By
Keith Carmona
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Olson, Lavin say 4 conference teams in Sweet 16 vindicates conference's strength
It seems that everyone is surprised that four Pacific 10 Conference teams are headed to this week's Sweet Sixteen.
That is, everyone except for the Pac-10 teams themselves.
With Arizona, UCLA, Southern California and Stanford advancing to the Regional Semifinals, the Pac-10 has the most impressive showing of any conference this March.
But while television analysts and basketball fans are hailing their performance, the four coaches are merely shrugging their shoulders as if to say, "So what?"
"It is interesting to me that every year, our league has to battle to get four or a maximum of five teams in the playoffs," Arizona head coach Lute Olson said. "And yet, I don't think a whole lot of leagues have had that degree of success, for the amount of teams that do get in."
Olson has a point.
For the third time in five years, the Pac-10 has four teams in the Sweet Sixteen, and as many as three could end up in the Final Four with the way the brackets are arranged. The Pac-10 is 8-1 in tournament play this year, with California's first-round loss to Fresno State the only defeat.
What annoys the Pac-10 coaches is that their conference struggles to get teams in the tournament. Just two weeks ago, USC was even considered a "bubble team."
And yet after six Atlantic Coast Conference teams, six South Eastern Conference teams and seven Big Ten teams garnered berths, the Pac-10 has bullied its way to the top.
The haughty Big Ten only has three of its seven teams playing this weekend while the ACC and SEC have two remaining.
"(We should) bombard the (tournament selection) committee with a fax a day to cover what has happened over the last five or six years," Olson said.
"There have been two national championships (UA and UCLA) in the last six years and a lot of teams have gone on to the Sweet 16.
"Probably what we need to do is read what in the world the Big Ten does when they send six or seven. In our league, if we get beat by somebody, it's a real downer. If (North) Carolina gets beat by Clemson by 20 then, well it's a tough league."
If history serves, the Pac-10 is in for some good times ahead. The only other times five Pac-10 schools made the field, the conference produced the eventual champion (UCLA in 1995 and Arizona in 1997).
UCLA head coach Steve Lavin suggests that those ridiculing the Pac-10 ought to dust off their history books.
"You've got to question where the resentment of the West Coast basketball comes from because historically, we've had great teams since the early '40s, " Lavin said. "From (University of San Francisco) 50 years ago to Wooden's teams in the '60s and '70s, basketball has been terrific in this half of the country for so many years. It's wondrous to me why we're sometimes written off."
If nothing else, the Arizona players have actually found themselves cheering for their conference foes.
In Kansas City last weekend, Olson said he had trouble peeling his players away from their televisions for a team meal.
"We were watching that USC-Boston College game and we were cheering for (USC) like they're our best friends," sophomore forward Luke Walton said. "During the Pac-10 season, we cheer for them to lose, but now that everyone has made the tournament, we're rooting for them to move on."
Tomorrow, UCLA faces No. 1 Duke while USC squares off against streaking Kentucky in Philadelphia. Stanford, the top seed in the West Region, also plays Cincinnati in Anaheim, Calif., while Arizona plays Mississippi in San Antonio on Friday.
The Wildcats can keep pulling for the Trojans, Bruins and Cardinal until April 2. With USC and UCLA in the East Region and Stanford in the West, a possible matchup with one of their conference rivals could occur with the national title at stake.
"As soon as we get into postseason play, we're rooting for them," junior forward Richard Jefferson said. "And I believe that they're doing the same for us."
