The State of Washington: The Best of the Rest?

OK. I'll admit it. College basketball is not so hot on the west coast.

Of the six (yes, six) teams from the pacific time zone that made it to this year's Big Dance, only Gonzaga actually won a tournament game. California, UNLV, Long Beach State, San Diego State, and St. Mary's also made the field of 68, but Cal didn't even make it to the field of 64. It's a case of medicritology.

It was especially a depressing year for Pac-12 hoops, with the top team during the regular season (Washington), missing the entire tournament field, something that hasn't happened in decades. There were a lone two teams from the conference of champions in the tourney, leaving one to wonder, what happened to all of those previous Pac-12 powerhouses?

While there's a deeper answer for another day, for now, let's just say, most of them made it to the consolation tournaments. That's right: the NIT and the CBI!

If you've been too distracted by this year's march mediocrity, you might be surprised to find out what's been going on in the runners up tournaments. For starters, the Pac-12 has been dominating them. We'll start with the CBI. This year, Oregon State and Washington State, oh, and San Francisco too, all made the field of 16. The Cougars took down the Beavers in the semi-finals, and just tonight, Wazzu won game 1 of the 3-game series for the championship over Pittsburgh. That's right. WSU beat a Big East team, granted the final score was 67-66. A WSU win Wednesday or Friday, and they'll be #101. That means something, right?

Just like the CBI, in the NIT, the Pac-12 sent more teams than any other conference (tied with the SEC): Washington, Oregon, Stanford, and Arizona. The Huskies, who most west coasters think was the biggest snub from this year's Big Dance, is poised to win the NIT right now, as a top seed. They'll play Minnesota tomorrow in the semi-finals. On the other side of the bracket, Stanford plays Massachusetts tomorrow for a chance to meet Washington in New York City. Did I also mention Nevada made the NIT?

These examples prove to me that west coast teams, this year for some reason, are saving their best for after the regular season. But a win for UW in NYC would of course prove what the committee decided all along. They're still #69.

Catch the NIT on ESPN2 and the CBI on HDNet.