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Pac-12 Team Previews: USC

AMurawa — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:45:48 +0000

Over the next two weeks, we’ll be previewing each of the Pac-12 teams as we head into the season.

USC Trojans

Strengths. Defense. In Kevin O’Neill’s first two years at USC, his teams have ranked 2nd and 28th in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency ratings. While the Trojans will not look like what O’Neill expected them to look like even a few months ago, you can expect them to be similarly stingy on the defensive end. With 7’0” sophomore center Dewayne Dedmon an intimidating shot-blocking presence inside, O’Neill could play 7’1” James Blasczyk alongside him and Iowa transfer Aaron Fuller, an athletic [...]

Conference Report Card: Pac-10

Brian Goodman — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:56:05 +0000

Andrew Murawa is the RTC correspondent for the Pac-10 and Mountain West conferences. We will be publishing a series of conference report cards over the next week for conferences that received multiple NCAA bids to recap the conference, grade the teams, and look at the future for the conference.

Conference Recap:

After an awful 2009-10 season in which the Pac-10 had to limp into a second NCAA Tournament bid when Washington hit the gas pedal down the stretch, the four tournament bids the conference received this year was a huge improvement. With Arizona advancing to the [...]

RTC Live: First Four — Day Two

jstevrtc — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 21:03:30 +0000

Tonight, two more from the First Four in Dayton. First, at 6:30 PM ET, SWAC Tournament champions Alabama State take on Texas-San Antonio, winners of the Southland Conference tournament. ASU prides itself on its defense, ranking in the top 30 nationally in turnovers forced and 2FG%. The Roadrunners, on the other hand, are more of a balanced squad and will look to speed things up. The Hornets won’t shy from a fast pace, but as good as their defense within the three-point arc is, their defense of the three point shot ranks as one of the [...]

Set Your Tivo: 03.11.11

Brian Otskey — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:00:18 +0000

***** – quit your job and divorce your wife if that’s what it takes to watch this game live **** – best watched live, but if you must, tivo and watch it tonight as soon as you get home *** – set your tivo but make sure you watch it later ** – set your tivo but we’ll forgive you if it stays in the queue until 2013 * – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

Brian Otskey is an RTC contributor.

One auto bid and a host of major conference [...]

Conference Tournament Daily Diary: Thursday

Brian Goodman — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:00:38 +0000

RTC is pleased to announce that we’ll be covering all of the major conference tournaments this year — the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, and SEC — in addition to the strongest two high-middies, the Atlantic 10 and the Mountain West. Each day for the rest of this week, we’re asking our correspondents to provide us with a Daily Diary of the sights and sounds from the arena at each site. Equal parts game analysis and opinion, the hope is that this will [...]

Checking in on… the Pac-10

Brian Goodman — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 23:54:21 +0000

Andrew Murawa is the RTC correspondent for the Mountain West and Pac-10 conferences.

A Look Back

A week ago, the conference was all but won. Arizona had a two game lead, and even with a Los Angeles road trip looming, it looked like it would take a complete collapse for the Wildcats to lose their grip on the Pac-10. But a week later, USC is riding a four-game winning streak, UCLA has won eight of its last nine, Arizona has dropped two in a row and now we’re left with the Wildcats and the Bruins tied [...]

ATB: Rest, Ye Merry Gentlemen

jstevrtc — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 09:45:07 +0000

The Lede. Who doesn’t love a nice thick Thursday full of excellent college hoops storylines? We’ve got 17 more days to talk bubble teams and seed lines, and we’ll get to the big boys here soon enough. Tonight we start the ATB in the only place even considered for the honor, a 3,000-seat gym in Shreveport, Louisiana. Gold Dome. 0-28. Centenary.

Nakwaasah Was One of Two Gents Who Put Up Career Highs Tonight

Your Watercooler Moment. This entire season has been a lame duck endeavor for the Centenary Gentlemen. This is their last season [...]

Checking in on… the Pac-10

Brian Goodman — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:16:24 +0000

Andrew Murawa is the RTC correspondent for the Pac-10 and Mountain West Conferences.

