2010-2011 PAC 10 Basketball Preview, Predictions Picks & Odds | Sportsbookbuzz.com

2010-2011 PAC 10 Basketball Preview, Predictions Picks & Odds

With a 13-5 record in the Pac-10 last season, the California Bears were the regular-season champions of the conference. It won’t be easy to repeat last year’s success in 2010 with all three of the Bears’ leading scorers from last season (Jarome Randle, Patrick Christopher and Theo Robertson) departing. Cal will need big performances from their young players to stay at the top of the conference.

The Arizona State Sun Devils finished in second place in the conference with a 12-6 record in Pac-10 play. With both of ASU’s top scorers (Ty Abbott and Rihards Kuksiks) returning and Coach Herb Sendek’s system still in place, the Sun Devils should once again be in contention for a Pac-10 title.

Coming into the 2010 season with high expectations are the Washington Huskies, who finished third in the Pac-10 with an 11-7 conference record, but won the Pac-10 tournament. Leading scorer Quincey Pondexter has graduated, but a solid foundation led by star guard Isaiah Thomas should prevent a step backwards this season.

Finishing in fourth place with a 10-8 conference record last season were the Arizona Wildcats. With a young core, including last season’s Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Derrick Williams, the Wildcats have plenty of reason to be optimistic about the new season.

Three teams tied for fifth place in the Pac-10 last season with an 8-10 conference record: the USC Trojans, UCLA Bruins and Oregon State Beavers. Considering all of the turmoil surrounding the program last season, USC actually did a fairly good job keeping afloat, and could do better this season with the OJ Mayo drama in the past. UCLA had an embarrassing 2009 by their standards, and must overcome the loss of two of last year’s three leading scorers. Oregon State returns plenty of young talent but must play at a more consistent level if they want to improve.

The Oregon Ducks and the Stanford Cardinal finished tied for eighth place in the Pac-10 last season with 7-11 conference records. Oregon’s rebuilding process received some good news this offseason with guard Malcolm Armstead’s decision to stay on the team instead of transferring. Stanford loses the Pac-10′s leading scorer last season in Landry Fields, but they have plenty of young talent ready to step up. Not your typical last place team (6-12 conference), the Washington State Cougars have the talent to bounce back this year.