Huskies edge Cal to take Pac-10 crown

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quincy Pondexter had 18 points to lead Washington to a 79-75 win over California, as the Huskies won their second Pac-10 Conference Tournament title.

Isaiah Thomas had 16 points and Venoy Overton added 10 points and five boards for the Huskies (24-9), who won their only other title in 2005 and received the automatic berth the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Theo Robertson had 25 points and five boards while Jamal Boykin added 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Golden Bears (23-10), who have never won a Pac-10 Tournament title.

With the score tied at 66-all, Jerome Randle gave Cal the lead with two from the line, but Elston Turner put Washington on top. He sank a layup moments before knocking down a three for a 71-68 Huskies lead with 3 1/2 minutes to play.

A Robertson turnover was converted into two points by Justin Holiday, expanding Washington's lead to two possessions.

Patrick Christopher answered with a three, but two Tyreese Breshers foul shots followed by a Pondexter jumper gave Washington a 77-71 lead with a minute left.

On the next Cal possession, Randle pulled up for a long three-ball and made it a one-touch game with 50.1 seconds to play.

Following a timeout, the Huskies ate up as much time as they could, but a turnover by Pondexter resulted in California taking the ball downcourt and calling timeout with 15.2 seconds to play.

Turner was called for a foul and Randle hit one of his shots from the line with 4.4 seconds to play to make it a two-point game. But Overton hit both his attempts with 2.1 seconds left to seal the win.

Washington built a seven-point lead early in the second half, when the teams traded a number of runs. The Huskies were ahead 59-51, but moments later, a Boykin jumper kick-started a 12-0 burst that he completed with another basket for a 64-61 lead with just over eight minutes to play.

A few minutes later, Christopher made a jumper, but Matthew Bryan-Amaning followed with a basket, and a three-ball from Overton tied the game with just under five minutes to play.

The lead went back and forth through the first several minutes of the first half, but the Golden Bears were ahead 25-22 with 10 1/2 minutes to play thanks to a Robertson layup.

Pondexter scored eight straight Huskies points to help them go in front, and a Thomas jumper had Washington up 41-37 at the break.

Game Notes

It was only the Bears' second appearance in the final, as they lost to UCLA in 2006...California holds a 77-76 lead in the series...Randle had 12 points while Christopher had 11...Washington shot 52.7 percent while California hit 41.7 percent of its shots.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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