NEIL JOSHI, The Sports Lounge
JSB COLLEGE BASKETBALL COLUMNIST

Scanning the top five of the college basketball rankings shows that the usual suspects are once among the cream of the crop. North Carolina, Memphis, and Kansas all made the Elite Eight last year, and UCLA has made back-to-back Final Fours. Who’s the fifth team, you ask? That would be the Washington State Cougars, who are one of only five undefeated teams left in college basketball.

Long been a dormant and inferior college basketball program, the Cougars have been used to losing for a long time, their culture is chaning, and they are a rising powerhouse.

Tony Bennett has turned the program in Pullman around in a hurry, tying a school record with 26 wins last year and starting this season with a 13-0 record. Other accomplishments from his first year at Washington State in 2006-07 were the team’s first national ranking since 1983, and its first tournament appearance since 1994. Next on the agenda for Bennett and his talented, yet largely unknown crew is the school’s first conference championship since 1941, and a second national championship following a 91-year drought.

Armed with many of their key contributors coming back from last year’s record setting team, the Cougars set lofty expectations for 2007-08 after a disappointing second round exit from the NCAA Tournament last year. Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver have been the trailblazers in leading this program back to prominence, and their leadership as seniors has allowed their teammates to blossom this season and make Wazzu more dangerous than ever.

Washington State’s fast start has been rewarded with a gaudy #4 ranking, and discussion about a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. But, the conversation of the best teams in America doesn’t involve the Cougars because of the lack of a truly quality victory. The best win on the resume was in Spokane against state rival Gonzaga in a rugged 51-47 victory. The Bulldogs have been truly difficult to beat at home, but they are not as good as some of their more talented teams of the past. Because of their lack of quality opposition early in the season, the Cougars have suffered in the early RPI rankings, coming out an appalling 30th. Everything is about to change.

Washington State’s first real test of the season comes as they head to Southern California for two crucial road conference games against USC and UCLA. The Trojans have started 0-2 in conference and are desperate to get off the shelf, and show the nation they deserve the hype. Playing the #4 team in the country at home in an early conference game will be quite a treat. The Trojans have shown to be an extremely streaky team, looking uninspired in losses to Mercer and Stanford, but looking downright dangerous in playing Kansas and Memphis down to the wire. That’s only the appetizer, though.

The main course comes on Saturday afternoon when the Cougars go to Pauley Pavilion to face #5 UCLA. Between the two teams, they have a combined 27-1 record. We know all about the Bruins, and their rise back to prominence under the tutelage of Ben Howland. The Cougars may be ranked higher, but they are not at the top of the Pac-10…yet. After getting swept a year ago, Washington State must beat UCLA before they can reach that summit. Saturday’s game should be a real treat for any college basketball fan. It will be an opportunity to watch two of the nation’s best take the court against each other, and provide a true gauge of how good Bennett’s club truly is.

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