A Look Back

It was another one of those weeks in the Pac-10. Just when you thought the wheat had been separated from the chaff, everything gets all mixed up again. Conference-leading Washington drops two games in stunning fashion. Oregon rises up from the back of the pack to sweep the Washington schools, marking their fourth win in five games and getting back to within a game of .500. Oregon State shows signs of life, while Washington State, after seemingly being back [...]

Checking in on… the Pac-10

Brian Goodman — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:27:16 +0000

Andrew Murawa is the RTC correspondent for the Pac-10 and Mountain West Conferences.

A Look Back

Just as it seemed everything was playing out for a relatively easy run through the league for the Washington Huskies, with a 4-0 conference record in the books for the first time since 1984 despite the sudden loss of point guard Abdul Gaddy to a season-ending knee injury, the Huskies had a rough little stretch. First, there was the disturbing story out of Seattle involving the Huskies, as a “prominent member” of the Washington basketball team was accused by a [...]

Checking in on… the Pac-10

Brian Goodman — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:22:21 +0000

Andrew Murawa is the RTC correspondent for the Pac-10 and West Coast Conference.

A Look Back

With non-conference play all but wrapped up and the first week of the conference season in the books, we’re getting a clearer and clearer picture of who the legitimate contenders are and who is going to be bumping along in the lower half of the standings as the season progresses. But, it wouldn’t be the Pac-10 if it didn’t have plenty of surprises in store for us. And with the first nine games of the season complete, we’ve already got the mind-boggling [...]

Set Your Tivo: 12.21.10

Brian Otskey — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 19:15:46 +0000

Brian Otskey is an RTC contributor.

An intriguing matchup in Knoxville and a clash in KC highlight [...]

Checking in on… the Pac-10

Brian Goodman — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 18:59:03 +0000

Andrew Murawa is the RTC correspondent for the Pac-10 and Mountain West conferences.

A Look Back

While most seem to agree that the Pac-10 is a better conference from top to bottom than it was last year, the early returns across Pac-10 schedules are not particularly encouraging. Pac-10 schedules are littered with near-misses (Washington’s two losses in Maui, the efforts by UCLA and Arizona against Kansas, Washington State’s battle with Kansas State, Oregon’s comeback against Missouri), bad losses (Montana over UCLA, Rider over USC, Utah Valley State over Oregon State). Even the handful of good wins, like Cal [...]

Checking in on… the Pac-10

Brian Goodman — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 22:06:14 +0000

Andrew Murawa is the RTC correspondent for the Pac-10 and Mountain West conferences.

A Look Back

After an up-and-down start to the season, this past week was more or less just down. The ten Pac-10 member institutions posted a combined 11-11 record on the week and the majority of those wins were against teams that were simply overmatched, schools like Sacramento State, Houston Baptist and something called Utah Valley State.

As for the losses, in the conference’s big tests of the week, aside from Cal’s Old Spice first round victory over Temple, the results came back negative. Yes, [...]

Set Your Tivo: 11.29.10

Brian Otskey — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 19:15:18 +0000

***** – quit your job and divorce your wife if that’s what it takes to watch this game live **** – best watched live, but if you must, tivo and watch it tonight as soon as you get home *** – set your tivo but make sure you watch it later ** – set your tivobut we’ll forgive you if it stays in the queue until 2013 * – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

Brian Otskey is an RTC contributor.

Some folks may be going through college basketball withdrawal today [...]

Checking in on… the Pac-10

Brian Goodman — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 04:19:37 +0000

Andrew Murara is the RTC correspondent for the Mountain West Conference and the Pac-10.

A Look Back

After a disappointing season last year when the conference needed a late Washington rally to qualify just two teams to the NCAA Tournament, the Pac-10 was looking to get off to a faster start this season, but with early results in, the reviews are definitely a mixed bag. While four of the conference teams remain undefeated, conference favorite Washington limped home to a 4th place finish in the Maui Invitational and the bottom of the conference is littered with embarrassing losses, such [...]