Win for losing?
USC could finish third in the Pac-10 if it defeats Stanford today and Washington upsets Washington State. But the Pac-10 Tournament schedule favors a fourth-place team.
If USC finishes fourth, it would open the Pac-10 Tournament on Thursday at noon and with a victory, would advance to the 6:40 p.m. semifinal on Friday. The third-place team would play at 6 p.m. Thursday and 8:40 p.m.Friday, which means the fourth-place team would have approximately eight more hours of rest.
Message to all LA sportswriters -- USC's success this season, despite an unbelievable array of injuries, represents a palpable climb up the ladder of college basketball. We finished ahead of Arizona, a team that sports two NBA first rounders. And, I woke up this morning to discover that a non-UCLA Pac-10 game is going to be carried nationwide on a network. Yes, the SC/Xmas Trees is on CBS all the way out here in TX today. Take note, this year is a strong step in the right direction. Coach Floyd for Pac-10 Coach of the Year!
Yes, not a bad body of work for Tim Floyd: Played Kansas to the wire; almost beat Memphis; ucla was hard-pressed to split with Troy; held Stanford to 27% shooting (although SC lost the game); and will end up with a 20-win season.
Now if he takes this team to the Sweet 16 it would finish off a great year. And this is a team noone wants to play in the NCAAs-- Gibson, Jefferson and Mayo are pro material (and probably will bolt after this season); Hackett is very heady; and Lewis is a defender and streak shooter.
Nice team.
Inconsistency is the hallmark of this team - when they are good, they are VERY good, yet at other times, they look like they are just standing around. Hope today is one of the former.
What a great win over Stanford! Contrary to Wolf's B.S., I think we would still take 3rd place if WSU loses, despite the disparity in hours b/w games. We might get seeded higher in NCAA tourney as a result.
In the PAC-10 tourney, our journey is slightly less difficult as a 3rd seed (Oregon/AZ winner, then Stanford, then UCLA), as opposed to a No. 4 seed (ASU, then UCLA, then Stanford/WSU winner), assuming the higher seeds prevail.
Congrats to Coach Floyd and the players on a great weekend, and good luck in the tournaments.
Fight On!
Obviously today was one of the former - congrats on beating the twin towers, and at their own game, no less. Now if we can just avoid having to play WSU in the tournament.
8 Mar 08:
USC 77
Stanford 64
IRONIC PC, how do you? OUCH...
This is also to the OJ Mayo bashers('89 USC)= ZIP it...
Nice math, Scott. I think it's more like 4 hours, no big deal.