Turmoil In The Pacific
The most exciting college sports action is going down this weekend in Los Angeles and this time there's no pigskin involved. The Pac 10 Men's Basketball Tournament is taking place Staples Center. It's a little like that awkward moment just before the Big Dance. It can be expensive to go, you wish you were with one of those cheerleaders, somebody already got upset (big time), and somebody hopes to get lucky. Come to think of it, this is that awkward moment just before the Big Dance.
Tonight's semifinal action tips off with Cal vs. Oregon at 6:00pm on FSN. The teams split their season series, including a major upset by the Bears less than a month ago at home. With one of the nation's toughest conferences, the Pac 10 may send six teams to the NCAA Tournament (UCLA, USC, Washington State, Oregon, Arizona, and maybe Stanford). Cal's only hope to keep playing this season is to keep winning. If they can take their next two games (and the Pac 10 championship), the Bears secure a spot in the Big Dance and eliminate their hated rivals over on The Farm.
If that's not enough to get you to watch, the first game will be followed by USC vs. Washington State at 8:30pm (also on FSN). The Trojans have been frustrated by two losses this year against the Cougars by a combined five points. The second one came just six days ago and ended in a double overtime shouting match between the two head coaches.
It may get exciting tonight, but you should have seen the action last night. More after the jump ...
Cal 76, UCLA 69, OT - In the biggest shocker of the tournament, #8 seed Cal upset #1 seed UCLA. The Bears jumped out to a 16 point lead in the first half, only to see the Bruins surge back and lead by as many as 4 in the second. Cal tied the game with 16 seconds to play, and UCLA forced an ugly shot that left the teams playing a surprising 5 minutes of overtime. Cal dominated the extra frame and won this rematch of last year's conference championship game.
USC 83, Stanford 79, OT - In the private-school version of the other OT game, the southern school also came back from a major deficit to force overtime. The difference in this game was that the southern squad won. USC, down by as many as 11, got a clutch shot from Nick Young with 10.6 seconds to go to force overtime. The Trojans never trailed again, and likely popped Stanford's bubble hopes.
Washington State 74, Washington 64 - In the third Thursday game to feature major scoreboard changes, Washington State controlled the first ten minutes and Washington controlled the second. In the second half, the Huskies began to falter and the Cougars easily slipped away in the last six and a half minutes. Washington State shot .522 from the field and beat Washington in second half turnover margin 14-8.
Oregon 69, Arizona 50 - The quarterfinal game expected to be closest turned out to be an easy victory. Both squads are expected to make the NCAA Tournament and split their season series. But in this match up, Oregon scored their first basket after 15 seconds and never relinquished the lead. They led by as many as 21 and finished with a 19 point victory to snap the Wildcat's three game winning streak.
AP photo by Matt Sayles.