Throwback Thursday: The 1980 NCAA Tournament

Posted on November 10, 2016 by John Stalica

For Chad Sherwood’s West Coast Conference Preview – CLICK HERE

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Loyola Ramblers head coach Porter Moser – CLICK HERE

For the countdown clock to tomorrow’s season opener – CLICK HERE

In the 2016-17 season premiere of Throwback Thursday, we look back at a major checkpoint year in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. The field consisted of 48 teams and was the second year in which teams would be formally seeded in each region. Most notably, this was the first season in which the restriction on the number of teams from a conference would be lifted.

For the ACC, this meant that North Carolina, Maryland, Duke, NC State and Clemson could all appear in the NCAA Tournament. For the Pac-10, Oregon State, Arizona State, Washington State and UCLA were invited. For the Big 10, Indiana, Ohio State, Iowa and Purdue were invited.

The East regional started harmlessly enough – the top 3 seeds of Syracuse, Maryland and Georgetown advanced to the Sweet 16 along with Iowa. Georgetown beat Maryland in a match of DC foes (just up the road in the Spectrum in Philadelphia), but Lute Olson’s Iowa team crashed the party with upset wins against Syracuse and Georgetown to clinch a bid to the Final Four in Indianapolis.

The Mideast regional started with Penn trying to pull a repeat Cinderella run – the Quakers were the 12th and final seed in the region but managed to upset Washington State in the first round. Duke would end Penn’s run with a 52-42 win in the 2nd round and would also stun top-seeded Kentucky 55-54 in the Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena in a revenge game from 2 years earlier in the 1978 national championship. Purdue (like Iowa earlier) took full advantage of their at-large status in the NCAA Tournament that would not have been available the year before. They beat La Salle and St. John’s to set up a matchup with Indiana in the Sweet 16. Purdue would also avenge their NIT championship loss to Indiana from the year before and beat Indiana 76-69. Purdue then defeated Duke to advance to the Final 4. After Duke’s loss, head coach Bill Foster moved on to South Carolina and opened the door for a young head coach at Army to become Duke’s next head coach. That coach, you ask? Mike Krzyzewski.

In the Midwest regional, this was as about as close as you could get to chalk holding up throughout the regional. Top-seeded LSU was able to advance to the Elite 8 with wins over Alcorn State and Missouri. Texas A&M was able to upset North Carolina in a double-OT game in the 2nd round, but would end up losing to Louisville in overtime in the Sweet 16. Even though Louisville and the Doctors of Dunk played in what amounted to a road game in Houston’s Summit against A&M, they had little trouble in knocking out LSU to earn the 3rd ticket to the Final Four.

The real Island of Misfit Seeds was in the West region. The top 3 seeds (DePaul, Oregon State, BYU) would all lose their opening games in the 2nd round despite 1st-round byes. UCLA upset DePaul in a rematch of the prior year’s West regional final and would beat Ohio State to advance to the Elite 8. Clemson beat Utah State and BYU in the first 2 rounds of the NCAA Tournament and beat the Cinderella team of Lamar in the Sweet 16. Lamar (coached by Billy Tubbs) was the 10th seed and scored upset wins over Weber State and Oregon State before bowing out to Clemson. UCLA would beat Clemson 85-74 to earn the 4th and final ticket to Indianapolis.

Despite being in the heart of Big 10 country, neither Iowa nor Purdue were able to win in their respective semifinal games. Purdue would defeat Iowa 75-58 in the 3rd place game, however. As for the other two teams, Louisville would edge out Iowa in the semifinal game and ended up defeating Larry Brown’s UCLA team in the national championship by a 59-54 score. Ultimately, if you go in the official history books at NCAA headquarters, you’ll also see “VACATED” because of NCAA violations against UCLA.

As for the 1980 Final Four, click here to see the official NCAA video.

