To give you an idea of how wide open the Pac-10 tournament is this year, you can take the bottom feeders (WSU, Oregon, Stanford, OSU) out of the picture and make a convincing argument that any of the remaining five (USC is ineligible) teams could walk away with the trophy and the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

Cal is the clear favorite, but Washington and Arizona State could easily put together a few solid games to steal the crown from the Bears, and Arizona, USC and UCLA have shown throughout the season they can hang with anyone, making a miracle run within the realm of possibility.

If you believe the hype, the tourney winner would be the league’s only rep in the field of 65, but I still have a hard time imagining that a power conference like the Pac-10 would only get one team in when you have three teams with more than 20 wins. Cal is a lock for the NCAAs, while Washington and Arizona State will need at least one win to get in.

The tournament got under way Wednesday night, with Oregon knocking off Wazzu in OT – a game, that, if I had stayed up to watch, would have put me to bed at approximately 2 a.m. Eastern time – sending the once-promising Cougars home till next season.

With the tournament getting underway in earnest today, let’s take a look at the opening-round matchups.

No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 5 UCLA: Barring a run to the title, Arizona’s streak of 25 consecutive NCAA tourney appearances will come to a close this weekend. But the Wildcats have the talent to make some noise, if their young players come together under the leadership of senior guard Nic Wise.

The same could be said for the Bruins, who have at times looked awful, but seemed to get better down the stretch. They will also have a marginal home field advantage, although I’m sure the citizens of L.A. would rather watch a freeway chase on the local news than venture to Staples to see an average UCLA team. Pick: Arizona

No. 1 California vs. No. 8 Oregon: Reports are swirling that Ducks coach Ernie Kent has already been fired, so wouldn’t it be something if Oregon made it all the way to the championship game in a last-ditch effort to save his job?  

Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen. Cal may not be a great team, but they lack the obvious flaws that many of the other Pac-10 squads have. Mighty mite guard Jerome Randle can get hot in a hurry, and if he’s going well, that sparks the rest of the team. Oregon isn’t exactly going to be fresh after playing a late OT game, so look for Cal to put this one away early. Pick: Cal

No. 2 Arizona State vs. No. 7 Stanford: I can’t stand the way the Sun Devils play, but their slowdown, zone-oriented scheme has paid off, considering they don’t have the most talented roster. Stanford has been a major disappointment this year, but that should have been easy to predict when the Cardinal lost to Northwestern.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the final of this game was something like 46-34. ASU is not sexy in any way, but they will be playing as hard as they can to attempt to secure an NCAA berth. Pick: Arizona State

No. 3 Washington vs. No. 6 Oregon State: The Huskies get a rematch with the Beavers, whom they defeated in the final Pac-10 regular season game a few days ago. Let’s face facts: UW should roll OSU out of the gym, but you can never predict what Washington will do when away from the cozy confines of Hec Ed Pavilion.

Quincy Pondexter will need to have a big game, but he’s going to have to get some help from someone else, be it Isiah Thomas or Venoy Overton, to offset what has been a schizo OSU squad that could suddenly decide to flip the switch and be competitive. Pick: Washington

SEMIFINALS

Cal vs. Arizona: These teams split their season series, with the Wildcats winning by four in Tucson and the Bears routing Arizona in Berkeley. So on a neutral site, I think you have to go with the better/hotter team, which is Cal. Sorry, there’s just not a lot to say about this one. Pick: Cal

Washington vs. Arizona State: Again, these teams split, with the Huskies inexplicably losing by 17 to the Sun Devils on the road only to crush them by 23 at home later in the year. Most pundits are pointing to this game as a virtual play-in to the tournament, with the winner garnering the league’s only other berth. I’m not sure it’s that simple, but then again, I don’t spend every waking moment of my life trying to predict the field.

In order to win this game, Washington is going to have to impose its will from the opening tip, and that means run and gun. Arizona State is going to try and settle into its zone, and the Huskies will have to be quick enough with the ball to ensure that does not happen. Otherwise, it could be a long night for UW, which has proven time and again it doesn’t know what to do with, or have inside players skilled enough to benefit, a good zone defense.

I think the Huskies, with everything on the line, will step up to the challenge. Pick: Washington

CHAMPIONSHIP

Washington vs. California: I’m not sure Washington will have enough in the emotional tank to finish the job against the Bears, who completely outclassed UW when the two teams played a few weeks ago. In that game, I felt like Cal was the faster, more aggressive team. With the Pac-10 title on the line (and again, the alleged lone NCAA berth), I would expect both teams to come out flying.

But I think this year belongs to the Bears. Mike Montgomery has done a splendid job on the bench, proving once more that successful college coaches should NEVER leave to coach spoiled millionaires in the NBA.

I look for Cal to get the win and both the Bears and Huskies to go dancing when the brackets are revealed Sunday. Pick: Cal 72, UW 63