I'm a Cubs fan who posts at a Cubs message board...as such, we draw a lot of fans from college basketball programs across the nation (thanks to WGN, the Cubs have a nationwide fan base).

In discussing KU's loss, a KU alum said that he's beginning to realize that his team isn't "special." At that point, someone else said that no team in the nation is special, not even Memphis with their undefeated record (duh). As discussion progressed, the resounding theme (amongst Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, Wisconsin and Iowa fans primarily) was that UCLA was indeed special as long as they got their act together ("get their head out of their ass") and cited the difficulty of the Pac-10 as helping them prepare for success this spring. An Indiana alum said that UCLA hasn't proved it yet but they will show that they are special and they have the coach that will draw this out of them.

It's interesting seeing those outside of the fanbase and conference having so much faith in Howland and the basketball team. It also made me feel a bit better.

Except for the nostalgic issue and the crazy unrealistic fan base. I mean, didnt we beat a KU team with a healthy Brandon Rush and Julian Wright in last years tournament, with less depth than we have this year? Kansas certainly has length and athleticism. However, we saw what our suffocating D can do to a team like that. We, with a legitimate inside presence and added depth, seem to be a much better team this year than last year. Also, we are a much better free throw shooting team this year. The only possible draw back, is that I feel we played with a lot more defensive intensity and physicality in '05/'06 and '06/'07, than this year. In the SUC game, I really felt we got out hustled and that SUC was the more physical team. Mata-Real and Luc going down with concussions was certainly supportive of my assessment. We certainly got winded at the end. I think even Ben agreed that he played some of our guys too many minutes. I think we definitely need to step up our defensive intensity on a regular basis. Our losses are a good example of what can happen when we don't play with defensive intensity and our shots aren't dropping. We need to be able to STOP teams when our shots are dropping.

With regards to this East Coast bias, it certainly still and will always exist. However, I think we finally reached a MAJOR milestone, when consistent East Coaster and Bruin Hater Jay Bilas switched sides and called UCLA the best team in America, when healthy. I think this is a direct result of Bilas announcing the home game against Arizona. He was truly impressed with how UCLA thoroughly dominated and dismantled a VERY talented Arizona team. We are the only MAJOR conference in America where every team plays each other twice. I don't think other conferences or detractors realize what this can do to you in a VERY deep and talented conference. We have up to 7 current teams with a legitimate shot to make the tourney. I also think a Pac-10 team with a losing conference record should also make the tourney. With some of the bottom teams in other conferences not being very good at all, I think it is much easier to go over .500 or have a better conference record there than in the Pac-10. Again, not all teams in other conferences play each other twice. This gives some teams with favorable scheduling several passes and more gimmees.