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Conference Preview: West Coast

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Chad

CLICK HERE for all of the Hoops HD Preseason Articles, Interviews, and Conference Previews

WEST COAST

Mark Few has coached Gonzaga for 17 years heading into this season, and never failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.  In fact, counting Dan Monson’s final year at the helm, the Zags have now made 18 straight trips to the Big Dance.  No one else in the conference can even sniff that type of success.  Two other teams, however, have accounted for the majority of the conference’s successes outside of Spokane.  St. Mary’s and BYU are the only other WCC teams to earn NCAA bids since 2008, and the only other two teams to even play in a WCC Championship game in that time!  (Pacific did go to the NCAA Tournament in 2013, but they were a member of the Big West then).  Last season, though the Zags were a bubble team heading into Championship Week, Mark Few’s team won the league’s automatic bid, got an 11 seed, and promptly advanced to the Sweet 16 with wins over Seton Hall and Utah, before losing to Syracuse by 3 points in regional semifinal.  BYU and St. Mary’s both made the NIT with the Cougars advancing to the semifinals in that event.  As for the rest of the conference . . . Pepperdine played in the CBI, and everyone else started their offseason early.

This year, we expect much of the same as Gonzaga, St Mary’s and BYU look to be the class of the conference again and all three could be vying for NCAA Tournament bids.  However, the offseason has shown us that the rest of the conference seems to be done being a bunch of lapdogs.  The biggest offseason move came from Santa Clara, a program whose athletic department wants them to become Top 25 caliber, and certainly made the right first move bringing in new head coach Herb Sendek, former conference coach of the year in both the ACC and Pac-12.  Big coaching moves were also made by San Francisco, bringing in Kyle Smith, a guy with lots of WCC ties and who engineered a remarkable turnaround the last few years on the east coast with Columbia.  Pacific and Portland both brought in head coaches with known names and NBA ties – Damon Stoudamire at Pacific and Terry Porter at Portland.  Although it may take a few years for these programs to elevate themselves, the days of the West Coast Conference being a three team league appear to be nearing their end.

Predicted Order of Finish

1. Gonzaga – Despite struggling at times last season and then losing a majority of their scoring in the offseason, Mark Few has completely reloaded this team and they should be even better than last time around.  Nigel Williams-Goss (Washington) and Jordan Mathews (California) are the key newcomers, transferring in from Pac-12 schools and possibly forming one of the best backcourt pairings in the nation.  Down low, the key will be just how healthy Przemek Karnowski is as he returns from last year’s season-ending back injury.  He will get help though, notably from another transfer from a power conference – Johnathan Williams III from Missouri.

2. St. Mary’s – Almost everyone on the roster returns from last season’s squad that won 29 games and led the nation in shooting percentage.  The Gaels non-conference schedule was the biggest reason for their exclusion from last year’s Tournament, and they have upgraded it this year with non-conference trips out of the State of California to play Dayton and UAB, plus a road trip to Stanford.  All signs point to a very good year.

3. BYU – The Cougars may be without several very important pieces from last season, most notably Kyle Collingsworth, but Nick Emery and Kyle Davis do return and will be joined by Eric Mike and T.J. Haws (Tyler’s brother) who have both returned from missions.  A key factor could be the play of Elon transfer guard Elijah Bryant, the CAA Rookie of the Year two seasons ago.

4. Santa Clara – Herb Sendek takes over a program committed to closing the gap with the top three teams, and has assembled a squad that could be a dark horse candidate to do that as early as this season.  All five starters do return for the Broncos from last season, led by senior Jared Brownridge who should surpass the 2000 career points scored mark this year.

5. Pepperdine – Two of the team’s top three scorers from last season are gone.  It will be tough for Lamond Murray, Jr. to carry that much scoring weight, and there do not appear to be enough other pieces here to make any serious noise.

6. Loyola Marymount – Adom Jocko’s decision to turn pro after last season hurt, but the Lions will at least remain competitive with Brandon Brown, Shamar Johnson and Steven Haney, Jr. back.

7. San Francisco – Ronnie Boyce III is the only double digit scorer returning for new head coach Kyle Smith.  Smith, who coached at Columbia the past few years, has WCC ties, having been an assistant at both San Diego and St. Mary’s.  His first team in the City by the Bay is a very young one, so don’t expect much this season.

8. Portland – Terry Porter is a big name coaching hire, but the team he takes over lost 20 games last season and probably won’t be much better than that this one.

9. Pacific – Another new head coach with a known name takes over, as Damon Stoudamire gets the call in Stockton.  The athletic department is committed to improving the basketball program, but it will take time.

