Saturday, November 24, 2012

What a week for the PAC!

This was supposed to be a big week for the Pac-12.  This was the week the conference was supposed to show the fans and nation that it was much improved after last year.  The conference was represented in almost all the major pre-season tournaments and featured in some of the country's biggest match ups.

But they struck out early. The So Cal schools fell victim to unranked yet underrated teams. And Washington State was utterly destroyed by Kansas. Thank goodness for consolation brackets. UCLA responded on Tuesday by edging Georgia (thus confirming to most that the loss to Georgetown wasn't a fluke).  On the other hand, Washington State took Texas A&M down to the wire and USC looked great in its victory against Texas. Then USC gave Marquette quite a run on Wednesday.

But here we are Saturday morning and four Pac-12 teams (Cal, Arizona State, Oregon and Utah) are on the verge of winning tournaments.  One other (Stanford) has a shot to go 2-1 against the brutal Battle 4 Atlantis field. Not bad at all. If we can close out a few of these tournaments (and I think we can take all four), it will bolster the point Colorado and Oregon State began to establish last week: the Pac-12 is a force to be reckoned with again.

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• Devistating news for Angus Brandt and the Beavers. Moreover, the injury kept him home while his team celebrated Thanksgiving with the Obamas. Imagine having to stay home on Austrailia's National Day of Thanksgiving while all your friends are dining with Prime Minister Julia Gillard.  That's how Angus felt this week.

• The Wildcats are enjoying a quiet week while Coach Miller still tries to sort out the lineup.

• The Buffaloes also enjoyed a quiet week with their newfound national ranking. CU's clearly a basketball school now.

• Black Friday: the Utes were the designated visiting team against the Chippewas on Friday.  So they seized the occasion to break out their black unis.

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