Tightwad Hill

WOW

90-86. Double OT. Stanford losing at home. You really couldn't ask for much more from a basketball game. The biggest winner last night was Gonzaga, who needed this game badly to build a better case for an at-large bid (in the event they don't win the WCC).

The biggest loser? Other than the very ordinary crowd of Maples dorks, who haven't yet regained their fastball, the biggest losers are the Washington Huskies. Washington seems primed for a second-half run, but Jerry Palm rates their RPI as 69th best in the nation (right ahead of Winthrop). The Huskies need their non-conference opponents - particularly LSU - to play better down the stretch; they also need Pac-10 teams to win their games out of conference. A Stanford win last night (and for that matter an Arizona win last weekend) would have been one of the many shots in the arm that Romar's team needs to earn a bid in March.

The Cardinal come to Haas this weekend, and we'll take a closer look at the game later today.

posted by Tightwad @ 8:53 AM