I chickened out with my semifinals picks, taking the favorites Washington and Arizona. The way the Pac-10 unfolded this season though, it was the Huskies, Wildcats, and eight also-rans, so I felt there was no way I could take OSU or Stanford.

I would have had a finals preview up yesterday, but travelling from Pullman to Snoqualmie took up most of my day. If I had written a proper preview, it would have went something like this:

Here's your preview, brought to you proudly by the Joker Pub. Husky fever got you down? Come to the west side's Cougar home, the Joker Pub in Issaquah.

(1) Arizona v. (2) Washington
Arizona 95, Washington 90

I know, I know, another favorite. Here's the thing though: Arizona has steamrolled their way through the first two rounds, putting the hurt on Cal and Oregon State on their way to the championship game. Their starters haven't been on the court for very long, and that rest should be a major advantage for CPOY (Caldwell's Player of the Year) Salim Stoudamire and crew. The Huskies, by contrast, have played two tough games, going into OT against Arizona State in the opener and just getting by Stanford's boxing team 66-63 on Friday. Despite their overall depth advantage, a lot of key Huskies have played a lot of minutes the last two days, and I expect that to be the deciding factor. Plus, Arizona simply looks too good lately.


So I was way off. In retrospect, I suppose my well-documented biases in the Pac-10 left me simply unable to pick the Huskies when it came down to it. So shoot me.