The Pac-10 is dreadful this year.
Entering Saturday's games there was a glut of teams boasting a 6-4 record, all tied for first place. So is it possible the Pac-10 could have just one entry in the field of 64?
It's possible, but not probable.
I can't see the Pac-10 receiving fewer bids than the WCC (likely Gonzaga, St. Mary's), especially since the trend has been away from mid-majors getting at-large bids. Middling power teams like Arizona and Minnesota grabbed the final spots last year.
Currently, Cal is the clear favorite, Arizona's surge gives them life (having made 25 straight NCAA tournaments they could get a sympathy bid) and Washington, who briefly cracked the top-10, is sneaking back into consideration.
Rather than breakdown who could make the dance, the better question is why is the conference so down?
The answer is clear if you look at the last few NBA drafts. The league has been decimated by early entries into the pro-ranks.
The past two seasons, eight athletes from Pac-10 teams have been lottery picks. That's likely unprecedented.
USC's O.J. Mayo lead the 2008 class which also saw UCLA's Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love be selected in the top five. Arizona State's James Harden headed the '09 group which saw another five early entrants get drafted.
It's hard to recover when a league loses 21 players to the NBA in two years, 14 of whom left school early.
Imagine if Stanford still had the Lopez brothers; UCLA was starting the likes of Love, Westbrook and Jrue Holiday; USC still had Mayo, Taj Gibson and DeMar DeRozan and Arizona had Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill for their senior years?
The conference would be the deepest in the country, while devouring itself in league play.
That's happening again this year, but teams are being consumed by mediocracy. I don't expect that to last for long.
