STF Conference Reports: Pac-10 1/31

Team Of The Week - Arizona. What a difference a Bayless makes. Since the 'Cats fantastic freshman returned to the lineup the 'Cats are 4-1. With wins at Houston and California to go along with this past week's pair of wins at home against the two Washington schools. Beating the Huskies is no surprise, but knocking off the Cougars by double-digits? Along with Bayless, Chase Budinger has finally become the consistent offensive weapon he was expected to be. Averaging 20+ points over the last week. The final piece is Jordan Hill, who's the 'Cats version of Ben Wallace with his truckload of blocked shots and rebounds. Against Wazzu Hill racked up 6 blocks and 10 boards forcing the Cougars away from the basket all night. Right now Arizona's a tournament lock with their success against the country's toughest schedule ((14-6) 4-3).

Player Of The Week - Kevin Love. As great of a week as Bayless, Budinger, and even Mayo had it was all about the Love this week. In his return to his home state Kevin Love was dominant as his team completed the 2-game sweep of Oregon. He yanked down 18 and 21 rebounds in the two games. He added 26 and 16 points as well. It was truly dominant week for Kevin Love and it makes it hard to blame those Oregon fans for booing. He alone would turn the Ducks into a contender. I still don't think he's one of the country's top three freshman, but he's certainly in the conversation. (For the record: Eric Gordon, Micheal Beasley, and Jerryd Bayless).

Team With The Worst Week - Arizona State. Their's just not excuse for losing to one of the conference worst three teams -- at home -- by double-digits. None at all. They almost salvaged the week when the Cougars came calling, but fell again, this time by just one point. ASU remains among the Pac-10 leaders, but I'm still not buying them as one of the best three teams out West. They've still got a long way to go for that and it starts with Jeff Pendergraph. When he plays well they're at the top of their game, when he's turning the ball over 6 times and being consistently dominated inside. Harden isn't enough, if this team is getting out of the first weekend come tournament time it'll be because of Pendergraph.

Game To Watch -
1/31 - Arizona @ USC, this one will certainly be fun to watch. Best Matchup: Bayless V. Mayo
1/31 - Arizona State @ (5) UCLA, Does ASU reall belong atop the conference? Best Matchup: Harden V. Shipp
2/2 - (14) Stanford @ (9) Washington State, Is Wazzu slipping? This'll answer that. Best Matchup: Baynes V. Lopez
2/2 - Arizona @ UCLA, This should tell us just how good Arizona is. Best Matchup: Bayless V. Collison
2/2 Arizona State @ USC, Looks good on the resume, either way. Best Matchup: Jefferson V. Pendergraph