Impressive Win For The Zags

#18 Gonzaga 93, Portland 78
If you haven't been following the WCC this season, you might not realize why this is an impressive victory. But with Patrick Mills injured, you can make the argument that Portland is the second best team in the conference. Portland clearly viewed this home game against Gonzaga as a great chance to thrust themselves into the bubble discussion, and Gonzaga could easily have looked ahead to their date with Memphis on national television tonight. I give Mark Few a lot of credit for getting his kids focused on the task at hand and taking care of business. I still think that it's a real long shot for a 1 seed for Gonzaga, but if they can go undefeated the rest of the way (including taking care of business against Memphis tonight) they'll have a great case for a 2 seed. For Portland, any at large hopes they had really hinged on a victory over Gonzaga here. If they go undefeated the rest of the way and lose a close game to Gonzaga in the WCC tournament finals then they'll be in the bubble discussion, but it's probably a more likely scenario for them to steal the WCC's auto bid like San Diego did last year.

California 86, #25 Washington 71
Just a week or two ago it looked like Washington was going to make a run at the Pac-10 title while Cal was falling out of the Tournament altogether. Washinton has learned that life is different when you've got high expectations and you've got that target on your back. With two losses in their last three games they're now 7-3 in the Pac-10, and a full game back of UCLA with their only remaining match-up taking place at Pauley Pavilion on the 21st. To be fair, all of Washington's losses this season have come against good teams, but they've got a bunch of good teams ahead of them on their schedule. They've got to get to 11-7 in the Pac-10 to completely lock up a Tournament bid, so getting to 11 wins should be the top priority for this team right now. I never thought they had much of a chance of actually winning this conference. Cal had suffered from four losses in their past five games before this good win here. They've done a lot of damage to their resume, but they'd still probably be in the Tournament if the season ended now. They're 6-4 in the Pac-10, 7-5 against the RPI Top 100, and have an RPI of 32nd. Both Sagarin and Pomeroy agree that this is around the 30th best team in the nation, so they should make the Tournament if they take care of business the rest of the way.

Stanford 65, Washington State 54
Stanford has been through a tough stretch lately, but the win here keeps them in the bubble discussion. At 4-6 in the Pac-10 and 4-5 against the RPI Top 100, they would not be in the Tournament if the season ended now, but they've got a shot. The computer numbers are mediocre (RPI of 70th, Sagarin of 58th, Pomeroy of 56th), but they will improve if they can win a few straight in the Pac-10. They've got to get to at least 10-8 to be in the at-large discussion. The same holds true for Washington State, which slip to 4-6 themselves. Their computer numbers are even worse than Stanford's, as they're only 3-10 against the RPI Top 100. They can make a run at the Tournament, but it's unlikely. This feels like an NIT team.