10. San Diego – Lamont Smith is still cleaning house and continuing his rebuild of the Toreros program. This year will be a long one – maybe a very long one.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Loyola Chicago coach Porter Moser

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of the Hoops HD Preseason Articles, Interviews, and Conference Previews

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with Loyola Chicago coach Porter Moser.  He has only made it to 1 postseason so far but certainly made the most of it when he got there: after leading his team to the 2015 CBI he won 5 straight games to clinch the title, meaning he is 1 of the only D-1 coaches ever with an undefeated postseason record.  He also had success as a player while winning the 1989 MVC title at Creighton, and later learned how to win games as an assistant to Wimp Sanderson at Arkansas-Little Rock and Rick Majerus at St. Louis.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Moser about having 2 seniors on the roster and his team’s summer trip to Spain.

moser

You were named conference POY as a senior at Benet Academy, where you contributed to a big chunk of the school’s state-record 102-game home winning streak: did it reach a point where the home crowd just expected you to win every time that you stepped onto the court? Absolutely. Winning was such a big part of that culture at Benet. The tradition there was all about winning, so as a player you expected to win every time you stepped onto the court. Because of that tradition the pressure/expectations mounted, but with that came the thrill of being on that platform. All of those experiences at Benet helped prepare me for my college career at Creighton.

In the 1989 MVC tourney title game as a player at Creighton, James Farr drove the length of the court/split 2 defenders/made a 13-footer with 2 seconds left in a 2-PT win over Southern Illinois: how long did it take for that shot to roll around the rim before dropping through the net?! I cannot recall how long that shot rolled around the rim.  I recently saw James on the road while recruiting and we reminisced about that game, that shot, and how it changed our lives.

You were as an assistant to Rick Majerus at St. Louis: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? Coach Majerus had a special talent for teaching the game and his practices were special learning sessions for his players. I learned so much from him, including an abundance of X’s and O’s, but the best thing he did was teach his teams how to play the game correctly from a fundamental perspective. He would methodically go through drills over and over until they were done correctly before we moved on to something else. You achieve what you emphasize and coaches who allow slippage in practice will undoubtedly have to deal with it during games.

In the 2010 CBI with the Billikens you made the finals before losing twice to VCU: how much fun was it to face “Havoc” twice in 3 nights? Those losses still eat at me. Shaka Smart is one of the best coaches in the nation and gets his guys to buy into his system as well as any coach in the country. Their guards pressured us to no end and they had an NBA rim protector in Larry Sanders.

In the 2014 MVC tourney as head coach at Illinois State, Milton Doyle scored a team-high 19 PTS including a contested 3-PT shot at the buzzer in a 2-PT win over Bradley: where does that rank among the most clutch shots that you have ever seen? The magnitude of that shot was amplified because it came during our first year in the Missouri Valley: to win a game at Arch Madness was a statement for our program at that time. For a freshman to hit that shot on that stage was huge for Milton as well as for all of us. Let us hope that he can repeat it as a senior…but in the finals!

In the 2015 CBI championship series you had a 1-PT win over Louisiana-Monroe to clinch the title: what did it mean to you to win a title? Earlier that season we won the Las Vegas Classic while playing against some good really programs such as Boise State/Texas Tech. To win a title was monumental, especially for the culture of our program. We got to experience how the pressure mounted in each subsequent round. It had been 30 years since Loyola had won a title so hopefully it has set the stage for bigger things to come.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against St. Joseph’s/NC State/San Diego State: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? All of them will present a huge challenge for our program this season. St. Joe’s won 28 games last year, NC State is a program with a lot of tradition, and San Diego State should be a top-20 team this year, so it is hard to pick which will be the lesser of any evil. They are all great programs so each will present a tremendous challenge for us.

You have 2 seniors/9 juniors on the roster: do you think this team is ready to contend right now or do you think that you are a year away from doing something really special? We are no different than most programs in that we want to win this year. We worked very hard in the summer/fall and took a trip to Spain to help prepare us to have a good season. The uncertainty is having so many new guys: some of them are going to have to step up but I have confidence that they will.

