L.A. Times writers take a stab at the Pac-10 bracket

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UCLA will lose in the final round of the Pac-10 tournament.

At least, that’s the consensus when looking at the brackets of Los Angeles Times writers who cover Pac-10 teams.

Even with a small field and just four writers, the rest of the projections are mixed. All of the hoops observers -- Chris Dufresne, David Wharton, Chris Foster and Adam Rose -- are careful to point out that they aren’t hoops oracles. The parity in the conference this year makes it even tougher than usual.

With the play-in games out of the way (none of the four were making it past Thursday, anyway), let’s take a look at the rest of the tournament ...

QUARTERFINALS

Nobody expects an upset of top seeds UCLA and Washington, but the other games are toss-ups with split results in The Times’ unofficial pool.

When No. 3 Cal takes on No. 6 USC, Dufresne expects to see a trend continue -- Cal has overachieved this year while USC has underachieved. Rose thinks the Trojans have an advantage playing down the street from their home and might have learned from the overtime loss in Berkeley a couple of weeks ago.

No. 4 Arizona State and No. 5 Arizona should be exciting because Arizona is on the outside of the NCAA tournament field, and Arizona State needs this one to secure a good seeding. As Dufresne points out, Arizona State swept the season series and threatens to take over as the state’s best college basketball program.

SEMIFINALS

Whether it faces Cal or USC, No. 2 UCLA is the consensus pick in this round.

It was another even split in the other half of the bracket, with two writers picking Washington and two picking Arizona State. Assuming these two teams actually face each other, it could be one of the best games of the tournament. Each team features a pair of All-Pac-10 players.

‘It wasn’t a fluke Washington won the regular-season title,’ says Dufresne. ‘The combination of the Huskies’ guards and Mr. Inside Jon Brockman makes them a formidable force.’

‘Don’t forget the top player in the Pac-10,’ counters Rose. ‘James Harden is an unselfish guard who elevates everybody around him. ASU slumped after losing to Washington a few weeks ago, but snapped out of it with an easy win over Cal.’

FINAL

UCLA sometimes struggles when it has to play within 48 hours of its last game. Going three days in a row makes it that much harder. It might be doable considering the Bruins’ streaky nature, but they can’t afford to have Darren Collison slowed by a recent back injury.

Dufresne doesn’t think Collison can keep up with UDUB’s firefly freshman Isaiah Thomas. Rose thinks ASU has UCLA’s number. Either way, all think that UCLA will have a strong showing but may come up a little short.

The last word comes from Dufresne, who says that he, ‘like the Chicago Tribune, also liked Dewey in ‘48, Colts over loudmouth Namath in ‘69, Russia over USA hockey in Lake Placid in 1980, Mike Tyson to crush Buster Douglas in Tokyo, ‘Love Guru’ to win the Oscar for best picture, Ron Paul to claim the U.S. presidency in a landslide last fall and, this week, the Dominican Republic to run windmills around the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.

‘In other words, you can take these Pac-10 predictions to the bank ... whatever that means these days.’

-- Posted by Adam Rose