versatility and fluid game of a Brandon Roy. However, based on the total Pac-10 season, there’s just no overlooking Love’s 18 points, 11.9 rebounds, 58.4 shooting percentage, 1.25 blocked shots and his team-oriented outlook.

Coach of the year: No one did more with less than ASU’s Herb Sendek. In only his second season after starting on the ground floor, the Sun Devils’ rebuilding is ahead of schedule: 18-10 overall, 8-8 in the league, a sweep of the arch rival Arizona Wildcats and on the NCAA bubble. Assuming freshman James Harden returns, Arizona State could climb among the league’s elites next season.

Post-season chances: UCLA, Stanford and Washington State already have punched their tickets to the Big Dance, and Southern California seems certain to join them. However, each of the Arizona schools likely need at least one more win, and the Wildcats might need two in order to extend their 23-season streak of NCAA tournament appearances. Oregon could get on the bubble by sweeping the Arizona schools. Washington, California and – heh, heh – Oregon State would need to win the Pac-10 tournament to make the Big Dance. However, Washington has worked its way onto the NIT bubble and may have already done enough to satisfy the College Basketball Invitational. Cal seems CBI-bound unless the Bears do something special in L.A. – either in their final regular season games this week and/or in the league tournament next week. Let’s say six NCAA bids, one NIT, and two CBI with only the bad-news Beavers sitting home.

Coaching changes: There could be a surprising amount of coaching turnover for such a solid league. At WSU and USC, the success of Tony Bennett and Tim Floyd already has gotten the attention of suitors: Indiana in Bennett’s case; Louisiana State in Floyd’s. Something also will have to resolve at Arizona where Lute Olson’s possible return would force interim coach Kevin O’Neill to decide whether to return one seat down the Arizona bench or try for more elsewhere. Meanwhile, interim coach Kevin Mouton will be replaced at OSU, while Oregon’s Ernie Kent and Cal’s Ben Braun may be coaching for their lives this week and next.

As expected, UW officially announced today that Steve Gervais of Puyallup and most recently Skyline High will join the football staff.

Here is our story from today. And here is the UW release.

And here are a few comments from their Wednesday afternoon press conference.

Willingham on the hiring: Having a son in the (Skyline High School) program made it even easier to see the fine points and the attention to detail and all those things. With my patience, it became a pretty simple process to select someone that I respect and think will be a great coach in our program.

Willingham on giving Gervais duties for running backs: With is background, he’s seen a lot of things, and there are a lot of areas he could potentially coach. But I felt like ... this is one that he’d be able to fit in.

Gervais on leaving high school coaching after three decades: At this time in my life think it’s a new opportunity, and it’s a tremendous challenge in my life, and both of those went together very well. I think it’s something that I’m ready for and I’m very excited about.

Gervais on fitting in on the staff: A lot of the things I coached in my program, are things coach Willingham teaches here as far as working with young people. And so, I think my personality fits. I agree with what he believes, so it’s very easy for me to work for a man and a program that represents the same things that I tried to teach to my kids.

Gervais on the UW running backs: They have some very young and exciting athletes here. In working with the running backs I’m excited. They’re very young, but they’re talented. I just feel like I’ve gotten to know coach (Tim) Lappano very quickly, and I’m excited to work under him and what they’re offensive system is about. Working for both of these gentlemen is a great opportunity.

Gervais on moving from high school to college: Anyone that’s a high school coach looks at college football and looks at is as a great thing if it ever came about. But realistically with my life I was always committed that I was going to coach through my sons (time in high school) and if it ended at that point, it ended at that point. Had this job not come up with the university I would still be coaching at Skyline, no doubt about it.

Gervais on the reaction of other high school coaches: I think my peers are very very excited for me. In a way, I represent a lot of high school coaches. I think they’re excited that somebody in their profession at that level is having the opportunity to move on and work at the collegiate level. It’s a strong group of coaches and I think we all support each other and a lot of them are very happy for me to have this opportunity.

Gervais on what he can contribute: I’ve been watching a lot of film the last two days and I think there are a lot of great things going on offensively here at the university. My first responsibility is to work with these running backs and help them be the very best that they can be on the field. Washington does some shotgun and there may be some things I can contribute or add, but I think their package is very solid offensively and I’m just excited to be a part of it.

Gervais on what won't change: I’m always challenged by the next game. And so whether that’s the next game at Oregon or another high school game, I would have been challenged by that as long as I’m coaching, and I will coach as long as I’m challenged.

Here's my UW basketball story from today's paper, on the progress of 7-foot sophomore center Joe Wolfinger.

Meanwhile, here is a note from News Tribune reporter Todd Milles, who covers WSU athletics:

With Washington State University students set to leave at the end of the week for Spring Break, men's basketball coach Tony Bennett said at one point last summer, he thought the game with Washington on Saturday afternoon would be moved to a new date.

