Pac-10 coaches say there should be no doubt about whether Stanford will be the conference's sixth team in the NCAA Tournament.
"I think six are already in," UCLA coach Ben Howland said Tuesday in a conference call before the start tonight of the Pac-10 Tournament at Staples Center in Los Angeles. "It's a lock, regardless of what happens this week."
Talk is that Stanford (18-11) needs to beat Southern California on Thursday as insurance against chances that the selection committee might bypass the Cardinal, who have lost three of their past four.
"I don't waste a whole lot of time thinking about that, but I think we should be in the tournament regardless of whether we win or lose," Stanford coach Trent Johnson said.
One more season
Arizona State sophomore Jeff Pendergraph, an All-Pac-10 honorable mention, hasn't thought about making himself eligible for the NBA draft.
"I'll be back," said Pendergraph, a forward and next year's designated leader. "It just doesn't seem like it would be a wise decision for me to get an agent and all that stuff if I'm not sure myself of where I want to be. I mean, I don't want to be one of those guys who gets stuck in the Development League or something.
"I'd rather be here, playing basketball with my guys."
Free throws
Oregon won its last three games, but is 3-3 in its past six, prompting talk it might be a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Don't tell that to Oregon coach Ernie Kent. "Four-five-six," he said. "I'm hoping for somewhere in there."
• Add up the score in ASU's 42-41 win Saturday at California, and it might not equal the temperature later this week in the Valley, where it could approach 90. Both teams were scoreless for long stretches. Or "decades," said ASU coach Herb Sendek, who added that the Sun Devils got out of the building with their lone road victory "before anybody could change their mind."
• No school left the conference, making it the Pac-9. But only nine players made the All-Pac-10 team, because there wasn't a 10th who was named on at least five of the coaches' ballots. "I just don't feel it's right not to honor 10," said Arizona coach Lute Olson, unhappy that Wildcats forward Ivan Radenovic was only honorable mention.
• Washington State's Tony Bennett, Pac-10 Coach of the Year, wasn't just woofing when he talked about living in Pullman, Wash.: "This is an underdog place and we like that."
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