BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

THE PAC-12 TOURNAMENT is seen by many as up for grabs this year, with the conference fielding one of its weakest (or most evenly matched, if you want to look on the bright side) groups in years. No Pac-12 team has been in the Top 25 for weeks and in terms of NCAA berths, the Pac-12 is looking wan indeed, says Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News.

Wilner paints a downright bleak picture when it comes to Big Dance at-large berths for the conference's top four teams.

Arizona has no chance unless they win the tournament, he says. Meanwhile, Cal must win it's quarterfinal game. Washington, says Wilner, may sneak in but it's hard to make their case with a 4-8 record against Top 100 RPI teams. Wilner also says the UW's regular season title will have no bearing on an at-large NCAA berth. And Oregon? They don’t have the profile of an at-large team at 0-5 vs. RPI top 50. But they may still grab a spot if they pass the eye test.

Wilner pegs the chances of 2 NCAA bids, at the moment, to be 55 percent. One bid: 30 percent. Three bids: 15 percent. To read the complete blog entry, click here.

WHEN WASHINGTON STATE (15-15, 7-11) meets Oregon State (17-13, 7-11) in the Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament today, it will be the first time the teams have played on a postseason neutral floor since the 1988 Pac-10 Tournament in Tucson. Ken Bone is 5-2 all-time against the Beavers and 5-1 as the head coach at Washington State.

The Cougars and Beavers have also never faced each other in the state of California.

While most of the attention will be focused on the Cougs' leading scorer, forward Brock Motum, guard DaVonté Lacy could be key. In the Cougs' first win over Oregon State, Motum scored 26 points but Lacy went for 18 in the 81-76 win.

Reggie Moore had nine assists in the first game, and notched 11 more in the 83-73 win in Corvallis.

D.J. Shelton scored 14 points and added nine boards in the second win, both career-highs.

Motum needs just two rebounds today to join Steve Puidokas and Larry Beck as the only Cougars to score at least 500 points and grab 200 rebounds in the same season. Puidokas is being inducted in the Pac-12 Ring of Honor today.

THE COUGS WILL be one of four host teams for the 2012 College Basketball Experience (CBE) Classic next season.

Washington State, along with Kansas, Saint Louis and Texas A&M, will meet at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., for the Championship Rounds of the CBE Classic Nov. 19-20, 2012.

In regular-season tournaments, WSU has reached the championship game in six of the last seven tournaments and has won three of those six.