It Could Be Crowded Atop the Pac-10

It took Washington’s Todd MacCulloch a long time to watch the tape of last season’s last-second NCAA tournament loss to Connecticut.

No word on whether he has been able to stomach looking at those losses to Boise State or Gonzaga, even if he was Washington’s leading scorer in both games.

A season that began with the Huskies ranked 14th--their highest ranking since the days of Detlef Schrempf--hit the skids quickly when Washington lost three in a row.

“We’re kind of back on our heels right now,” Coach Bob Bender said. “We want to take advantage of these three games in Seattle and get our confidence level back before conference play starts.”

That’s only a little more than two weeks away, and it’s shaping up as an interesting year in the Pacific 10 Conference.

Stanford still looks as if it’s considerably ahead of the rest of the conference--though maybe not head and shoulders, with a couple of losses of its own and injury trouble that got worse when hard-luck Jason Collins was lost for the season a second year in a row after wrist surgery.

It looks like a season in which many teams will split in the Pac-10, with a scrum competing closely for the top five or six spots, UCLA and USC among them.

“I think it’s going to make for a mad scramble,” Oregon Coach Ernie Kent said. “Other teams are starting to get confidence. It will throw some scrambling into the situation, and that’s great for everybody.”

California Coach Ben Braun thinks so.

“It’s going to be an exciting league season,” he said. “We’re going to see some competitive games and maybe a little bit of unpredictability in the league this year.

Washington (4-3) could have done without the unpredictability.

After a quick start, a rematch with Connecticut was followed in quick succession by losses to Boise State and Gonzaga, a couple of decent teams that nonetheless are not supposed to beat a team that reached the Sweet 16.

The pain of the Boise State loss was worse because Boise State’s star, Roberto Bergersen, began his career at Washington.

Of more lasting concern, the Huskies’ Donald Watts still hasn’t recovered from an ankle injury suffered in that game, though the hope is he’ll be 100% by the start of Pac-10 play.

In any case, whatever pressure went with being in the top 25 is no longer Washington’s problem, now that the Huskies have fallen out of the rankings. Recovering is.

“Our mental state, the mental health of our team, hopefully has improved with time off,” Bender said. “A certain amount of rest helps, not to have to go out and play right away again.

“I hope this has the positive effect of giving us some hunger and energy.”

It probably has put the Huskies back in a more familiar role--underdog.

After Saturday’s game against New Mexico State--the Huskies’ first home game in an incredible 32 days--they have another challenge against No. 11 New Mexico in Seattle next week.

Consistency, defense, rebounding and free-throw shooting have been among Washington’s troubles. Though MacCulloch has been solid, one theory is that the Huskies miss the other twin tower, Patrick Femerling, who left after last season to play in Germany.

In addition, forward Thalo Green has been inconsistent and might lose his starting position, and point guard Dan Dickau recently hurt his foot in practice.

“They’re a little out of sync,” Kent said. “They’re a team that really jelled and came together the last part of last season. I think this is new territory for them.”

IF NOT YOU, THEN WHO?

The top 10 is old territory for Arizona’s Lute Olson, but he’s having none of it.

After beating UC Irvine by 23 points, he called it “an absolute joke” that Arizona is ranked in the top 10--though he didn’t offer to find 10 teams that should be, which is the hard part.

“I’m not sure we’re in the top five in our league right now,” Olson said.

“Just looking at the scores, it appears Stanford is way out ahead. Keep an eye on Cal, and their veterans. I also said I thought USC’s talent level is really good. They had played really well until that disaster at Kansas. A lot of people have disasters at Kansas.

“UCLA, that freshman class is really something, the athletic ability in that group. I haven’t had a chance to see Oregon, but we beat BYU in overtime and they beat them in Eugene by 31.”

By the way, not much sympathy from Olson for Mike Montgomery on the injuries to Collins, and less serious injuries to Ryan Mendez and Michael McDonald.

“Well, [Arthur] Lee’s still there. [Kris] Weems is still there. [Tim] Young is still there. All that means is they’re 12 deep instead of 15 deep,” Olson said.

“When he’s talking about his sixth, seventh and eighth man. . . . I’ve seen their ninth, 10th and 11th men. If there’s a team in our conference that can withstand losing three people, it’s Stanford.”

KU, K WHO?

DePaul’s Quentin Richardson is one of the nation’s best freshmen and plays for perhaps the nation’s most improved team.

Tonight he’ll visit the school he almost went to--Kansas. DePaul will try to do what USC couldn’t by handing Kansas another rare home loss.

Richardson is averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds for DePaul, a 6-2 team that has turned around from last season’s 7-23 record by starting three Chicago-area freshmen recruited by second-year Coach Pat Kennedy.

Richardson’s about-face to DePaul when he was expected to go to Kansas raised some eyebrows.

“It was a disheartening thing because I really thought we were going to get him,” Kansas Coach Roy Williams told the Chicago Tribune. “It changed drastically very quickly. I had no evidence, no inclination whatsoever, that anything was going on. And I’ve heard the rumors and whispers too.

“I’ve been known to, if I really felt something illegal was going on, to turn people in to the NCAA. . . . I really thought that he and his family all of a sudden realized they would be nine hours away by car.

“I really thought he was the best perimeter player in high school basketball. So far, what he’s shown is that that’s a pretty good assessment.”

QUICK SHOTS

Kentucky made quick work of Maryland’s aspirations in a 103-91 victory, beating the Terrapins at their own transition game, but Maryland wouldn’t concede more than a bad day at Rupp Arena. “If there is a next time, we’ll get ‘em,” guard Steve Francis said. . . . The clash-of-styles game of the week is Maryland against Princeton on Saturday in Baltimore. Princeton will try to dictate a frustrating tempo against the Terrapins even with a team that isn’t nearly as good as last year’s with only Gabe Lewullis and Brian Earl back among the top players. . . . Pepperdine has another chance for an upset when it plays No. 14 Michigan State on Monday in the Pearl Harbor Classic in Hawaii. The Waves have a seven-point loss to No. 13 Kansas and a six-point loss to No. 23 Wisconsin.

Indiana transfer Jason Collier made his Georgia Tech debut with a 22-point, 11-rebound game against Georgia. A 7-footer who likes to shoot from outside, he and 6-11 shot-blocker Alvin Jones make a complementary tandem. . . . Collier told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he doesn’t think much of NCAA rules that require transfers to sit out a year. “If you get married and it doesn’t work out, you can get divorced and remarry the very next day. But if you’re a 17-, 18-year-old kid and make a mistake, you lose a year of your life.” . . . Unbeaten Auburn, already off to its best start in 40 years, has added a valuable person to its roster--forward Adrian Person, a junior college All-American from Southern Union Community College who is the nephew of the NBA’s Chuck and Wesley Person. Person will wear his Uncle Chuck’s No. 45. . . . Good thing there’s not a bowl championship series in basketball. Jeff Sagarin’s ratings briefly had Auburn at No. 1, and Kansas was No. 1 in the Ratings Percentage Index.