A smaller select group in Pac-10

Coaches and other folks whose internal clocks tick toward Selection Sunday have begun to feel it.

Two weeks from Sunday, the NCAA tournament’s field of 65 will be set.

One thing that is far from settled is the muddle in the middle in the Pacific 10.

There was talk before the season that the conference would get seven teams into the NCAA tournament, the most in the league’s history. But as the Pac-10 cannibalizes itself, that talk has turned mostly to six.

Just stare at the standings and try to sort it out. Seven Pac-10 teams have been in the top 25 at some point this season, but every team but UCLA and Stanford has at least six conference losses already.

Home-court advantage has meant little, and only three games separate third-place Washington State from ninth-place Washington -- one of only two Pac-10 teams to beat UCLA, along with USC.

Only woeful Oregon State, trying to avoid becoming the first Pac-10 team to go 0 for 18, has zero hope of an at-large berth.

UCLA and Stanford are locks, and Washington State is close to one, despite a run when the Cougars lost four of five Pac-10 games.

Arizona, USC and Arizona State -- the three other Pac-10 teams that would probably be in the field if it were announced today -- have a big week ahead, with USC and UCLA visiting the Arizona schools.

And as the season comes down to the wire, people seem to be grasping for the magic number that means a team is in, such as a 9-9 Pac-10 record.

That sounds reasonable, but no team from the Pac-10 has ever made the NCAA tournament with a 9-9 record. That is less a rule of thumb by the selection committee than a reflection of the fact that historically, most 9-9 teams in the Pac-10 weren’t very good.

“You hope in a league like this, if you go .500 or better, you’re in,” Washington State Coach Tony Bennett said. “There are so many teams so close. We’re beating each other’s brains in. That’s just how it’s working out.”

Here’s something else that is worrying folks. The Pac-10 has become something of an anachronism, where every team still plays every team twice.

That’s the fairest way to determine a champion -- “It’s a pretty pure league that way,” Bennett said -- but it makes people nervous if a .500 conference record is a benchmark.

This is where NCAA selection committee Chairman Tom O’Connor, the athletic director at George Mason, would step in to say teams aren’t judged simply by their conference record but by their overall strength of schedule, and that the committee is very aware of unbalanced schedules and knows one team’s .500 record in the Big East or some other conference is not the same as another team’s .500 record. Consider that in the Big 12 this regular season, Texas and Kansas play each other only once.

“I think it’s harder in our league because the league’s so good to begin with, and you have to play everybody twice,” UCLA Coach Ben Howland said, pointing to the disparity in other conferences. “Some teams have easier schedules than others. That all gets figured out in the computers.”

Figuring out the Pac-10 is like trying to solve Rubik’s Cube. It seems like every time you get close, there’s another snag.

“I was shocked we’ve never had a team that made it at 9-9,” Howland said. “Someone is going to get in at 9-9, and maybe more than one.”

Around the rim

The coaching situation at Arizona is getting complicated, with Lute Olson frequently in the office lately, seemingly preparing to stick to his announced plan to return next season. But during his absence, the players and assistants have taken to calling Kevin O’Neill, Olson’s designated successor, the head coach, and a source said O’Neill would be unlikely to stay on in an assistant’s role if Olson returns. The agreement between Arizona and O’Neill is only an oral agreement, in part because employment contracts require the approval of the board of trustees, Athletic Director Jim Livengood said last month. . . . There is a reason other than his assertion that USC is his last job to believe Tim Floyd won’t become the next Louisiana State coach, although it’s worth remembering Floyd made contradictory statements to reporters about his involvement in the O.J. Mayo-Lakers ticket episode. At LSU, outgoing Athletic Director Skip Bertman decided against hiring a search firm and is using Eddie Nunez, an athletic department administrator who has close ties to a probable candidate, Virginia Commonwealth Coach Anthony Grant, according to a Gannett News Service report. Grant and Nunez went to the same Miami high school and Nunez played at Florida while Grant was an assistant there. . . .

Early names on the coaches’ gossip mill for the Indiana job include former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery, who was touted for the job on the air by ESPN analyst Dick Vitale, and Bennett. Montgomery, who recently passed on an inquiry from Pepperdine, would be a good fit with Indiana’s philosophy and his record on NCAA rules and academics, and Indiana is a place where he could win an NCAA title, one of the few things missing from his resume. Whether Montgomery would leave California for Bloomington is another question. Bennett, likewise, has a clean reputation and a record of success, though not yet a long one. He coached in the Big Ten under his father, Dick -- and his sister, Kathi, was formerly women’s coach at Indiana.

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robyn.norwood@latimes.com

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The Times’ rankings

ROBYN NORWOOD’S RANKINGS AND COMMENTS:

*--* Rk. Team (Rec.) Comment (last week’s rank) 1 N. CAROLINA (26-2) With Lawson out, the Tar Heels have toughed it out. (5) 2 TENNESSEE (25-3) Yes, it can be a little rocky on top. (3) 3 MEMPHIS (26-1) Pshew. For Tigers, the pressure’s off for an undefeated season. (1) 4 TEXAS (24-4) Longhorns might get a No. 1 seeding a season after losing Durant. (7) 5 UCLA (24-3) Westbrook’s stock is rising so high it might mean goodbye. (6) 6 KANSAS (24-3) Two players, including Rodrick Stewart, are grieving family losses. (2) 7 DUKE (23-3) Interior defense is a problem for the Blue Devils. (4) 8 STANFORD (22-4) It’s not only the brothers Lopez. The guards are good, too. (8) 9 GEORGETOWN (22-4) Roy Hibbert, 7 feet 2, shoots 60.3% from the field. (11) 10 XAVIER (24-4) The Musketeers have won their last 10 games. (13) 11 WISCONSIN (23-4) Badgers are trying to bring home their 16th Big Ten title. (16) 12 INDIANA (24-4) We’re guessing Dakich won’t pull a Steve Fisher and win it all. (9) 13 CONNECTICUT (22-6) Two Huskies had double-doubles in same game against Rutgers. (10) 14 LOUISVILLE (22-6) Pitino’s team has quietly won seven in a row. (15) 15 VANDERBILT (24-4) Vandy feeling dandy after upset of No.1 Tennessee. (22) 16 BUTLER (25-3) Butler was bitten by another Bulldog -- in a Drake uniform. (12) 17 PURDUE (21-6) The top four scorers average between 10 and 12 points. (14) 18 NOTRE DAME (21-5) The Irish shoot 40% from three-point range. (19) 19 MICHIGAN STATE (22-5) No surprise: Spartans lead Big Ten in rebounding margin. (17) 20 WASHINGTON STATE (21-6) Time to gird for schools to make a run at Tony Bennett. (18) 21 MARQUETTE (21-6) Big game against Georgetown is Saturday. (24) 22 KENT STATE (23-5) Golden Flashes want to prove they’re no flash in the pan. 23 ST. MARY’S (24-4) Bracket Buster loss probably won’t bust the Gaels’ chances. (20) 24 DRAKE (24-4) Nice win over Butler sandwiched between the two losses. (25) 25 DAVIDSON (21-6) Has won 17 in a row after good early losses to UNC, Duke, UCLA. (Unranked) *--*