Every year, with the release of the NCAA tournament bracket, there are hints that pundits across the country see the Pac-10 as a good, but not great, conference.
Last year, with five teams staking a legitimate claim to a No. 1 seed, it was the Pac-10 team, UCLA, that was left out, while teams from the supposed power conferences ““ the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12, Big East and Southeastern Conference ““ led the way.
This year things should be a little different.
As the 2007-2008 season gets under way, the Pac-10 is in the center of the national spotlight. The Pac-10 leads all conferences in national rankings, with six teams in the AP top 25. In comparison, the Big 12 and the Big East both have four, while the ACC and the SEC have three apiece.
A deep well of talent, strong coaching staffs and successful recruiting have earned the conference serious respect.
“Right now, the Pac-10 is comparable to the best years that I experienced in the ACC,” said Arizona State coach Herb Sendek, who used to coach at North Carolina State. “It’s deep top to bottom. The top has teams that are capable of being in the national championship. There’s no missing ingredients in the league.”
The conference is certainly the most competitive it has ever been as a whole in its history, boasting competitive teams from the one spot to the 10. While the Pac-10 has been strong and getting stronger, this year marks a big leap onto the national scene.
“Last year, I said the conference is the best it’s ever been,” said Arizona coach Lute Olson, who has recently gone on a leave of absence. “It was one of the best conferences in the country. This year it’s even better, with all the guys coming back. It’s far and away the best conference in the country and far and away the best it’s ever been.”
This year was huge in recruiting for the Pac-10, with the two highest-profile recruits in the entire country, center Kevin Love and guard O.J. Mayo, heading to UCLA and USC, respectively. Love and Mayo, who have been sharing center stage leading up to the season’s start, have both focused the national eye on the conference even more. The strength of the programs was a huge draw in bringing in Love and Mayo.
“I’ve really just seen, from what the players look like, that it’s the toughest conference in college basketball this year,” Mayo said. “And to have the opportunity to play in that ““ really go against the best ““ gives you the chance to see where you are as a ball player.”
For Love, the decision to come to UCLA had a lot to do with playing for coach Ben Howland and the strength of the conference.
“Most of the matchups in the Pac-10 are going to be huge,” Love said. “There’s the Lopez twins (Brook and Robin) at Stanford, (DeVon) Hardin and (Ryan) Anderson at Cal, (Jon) Brockman at Washington, Taj Gibson at USC ““ so many different players at each big-man position at each school in the Pac-10 that it will be good to go against. It will be beneficial to my game as well to make me better.”
Pac-10 coaches are recruiting on a national level, as demonstrated by Love and Mayo. As the conference has gotten stronger, the recruits coming in have gotten better and higher profile.
A large part of the improvement in the conference can be tied to defense. The two highest-ranked teams, No. 2 UCLA and No. 10 Washington State, are both known to be among the best defensive teams in the country.
“I think hopefully you’re seeing a changing of the guard a little from East Coast to West Coast,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. “Ben (Howland) came to this conference (and) really changed things defensively. You look at the the top three teams last year: UCLA was probably the best defensive team, or one of, in the country, Washington State one of the best in the country. … It really changed a lot for the conference.”
The only potential downside to the strength of the conference is the toughness of the schedule. An undefeated season is essentially unfathomable. However, the national recognition of the conference could also pay dividends come March.
“There are so many teams in the league that are so competitive,” Cal coach Ben Braun said. “As I’m gonna tell my players, that’s a plus, it’s not a minus. Because there are conferences around the country where one or two teams can get into a tournament, but ours five, six, seven, maybe eight, believe me, can get in.”
The Pac-10’s schedule of playing on Thursday and Saturday is preparation for March, as Howland noted, because of it’s similarity to the make-up of tournament play.
For those who have been around the Pac-10 for quite awhile, this year holds special excitement.
“I was fortunate enough to be a player in 1979, the first year that the two schools were added to the Pac-8,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. “I’ve followed the Pac-10 ever since, and I’ve never seen it this competitive from one to 10. There have been years when the top one through five teams have been very strong, but never have I seen it this strong.”