Then he sort of put the topic on the back burner.

"(Bennett and the WSU administration) talked about playing this Wednesday ... but (the Huskies) were on their tour in Europe," Bennett said Tuesday during his weekly teleconference with reporters. "I think he would have been open to it."

WSU is riding a six-game winning streak against the Huskies, including an earlier 56-52 victory Jan. 5 in Seattle to open the Pacific-10 Conference season.

Bennett noted his school's administration will keep the dormitories open throughout the weekend in hopes of keeping students around. Fox Sports Northwest will televise the game Saturday with a 4:30 p.m. tipoff at Friel Court.

Forward Jon Brockman, UW's leading scorer and rebounder, on Tuesday was named first-team all-district by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Here is the Go.Huskies.com release and here is the full list:

NABC ALL-DISTRICT 14 TEAMS

First Team
Brook Lopez, Stanford
Ryan Anderson, California
Jon Brockman, Washington
Kyle Weaver, Washington State
Derrick Low, Washington State

Second Team
Jeremy Pargo, Gonzaga
Jaycee Carroll, Utah State
Malik Hairston, Oregon
Patrick Mills, St. Mary’s
Maarty Leunen, Oregon

The NIT-ology Web site has moved the Huskies into the projected field of the tournament that rejected them last season.

The Huskies' split in the Bay Area has moved them from "Bubble-Likely CBI" to "Bubble-In" based on results through Monday. The projected bracket shows UW as No. 7 seeds who would travel to New Mexico to meet the Lobos in first-round NIT action.

Washington has one regular-season game -- Saturday at Washington State -- and at least one Pac-10 Tournament game remaining. My hunch is that at least one more win would keep the Huskies viable for the NIT field, two losses might still be enough for the CBI, and it would still likely take winning the Pac-10 tournament to get to the Big Dance.

Not a lot of news out of the Huskies today. However, coach Lorenzo Romar said that even though freshman Justin Holiday (ankle, knee) wasn't ready to return to practice Monday, he is expected to travel with the team to Pullman for the game Saturday at Washington State.

Skyline High School head coach Steve Gervais has told his team that he will become the new running backs coach at Washington, according to Dawgman.com.

Gervais’ teams have won six state championships and more than 235 games over his three-decade coaching career.

He was born in Puyallup, and he attended Puyallup High School and Oregon State University. He has coached at Skyline, Rogers, Gig Harbor and Eatonville high schools.

Gervais has been named high school coach of the year for the western region of the United States, was KingCo 3A coach of the year in 2000, KingCo 4A coach of the year in 2004 and was inducted into the Washington State High School Football Coaches’ Hall of Fame in 2005.

The hire would complete Willingham’s staff for the coming season. Willingham earlier named Ed Donatell as his new defensive coordinator and Brian White as tight ends/special teams coach.

Here's our Tuesday story, which includes a little extra information.

(And, by the way, there seems to be no doubt that these reports are correct, however, the official word may not come for a few days.)

Things got more interesting for the Huskies last week, and they'll get more interesting this week.

UW will get to watch as an interested observer on Thursday before getting back into action Saturday in Pullman.

Here are the highlights:

LAST WEEK
Washington (16-14 overall, 7-10 Pac-10) played well against Stanford and California, but beat only the Bears. That’s about as good as it gets on the Bay Area trip, which the Huskies haven’t swept since 1985. Even at that, UW finds hope in improved play as the Pac-10 tournament nears.

SOMETHING TO BUILD ON
Sophomore center Joe Wolfinger emerged with 29 points over the two games, including a career-high 17 at Cal. Quincy Pondexter and Justin Dentmon continue to upgrade their games off the bench. At Cal, the Huskies found a way to win despite a limited contribution from Jon Brockman.

SOMETHING TO WORK ON
Well, there’s free-throw shooting, which was bad (19-of-37) yet again. Wolfinger’s offensive potential is encouraging, but he remains a defensive and rebounding liability. California out-rebounded the Huskies, 38-30. Brockman needs to avoid fouls so he can stay on the floor.

THE WEEK AHEAD
The Huskies have the whole week to prepare for their regular-season finale, Saturday at Washington State. The Cougars have won six straight in the series, but UW was competitive in the first game (56-52, WSU) and seems to be playing better now. Justin Holiday (ankle, knee) is expected back.

POSTSEASON OUTLOOK
Washington is assured of a winning regular season, and that might be enough to get into the CBI. UW ranks eighth in the Pac-10 (assuming Oregon beats Oregon State tonight) heading into the final week, but only a half game out of sixth. Seventh would mean Oregon State as the opponent in the Pac-10 opening round. Sixth would mean a bye on the first day of the tournament. Both very inviting incentives.