Your team took a trip to Spain over the summer: what did your team get out of this experience that you think will help this season? This is a very close-knit group. We have a lot of new guys and they got to know each other faster while gaining an understanding of what to expect in practice/game situations, so that has helped alleviate the unknown. Building chemistry helps pull you together because it is inevitable that at some point you will face adversity.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? I will not hide from that question: we want to win the Missouri Valley and go to the NCAA tournament. We have set the bar high in how we approach each day with our preparation and what is said to our guys, always keeping that end result in mind.

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Conference Preview: SEC

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Chad

CLICK HERE for all of the Hoops HD Preseason Articles, Interviews, and Conference Previews

SEC

Three teams in the Field of 68.  Two teams in the Round of 64.  One team in the Sweet 16.  And no teams left after that.  That was the fate of the Southeastern Conference last season as 11-seed Vanderbilt was eliminated in the First Four, 4-seed Kentucky was knocked out by Indiana in the Round of 32, and 3-seed Texas A&M fell to Oklahoma in the Sweet 16.  Although the conference did place four teams in the NIT (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama), none of them advanced to the final rounds in New York City.  In all, it was a forgettable season in the SEC.  Given the conference’s commitment to upgrading its basketball and the coaching talent that has come into the league in the past few years, we may look back at seasons like last one as an aberration.  Unfortunately for the league, early signs heading into the 2016-17 season don’t point to doing too much better than three bids again.

One team that will definitely be good – very good – this season is (of course) Kentucky.  The Wildcats have once again reloaded with some of the top freshman talent in the nation who may all be household names by March.  Coach John Calipari should once again have his team contending for a top seed and the national championship.  It is beyond Kentucky that the questions arise.  Can teams like Georgia and Florida improve enough to make it to the Big Dance?  How will Bryce Drew do in his first season taking over at Vanderbilt?  Is this the year Bruce Pearl puts Auburn back on the college hoops map?  Can Frank Martin finally get South Carolina into the Field?  Will Texas A&M be able to keep up their momentum despite losing several key pieces from last year’s team?  Will Ben Howland (Mississippi State) and Rick Barnes (Tennessee) make some noise?  Will LSU find a way to develop even a drop of team chemistry?  Will Kim Anderson (Missouri) be employed this time next year?  There is talent throughout the SEC, it just remains to be seen which teams will come together and, even if they won’t challenge Kentucky for the top of the standings, be able to put enough together to claim an at-large bid.

Predicted Order of Finish

1. Kentucky – With Jamal Murray, Tyler Ulis, Alex Poythress, Skal Labissiere and Marcus Lee all gone thing in Lexington should be . . . just fine.  Coach John Calipari has brought in five top recruits featuring guards De’Aaron Fox and Mailk Monk, big men Wenyen Gabriel and Sacha Killyea-Jones, and forward Edrice “Bam” Adebayo may end up being the best of the bunch.  Oh, and don’t forget about the players that do return from last year, like Isaac Humphries and Derek Willis.  The Wildcats should be the class of the SEC and a serious Final Four contender.

2. Georgia – The inside-outside combination of J.J. Frazier at guard and Yante Maten at forward will make the Bulldogs dangerous.  Keep an eye on a now healthy Juwan Parker in the backcourt and junior college transfer Pape Diatta in the frontcourt.

3. Florida – The Gators may be without Dorian Finney-Smith, but with KeVaughn Allen and John Egbunu back, plus the additions of College of Charleston transfer Canyon Barry (Rik Barry’s son) and redshirt freshman Keith Stone, they could be better than last year.  The Gators do desperately need to find a way to improve their free throw and three-point shooting percentages.

4. Arkansas – The Razorbacks have a chance to finish near the top of the league standings with Dusty Hannahs and Moses Kingsley back, plus the addition of three of the five highest rated junior college transfers in the nation: guards Jaylen Barford and Daryl Macon and forward Arlando Cook.

5. Auburn – Despite 20 losses last season, the Tigers have a ton of talent, both new and old.  Keep an eye on senior T.J. Dunans, freshman Mustapha Heron and Houston transfer Ronnie Johnson in the backcourt.  Up front, red shirt freshman Danjel Purifoy and Bethune-Cookman transfer LaRon Smith both figure to be key contributors.

6. Vanderbilt – Head coach Bruce Drew has a few really good pieces, led by center Luke Kornet, forward Jeff Roberson and swingman Matthew Fisher-Davis.  If Riley LaChance can regain his form from two years ago, it will be a huge help, but depth will be a serious question.

