CLAIRE C. LAURENCE/Arizona Daily Wildcat UA head coach Joan Bonvicini said she thinks it's unlikely any low-seeded Pac-10 team has enough stamina to win four games in four days under the conference's current 10-team tournament format.

Pac-10 coaches split on tourney format

The women's basketball Pac-10 Tournament tips off tonight in San Jose, Calif., as the bottom four teams in this season's Pacific 10 Conference standings fight to enter tomorrow's tournament quarterfinals.

The women's tournament is structured differently from the men's, as all 10 teams are invited to San Jose's HP Pavillion to try to claim an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Only the top eight Pac-10 teams are allowed to compete in the men's tourney, which features a simple quarterfinal format.

In the women's tourney, seventh-seeded Oregon State faces No. 10 seed Washington State tonight, while No. 8 Oregon and No. 9 California square off later in the evening. The OSU-WSU winner plays No. 2 Arizona tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. Arizona time, and the UO-Cal victor faces No. 1 Stanford at 6 p.m.

So, which system is better: a tournament in which even the lowliest conference teams are allowed to compete, or a system that rewards only the top eight?

UA sophomore center Shawntinice Polk likes the 10-team version.

"What if your team just starts to peak now? Your season's over, and you're not in the tournament. But if you are, you get that chance to show people what you can really do," Polk said. "I think, especially with our conference now, on any given day, a team can beat anybody."

Predictably, Sherri Murrell, head coach of the basement-dwelling Cougars, is also in favor of the women's format.

"It makes me feel good in the sense that all of us are involved," Murrell said. "And the way the standings go, if you're in the top 6, you don't have to play (seeds) 7 through 10."

The No. 7 and 8 seeds are at the greatest disadvantage in the 10-team system, as both teams would have to endure a heavier load to win the tournament.

If, for example, No. 8 Oregon beats Cal tonight, the Ducks would still have to go through three more teams to claim the championship. On the men's side, the No. 7 and 8 teams, like every other team, would have to win just three games.

"It'd be tough to win four games in four days," said UA head coach Joan Bonvicini.

Bonvicini noted that the Ducks were in a similar situation in the 2002 women's tournament.

"I know Oregon had to win the play-in game, and they won, and they played three games and lost in the (semifinals) because they were exhausted," she said.

UO head coach Bev Smith isn't overjoyed at the prospect of having to win an extra game.

"I know our men went through (three games) last year and were exhausted, and I think four games is just too much," Smith said. "I think the regular season should serve to reward those top eight teams."

Head coach Judy Spoelstra's seventh-seeded Beavers face the same scenario as their in-state rivals. Spoelstra discussed the difference in tournament formats with OSU men's hoops head coach Jay John, who was surprised to learn of the women's 10-team setup.

"I like having it 10 right now because I think it gives every player that edge of working on their game and playing for something," Spoelstra said. "You look at California and Washington State ÷ they're still really playing for something."

The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds could also be at a disadvantage with the 10-team format. Because of the play-in games for the bottom four seeds, top-seeded Stanford and second-seeded Arizona won't know which team they will play until less than 24 hours before tomorrow's contests.

"That could be a disadvantage, but since we've played each team twice, we pretty much know their personnel and everything, so it shouldn't hurt us," said UA freshman forward Shannon Hobson.

Hobson's opinion seemed to be the consensus among the Wildcats.

"It makes more work for the coaches, but we've played both (Oregon State and Washington State) twice, so of course they don't know more about us than we know about them," said junior guard Dee-Dee Wheeler.

"I don't think it's really a disadvantage because of the fact that we've played these teams before," said Wildcat sophomore guard Natalie Jones. "Basically, the only difference is that we're not playing at our home court."

"There's no perfect tournament format, but it gives the teams (seeded) one through six who played better ÷ you're giving them a bonus," said Bonvicini. "I think it's good to have all 10 teams there; otherwise, it doesn't give them anything to play for at the end. This is their reward."

More than anything else, Jones said the women's format adds an extra sense of excitement to the tourney.

"Any team can be beaten on any day, so just because we're the No. 2 seed, you know, anything can happen," she said.