For Cougars, March Madness Starts Tonight

With the Huskies losing last night, their chance at the NIT are not looking good. Luckily there are two teams on the eastside of the mountains keeping hope alive for the State of Washington in the NCAA Tourney.

At 23-7 overall and a No. 21 ranking in the country, the Washington State Cougars are a lock for the field of 65 of the NCAA tournament. A couple wins in the Pac-10 Tournament will definitely help the Cougars get a favorable seed, in other words, avoiding the dreaded "upset waiting to happen" No. 5 seed. WSU should be more worried about avoiding injuries, but a couple wins could also get the Cougs on a much-needed roll entering the NCAA tourney.

This evening, the Pac-10 Conference Tournament continues as the third place Cougars will face the sixth place Oregon Ducks, a team they've beaten twice already, at 6 p.m. on FSN.

The Ducks have more to gain in this game, ESPN still has them on the bubble, along with Arizona and Arizona State. A realistic scenario is having two of these three teams make the tourney and a win over the Cougs would probably seal the deal for a ticket to the dance.

Last year, the Cougars were tripped up by USC in the Pac-10 tournament, but still managed a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament-getting bounced in the second round in a heartbreaking double OT loss to Vanderbilt.

photo courtesy of Flickr user DougRouth, who apparently owns a helicopter