7. Texas A&M – The Aggies have a ton of size available down low with Tonny Trocha-Morelos and Tyler Davis, but they need to find a way to replace their lost scoring from last season.  Lipscomb transfer J.C. Hampton could help a lot if he proves he can play against higher level competition.

8. South Carolina – A trio of guards (Sindarious Thornwell, Duane Notice and P.J. Dozier) will keep the Gamecocks competitive, but a lack of depth and size down low may prove to be serious issues.

9. Alabama – Three starters are gone, but point guard Dazon Ingram is back and healthy again.  The Crimson Tide don’t have much in terms of true star power, but Avery Johnson proved last season that he can coach at the college level and his team should not be overlooked.

10. Mississippi State – Sophomores Quinndary Waetherspoon and I.J. Ready will form the backcourt, but will also provide the majority of the Division I experience for the entire roster.  Head coach Ben Howland did bring in a Top 10 rated recruiting class nationally, but the team is probably a year away from making any serious noise.

11. LSU – Antonio Blakeney in the backcourt and Craig Victor II in the frontcourt give the Tigers some hope, but there is not much else here beyond those two for a team that proved to have almost no chemistry whatsoever last season.

12. Ole Miss – A pair of transfer will lead the backcourt with Deandre Burnett coming over from Miami and Cullen Neal coming from New Mexico.  Sebastian Saiz is a double-double threat down low, but the team has a lack of depth and probably will not be able to make up for the loss of Stefan Moody.

13. Tennessee – The top two players are gone from a team that lost 19 games, but a roster featuring a dozen freshmen and sophomores should help Rick Barnes as he continues to build the program back up.  Just don’t expect much this season.

14. Missouri – The talent just does not appear to be here to stay with the other 13 teams in the conference.  Barring what would be a shocking rise in the standings, this could be the end of the Kim Anderson era at Mizzou.

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The Hoops HD Report: Preseason Bracket Projections

Posted on November 8, 2016 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for all of the Hoops HD Preseason Articles, Interviews, and Conference Previews

This is our final, and perhaps most entertaining, interesting, and important, preseason podcast!!  For our next show, the season will be underway!!  As he does every year, Chad Sherwood has built a preseason bracket based on his preseason conference previews and rankings.  He is joined by a whole slew of people as he reveals the bracket line by line, and they discuss all the teams as they go.  As you would expect, the panel agrees with some stuff, and disagrees with more stuff.  

We also preview the notable games taking place this upcoming weekend as the season is set to open, and we reveal this year’s Team of the People!!

 

 

Chad’s completed Bracket is posted below, but you’re not allowed to look at it until you watch the show!!

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And for all you radio lovers, below is an mp3 version of the show…

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Conference Preview: Pac-12

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Chad

CLICK HERE for all of the Hoops HD Preseason Articles, Interviews, and Conference Previews

PAC-12

The Pac-12 set a conference record last season by placing seven teams in the NCAA Tournament.  All seven teams wore white uniforms in their first game (seeded 8th or better), and three of them were “protected seeds” (teams seed on the top four lines).  That was the good news.  The bad news is that all seven teams left the Tournament in a loss to teams seeded worse than them.  4 seed Cal, 6 seed Arizona, 7 seed Oregon State and 8 seeds Colorado and USC all fell in their opening games.  3 seed Utah won their first round game before falling to 11 seed Gonzaga in the Round of 32.  Oregon (1 seed) had the best performance, advancing all the way to the Regional Final, but losing there to 2 seed Oklahoma.  In all, one of the better regular seasons for the Pac-12 in recent years ended with disappointment almost across the board.

This year, the conference has a chance to be just as good and it would not totally shock us if seven teams ended up dancing again.  The way will be led by Dana Altman’s Oregon Ducks, a team that is as loaded with talent as any team in the nation.  Not only do the Ducks return the majority of the key players that led them to a 1 seed last season, but they also add in a few pieces they did not have, including a now healthy Dylan Ennis, a prized freshman guard in Payton Pritchard, and one of the top JC transfers in the nation, Kavell Bigby-Williams.  The Ducks are deep and talented, and another 1 seed could be in the works.  However, the conference does not end its talent there.  Arizona has reloaded once again, UCLA has another roster filled with prized recruits (and a coach who may be out of excuses if they can’t perform this season), and teams like Colorado, Cal, Utah, USC and Oregon State could all contend for bids.  The dark horse pick to take a bid is Stanford, with a veteran roster and a solid new head coach (Jerod Haase) taking over.

