The upside of men's Pacific-10 basketball being in kind of a down cycle this year is that every team--and we mean every team--is in every game.
Even Oregon State, in last place with a 3-6 league record, beat league-leading Arizona last month, and the Beavers are only three games out of first.
That the other nine teams are within two games of each other for the league lead says everything you need to know about Pac-10 parity this go-`round.
So, the games that the Arizona schools are playing tonight up in Washington should be tight squeezes. (ASU swept Washington State and U-Washington down here, while the Wildcats split, losing a very tough one to the Cougars.)
ASU plays WSU in little Pullman at 8 p.m. our time, in a game that won't be televised (KTAR 620 will air it on the radio, featuring excellent play-by-play guy Tim Healey).
We'll be watching the latter, hoping that the Cats can being to put some distance between themselves and some of the rest of the pack. But we're not about to lay money on their chances.
The Sun Devils will need a solid game from senior point guard Derek Glasser this weekend to come up with at least one win. Glasser's shooting has been up and down (mostly down) for the last few weeks, and he will need to move it up a notch, especially against Washington on Saturday night.
Arizona will be in Seattle, playing the (so far) disappointing defending league champion Huskies in an 8:30 game that will be on the tube, FSAZ--Channel 34.
