For a conference that
typically features a strong upper third, milquetoast middle and bunch of
bottom feeders, the Pac-10
is taking a page out of the NFL playbook and appears bound for the “P” word
(parity) this season.
The departures of Salim
Stoudamire and Channing Frye (Arizona),
and Nate Robinson (Washington)
to the NBA, have lessened the likelihood of another
Wildcats/Huskies-dominated conference. Moreover, the Wildcats’ emergent
sixth man Jawann McClellan is ineligible for the fall semester, and the
Huskies lost Tre Simmons’ steady contribution (16.3 ppg) to graduation.
Meanwhile,
the marked improvement of perennial cellar dwellers Washington State, Oregon
State and Arizona State has increased the chances of the Pac 10 being an
equal opportunity league. And those milquetoast middle teams should
challenge for spots in the top tier given the returning and incoming talent
at UCLA, and Oregon.
That said, there’s still
an outside chance things could revert to the status quo.
With Hassan Adams, Mustafa
Shakur and Chris Rodgers, Arizona has enough talent returning to make a run
at a Pac title and a national championship. And the decision of
Washington’s Brandon Roy to forego a leap to the NBA and the arrival of
super frosh Jon Brockman has the Huskies sitting pretty yet again.
However it shakes out, the
conference tournament March 9-11 at the Staples Center could finally start
to take on an ACC feel if top, middle and bottom come together to form a
competitive Pac 10.
Shane Sharp has covered prep, college basketball and
football and the NBA for the Rock Hill (S.C.) Herald, the Charlotte (N.C.)
Observer and the Morganton News Herald (N.C.). He lives in Charlotte, North
Carolina where the ACC and SEC wearily tread on each other’s territory. He
can be reached at
sharpergolf@comporium.net.