I was almost alone with the Tar Heels at the top of my ballot last week. I expect I'll have some company this week.

Here's what I sent:

1. North Carolina
2. Memphis
3. Kansas
4. UCLA
5. Duke
6. Tennessee
7. Stanford
8. Georgetown
9. Wisconsin
10. Texas
11. Indiana
12. Drake
13. Butler
14. Xavier
15. Vanderbilt
16. Louisville
17. Michigan State
18. Notre Dame
19. Purdue
20. Connecticut
21. Washington State
22. Marquette
23. Gonzaga
24. Clemson
25. BYU

And now, here's how this week's poll turned out.

Here's our game story.

The Huskies were happy about their exciting win and their rise in the Pac-10 standings.

With the win, the Huskies move past Cal into tie for seventh in the Pac-10 standings, and they are within a game of Arizona.

The Huskies must have had plenty to talk about on their flight home ... which they shared with the WSU Cougars, their opponent next weekend.

Star of the game: Washington 7-footer Joe Wolfinger scored a career-high 17 points in 18 minutes. He did it with perfect shooting: 6-of-6 from the field including 4-of-4 on 3-pointers, and 1-of-1 from the foul line.

Key stats: Washington scored 44 points in the paint, the stat that Cal coach Ben Braun considered decisive. … The Huskies shot 53.2 percent from the field. … UW’s 49 first-half points were the most this Pac-10 season. … Washington had only one first-half turnover and ended with six. … Cal out-rebounded UW, 38-30.

Key run: Washington had a seven-point lead about four minutes into the second half, when Jon Brockman went out with his fourth foul. When Brockman returned to the court 10 minutes later, the Huskies were still up by seven.

Observations: All 10 Huskies scored. … Brockman had four rebounds, matching the season-low he set in the previous game against Cal. … Wolfinger had no rebounds. … Ryan Appleby hit four 3-pointers in the first half, but none in the second. … Former Husky and Sacramento Kings rookie Spencer Hawes was in attendance.

Quotable: “It was fun to watch. It wasn’t fun sitting there. It wasn’t fun not being able to contribute. But I was really proud of our guys for doing what they did.” – Brockman on the Huskies’ play while he was on the bench.

Next: 4:30 p.m. Saturday, at No. 22 Washington State, Friel Court, Pullman.

Wow. Happy Senior Day DeVon Hardin.

In his final home game, Cal senior center has looked like the NBA prospect he was supposed to be, going off for a 16-point half ... and eight rebounds. Jon Brockman has eight points.

However, UW's balanced scoring has more than made up for it so far. Nine Huskies have scored -- everyone but Joel Smith -- led by Ryan Appleby's 14 ... including four 3-pointers.

Cal's Ryan Anderson has been mostly a non-factor with four points.

Both teams are shooting well: UW 54 percent, Cal 53.6. However, the Golden Bears have a solid advantage on the boards, 20-13.

UW hit six of eight on 3-pointers (75 percent), but three of five from the foul line (60 percent).

The Huskies and Golden Bears are on the court, warming up for their 3 p.m. game.

Cal wing Patrick Christopher, the Bears No. 2 scorer, is taking part, perhaps a bit gingerly due to a hip injury that has him officially questionable for today. From the looks of things, I'd say he'll play, but at less than 100 percent.

By the way, former Husky and current Sacramento Kings rookine Spencer Hawes is in attendance.

News Tribune reporter Doug Pacey spoke at the Tacoma Dome last night with Bobby Brett, owner of the Bellingham Bells, the baseball team UW quarterback Jake Locker will play with this summer. (Here is our coverage from today's paper.)

On how many games will Locker play: "I don't know. The plan is for him to get his football stuff done and play baseball when he can. He shouldn't miss many games, though."

On if he'll play in away games: "He will travel depending on his schedule."

Brett, by the way, is the brother of George Brett, the former great Kansas City Royal. Bobby Brett's son, Beau, has a baseball scholarship to USC.

Here is a link to the Bells' Web site, complete with summer schedule.

There's no telling what tournament selection committees might do. But the sheer math of wins and losses makes this much clear: the Huskies, at 15-14, need another win to finish this regular season above .500, and the assumption is it might come easier today at California than when the regular season ends one week from today at Washington State. Especially in light of the Golden Bears' odd 2-6 record at Haas Pavilion in Pac-10 play, detailed here by the Oakland Tribune.

The Huskies seemed in good spirts at practice Friday, taking turns in a dunk contest. The best I saw was by Joel Smith.

Today's game will be on FSN.

As usual, I'll file with any pregame news, then give in-game updates, and then report back afterward with notes and quotes.