Predicted Order of Finish

1. Oregon – This team seems to have all the pieces, from great depth at guard (Casey Benson, Dylan Ennis, Tyler Dorsey and freshman Payton Pritchard) to a collection of some of the nation’s best shot blockers (Chris Boucher, Jordan Bell and junior college transfer Kavell Bigby-Williams).  Also, do not overlook forward Dillon Brooks who will be a star once again assuming he is able to recover from offseason foot surgery.

2. Arizona – Allonzo Trier should score a ton of points this year as he leads a strong group in the backcourt.  Freshman forward Lauri Markkanen could be one of the nation’s top rookies this year.  One of the biggest questions will be Ray Smith, who has had surgeries on both of his knees over the past two years and left the team’s exhibition game this past week with an injury.  If he is healthy, the Wildcats could go far.  If not, they may be pining for prized recruit Terrance Ferguson, who decided not to enroll and instead opted to turn pro overseas.

3. UCLA – There is no doubt that the Bruins are loaded with talent.  They return starters Isaac Hamilton, Bryce Alford and Thomas Welsh, and Prince Ali may be ready to show the talent that had him highly rated as a freshman last year.  If that was not enough, three 5-star recruits have been added in led by Lonzo Ball, who was rated the No. 3 overall prospect heading into this season.  If the Bruins do not finish near the top of the conference standings and advance to the Big Dance this year, odds are there will be a new head coach in town next season.

4. Colorado – The Buffaloes will be solid in the backcourt with Josh Fortune, George King and newcomer Derrick White, who was one of the nation’s top Division II players while playing for Colorado-Colorado Springs.  The team will need to make up for the loss of Josh Scott down low, but having a healthy Xavier Johnson should help somewhat.

5. California – The top three scorers from last season are all gone, but Ivan Rabb’s decision not to enter the NBA Draft was huge, especially with a pair of 7-footers on the roster to join him down low.  If Jabari Bird can finally become the player we thought he could be and Columbia transfer Grant Mullins is able to succeed against this higher level of competition, the Bears should find themselves back in the Big Dance again.

6. Stanford – All but one key player return from last year’s team, but that one was their best (Rosco Allen).  New head coach Jerod Haase could have this team flirting with a bid, given that Reid Travis is healthy and that he has brought in a pair of top 100 recruits in Trevor Stanback and Kodye Pugh.

7. USC – Six players left during the offseason either via declaring for the NBA Draft or transferring out.  Despite the losses, the Trojans should still be competitive with forward Bennie Boatwright and guards Jordan McLaughlin and Elijah Stewart back.  The biggest questions are the team’s depth down low and just how good former Louisville prized recruit Shaqquan Aaron is.

8. Utah – Matching last year’s success is doubtful this season given that only two regulars return from that roster.  The addition of Utah State transfer David Collette (who won’t be eligible until after the first semester) should help down low.  This is probably a rebuilding year while the new pieces all learn to play together; however, it is tough to ever count out a Larry Krystkowiak coached team.

9. Oregon State – The Beavers will likely take a small step backwards this season without Gary Payton II, but things are still looking bright here with Stephen Thompson, Jr. and Tres Tinkle both only entering their sophomore years.

10. Washington – Markelle Fultz may be one of the top freshman guards in the nation, but losing a pair of first round draft picks (Marquese Chriss and Dejounte Murray) and a player that averaged over 20 points per game (Andrew Andrews) off of a team that only made the NIT does not make one confident about this season.

11. Arizona State – The Sun Devils should be solid in the backcourt with Tra Holder, freshman Sam Cunliffe and Buffalo transfer Torian Graham.  However, there are huge questions down low with a lack of size and depth.

12. Washington State – Josh Hawkinson averaged a double-double last year, but the Cougars don’t seem to have enough other pieces around him.  The good news is that it will be tough to be worse than last season’s 1-17 Pac-12 record.

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