STF Conference Reports: Pac-10 2/14

Team Of The Week - Stanford. It's simple, really. The Cardinal were the only Pac-10 squad to survive the week without a loss. All the while climbing to #7 in the polls on the strength of, ironically, seven strait victories. In the wretched Pac-10 no less. It should be noted, though, that the streak doesn't include wins over either of the Los Angeles schools. Not to mention their turnover problems. They doubled Oregon State in turnovers on Saturday, a decent team would have made them pay for it. And while the Cardinal have certainly surpassed the Cougars as the Pac-10's clear #2 team, I'm still not ready to pencil them into the Elite Eight just yet. The Lopez twins can't do everything, and I still don't trust their perimeter play with the exception of Hill. If their guard play doesn't step up come March, this Cardinal be heading home before the end of the first weekend.In far less embarrassing fashion than last year, though.

Player Of The Week - Jerryd Bayless. Usually, I immediately eliminate players from teams who finished the past week winless. Even in a case where the team only suited up once, and lost, at home. This time, however, it's different as Jerryd Bayless turned in one of the finest individual efforts of the season on the offensive end. Outscoring his own team 39 to 15 in a 5 point loss to Arizona State at home. Bayless got going early dropping his first seven shots from the floor. Including 4 from beyond the arc. He finished 12-18 from the floor, 6-10 form three and 9-9 from the charity stripe. All in all a sparkling line, especially considering he damn near beat the other Arizona team all by himself.

Team With The Worst Week - California. A week after sweeping through Washington and getting themselves back onto the bubble the Bears tourney hopes took a major shot. While they did hold court when the Beavers came calling they followed it up with an absolute beat-down at the hands of fellow barely bubblicious Oregon. In the 22-point loss the Bears allowed 18 three's at an embarrassing 58% clip. And that's just one of the reasons Oregon was able to overcome an 8 turnover discrepancy and reinsert themselves into the bubble conversation. The question is, who's the real Cal? We should find out, but I have a feeling we'll be disappointed when we do.

Games To Watch -
2/14 Cal @ Arizona - Cal needs a little more of that road magic if their going to sneak into the tourney.
2/14 (7) Stanford @ Arizona State - This would be a huge coup for the Sun Devils if they can get it.
2/16 (7) Stanford @ Arizona - The 'Cats need to stop this slide before it pushes them deep into the double-digits come seeding time.
2/16 Cal @ Arizona State - The loser here could be looking at an end to their season.
2/17 (6) UCLA @ USC - A sweep of UCLA would certainly help the Trojans, but USC losing two in a row? Really? I'm not buying.