Tournament Preview: Pac-10 Quarterfinals

I'm still not 100% used to the Pac-10 and Big Ten holding tournaments, even though they've both been at it for a decade. And as someone who's completely unashamed about his East Coast Bias, I really don't have much else to say about the Pac-10.

On to the predictions:
Arizona State 69.8 - 63.6 Arizona (59.9 possessions). Herb Sendek's teams are always vulnerable if they go cold from outside, and against an Arizona defense that invites them to shoot from outside (TAPE expects the Sun Devils to shoot 29 three-pointers), it might be a feast or famine type of game.

Washington 83.0 - 76.0 Stanford (74.9 possessions).

California 68.5 - 66.9 USC (64.9 possessions).

UCLA 62.8 - 56.2 Washington State (58.3 possessions).

Tournament Overview: Pac-10

Can't see the table? Click here.

I wonder if N.C. State fans have started to reassess their position on Herb Sendek yet. After just three seasons in the desert, his Sun Devils run the fourth-most efficient offense in the nation and have a top-25 defense. Meanwhile, Sidney Lowe's Wolfpack will be wearing their red uniforms in the ACC Tournament's opening round for the third year in a row.

In tonight's first game, TAPE likes Stanford over Oregon State by 6½ points (68.9 to 62.4 in 61.2 possessions). Both of these teams have overachieved this season, but while Craig Robinson has been doing it mostly with smoke and Mirrors, Johnny Dawkins' Stanford team actually comes pretty close to being a good team.

After the overachievers clear the deck, Oregon takes on Washington State in a battle of underachieving teams. The Cougars looked like a serious contender for the conference title in December, but they've been treading water in a diluted Pac-10 this year. Still, they're 10¼-point favorites against the Ducks (65.8 to 55.5 in 61.3 possessions).

Here's the Pac-10 table of probabilities: