Jeff Faraudo of the Oakland Tribune has compiled and published his annual survey on Pac-10 basketball from media who cover the league.

You can find the results here and you can find anonymous comments from the writers here.

Some points of interest:

Arizona freshman forward Derrick Williams, in a tight vote of the 31 media members, was chosen as the Pac-10 player who will be the best NBA player in five years. Can’t argue too much with that, although I went with Washington State shooting guard Klay Thompson, commenting that “He’ll be nice and strong by then.”

Williams received eight votes, UCLA freshman forward Tyler Honeycutt got seven votes and Thompson had six, while several others split the remainder. Some jokester voted for Stanford women’s player Jayne Appel. We writers are a hoot.

Williams was, as expected, the landslide winner as the league’s top freshman. One of the writers’ comments: “Really mature game. Somebody check his birth certificate.”

Also notable is this question: Which team will win the 2010-11 Pac-10 title?

The winner: Arizona.

The Wildcats edged UCLA, with 13 votes to the Bruins’ 12. Arizona State had two.

Much still depends on how teams finish in recruiting in the offseason, but coach Sean Miller won’t have the benefit of modest expectations next season. The Cats will be expected to deliver.

One Pac-10 wag, while predicting Arizona as the best in the league next season, wrote: “Please, no. Make it stop. I can’t endure this again. Okay, okay. Arizona, but I’m not happy about it.”

None of the 31, however, picked UA to win the Pac-10 tournament, which starts Thursday. Washington is the favorite, picking up 16 votes.

The first instruction in the survey was to describe this unusual Pac-10 season in one word that is fit to print. I went with “Ishtar.” Check out the rest of the comments, and if you have a better one-word idea, leave it in the comments section.

Nic Wise (right) and MoMo Jones celebrate after beating USC/Photo by WildcatSportsReport.com

OK, so let’s analyze Arizona in the Pac-10 tournament bracket. On second thought, let’s not.

Does it really matter?

Arizona plays UCLA on Thursday in the quarterfinals and faces a likely semifinal game with league champ Cal.

Good draw? Bad draw? Do you want to play a team you have defeated twice (like Arizona has done to UCLA)? Or would you have preferred to play a team that swept you in the regular season (like Oregon State).

Do you want see a zone defense or man-to-man?

Whatever. At this point, it’s all the same coin toss. Maybe you’d like to avoid the No. 1 seed before the championship game, but it’s not as if the Golden Bears have anybody in the Pac-10 shaking in the Nikes.

“It’s not about your opponent,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said.

“It’s about when you enter the court, are you really revved up to play, are you going to play with great effort, are you going to do the things that you worked on? Our defense will be much more about us winning than who we are playing? …

“There may be matchups that may be favorable, but a lot will depend on how that team is. Sometimes you catch a team at the right moment.”

Or not.

Who knows? In this season’s Pac-10, logic left the building a long time ago.

I’m not sure the other half of the bracket is any bargain. Washington has won four in a row overall and four in a row away from home after starting the season 0-6 on the road. Arizona State has won six of seven.

Unlike Cal (probably), both of those teams are in desperation mode, needing to add to their resume — or maybe just win the whole tournament — in order to the get the NCAAs.

“I can’t imagine a better setup for a conference tournament than the Pac-10,” Miller said. “There is going to be so much at stake. You are going to have a number of players and teams playing for the lives.”

FOUR COACHES IN FOUR YEARS, PART II
Much has been made about Arizona senior Nic Wise having four head coaches in four seasons. You know who might be the next player to have that dubious honor?

Ex-Wildcat Zane Johnson.

He was a freshman under Kevin O’Neill and played for Russ Pennell as a sophomore before transferring to Hawaii after last season. He redshirted this season for coach Bob Nash.

But the Warriors went 10-20 in Nash’s third season, finishing last in the nine-team WAC and missing out on the league tournament. Nash’s fate could be decided this week — he has one year left on his contract — and if Hawaii makes a change that will be four coaches in four years for Johnson.

Johnson, a shooting guard sitting out because of transfer rules, wasn’t able to do much with the team this season after undergoing offseason surgery to repair a patellar tendon.

ANOTHER REASON TO LIKE NIC WISE
There was a nice moment at the end of the Arizona-USC game that you probably saw on the telecast. Wise and freshman guard MoMo Jones embraced at mid-court for several seconds and you could tell they were talking in each other’s ear.

What were they saying?

“I was basically telling him that it is his turn now. I was handing over the keys to him,” Wise said.

“He’s the point guard of the future here. And he was telling me that he loves me for everything that I have done for him this year and vice-versa. We have a great relationship.”

Don’t give up those keys just yet, Nic. There’s still some driving to do.

JUST LIKE HIS PREDECESSORS …
My favorite moment of Arizona’s postgame press conference on Saturday? Arizona Daily Star beat writer Bruce Pascoe basically asked Miller what was the difference in junior forward Jamelle Horne, who had seven points and eight boards against UCLA and then 16 points and eight rebounds vs. USC.

Horne had been slumping for several weeks.

Miller’s answer, with a chuckle: “I’m not sure.”

Miller is now the third UA head coach who hasn’t quite been sure what to expect from Horne.

“I will say we’re going to stay with him and hope that he is really ready,” Miller said.

HERE’S A BIG MAN WHO COULD HAVE HELPED
It’s been hard to keep track of the comings and goings of Arizona recruits in the past few years, but here’s one that got away that Miller would have liked to have inherited: Greg Smith.

The center committed to Arizona for about a month in the summer of 2008 before deciding to stay closer to home and attend Fresno State. On Sunday, he was selected the WAC Freshman of the Year in a league that doesn’t often get such highly talented big men out of high school.

Smith averaged 11.8 points and 6.0 rebounds in the regular season, and while the WAC isn’t overflowing with quality big men, neither is the Pac-10, so maybe his numbers would have translated fairly well this season.

RANDOM NOTES
Miller said freshman forward Kevin Parrom, who has missed four games with a foot injury, could be ready for Arizona’s first game in the Pac-10 tournament. … In the 13 years of the Pac-10 tournament, including the initial stint from 1987 to 1990, only three teams have not been the No. 1 seed. They are Washington State, Arizona State and USC. … Arizona has played 14 games decided by six points or less. The Wildcats are 7-7 in those games. You win some, you lose some.

More coverage from the TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network:
WildAboutAZCats.com: UA swept by last-place team for first time in Pac-10 history
UASports.net: Streak or die
Derrick Williams selected Sporting News Freshman All-American

The Pac-10 released its 2010 football schedule on Monday, including a couple of special TV games for Arizona — Friday, Nov. 26, at Oregon and Thursday, Dec. 2, vs. Arizona State.

There are still two games unaccounted for on the official Pac-10 release, although one of them is expected to be a blockbuster of an opening-week game — Oregon State vs. TCU at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Later in September, the Beavers play at Boise State. Yep, TCU and Boise State … the two teams that just played in the Fiesta Bowl. How’s that for a cool non-conference schedule?

In fact, as usual, the Pac-10′s out-of-conference schedule is full of intriguing games.

It kicks off with USC at Hawaii on Thursday, Sept. 2. OK, that in itself isn’t that all that interesting, but it’s worth pointing out because it’s an extra non-conference game. The NCAA allows teams that play at Hawaii to play 13 regular-season games.

So, the Pac-10 will play 31 non-conference games next season, only one of which — an ASU non-conference game — that is TBA. Six of those games will be against lower-division foes, including The Citadel at Arizona on Sept. 11, but there is plenty of meat on the bone.

Here is one opinion on the league’s top 10 non-conference games:

1. Oregon State at Boise State, Sept. 25
The Broncos are 49-4 in the past four years and lose just two senior starters from the team that just finished the season 14-0.

2. UCLA at Texas, Sept. 25
The last time these teams met in Austin it was the “Rout 66″ game as the Bruins won 66-3 in 1997. To the surprise of nobody at Arizona, Texas coach John Mackovic was fired after that season.

3. Oregon at Tennessee, Sept. 11
The Ducks will be rid of LeGarrette Blount, and the Vols don’t have anybody named Terrelle Pryor.

4. Oregon State at TCU, Sept. 4 (Arlington, Texas)
If the Beavers have their usual slow start to the season, it will be an unhappy home-state homecoming for OSU stars James and Jacquizz Rodgers.

5. Nebraska at Washington, Sept. 18
Arizona did its part to convince the Cornhuskers that the Pac-10 is soft. You’re welcome, Huskies.

6. Notre Dame at USC, Nov. 27
New Irish coach Brian Kelly couldn’t possibly be as bad against USC as Charlie Weis was.

7. Iowa at Arizona, Sept. 18
Nick Foles gets to start at quarterback this time as Wildcats try to avenge 27-17 loss in Iowa City.

8. Washington at BYU, Sept. 4
Jake Locker returned for his senior season at Washington. Max Hall is done at BYU. Big quarterback edge to the Huskies.

9. Stanford at Notre Dame, Sept. 25
The Cardinal beat the Irish 45-38 late in the 2009 season, but won’t have RB Toby Gerhart around to save the day. (Still, Stanford will be a much tougher team than Notre Dame.)

10. Houston at UCLA, Sept. 18
If Houston QB Case Keenum doesn’t turn pro, it will be interesting to see how the Bruins stop the Cougars offense after losing DT Brian Price, LB Reggie Carter, CB Alterraun Verner and others.

ARIZONA’S 2010 SCHEDULE
Sept. 4 — at Toledo
Sept. 11 — vs. The Citadel
Sept. 18 — vs. Iowa
Oct. 2 — vs. Cal
Oct. 9 — vs. Oregon State
Oct. 16 — at Washington State
Oct. 23 — vs. Washington
Oct. 30 — at UCLA
Nov. 6 — at Stanford
Nov. 13 — vs. USC
Nov. 26 (Friday) — at Oregon
Dec. 2 (Thursday) — vs. Arizona State

The Pac-10 games are wrapped up for the decade and not even a late surge could save Arizona from the bottom of the 10-year standings. Thanks, John Mackovic.

Arizona’s 4-20 conference record under Mackovic from 2001-03 was the second-worst three-year mark for any team in the Pac-10. Only Washington State in the past three years (4-23 playing a nine-game league schedule) was worse.

What Mackovic razed, Mike Stoops has raised. Perhaps the 2010s will be better for Arizona.

The chart below is the breakdown of how the Pac-10 fared this decade, with only this season’s bowl games to be played.

Pac-10 All-Decade standings

DECADE NOTES
Best travel pair: Not even USC could lift Los Angeles to this title. The Oregon-Oregon State pairing was the decade’s best with a combined 108 conference victories. The Los Angeles schools were next with 105.

Wither the Washingtons? The Washington schools had a combined 42 league victories in the first four years of the decade, then had a measly 22 in the next six seasons. That’s 1.8 conference wins per team for six long seasons. The last winning league record for a Washington school was WSU’s 6-2 mark in 2003.

Tough to stay on top: Only two of the seven teams that had winning conference records in the 1990s followed up with winning Pac-10 marks this decade — USC and Oregon.

TEAM NOTES
Arizona: The Wildcats are 14-8 in conference games dating to late in the 2007 season. Before that, Arizona was a miserable 16-48 in league games this decade.

Arizona State: Finished with a winning conference record just three times, and went only 2-18 in conference games in the state of California.

Cal: Conference record looks like better when starting with the Jeff Tedford era in 2002: 41-27.

Oregon: The Ducks were superb in the first two years of the decade and in the final two years, posting a 29-5 conference record in those four seasons. In the middle, Oregon was fairly average.

Oregon State: It seems almost impossible to believe that this is the same program that went 13-65-1 during the 1990s. From one decade to the next, the Beavers went from having a 17.1 winning percentage to a 60.7 winning percentage.

Stanford: In a six-season span (2002-2007), the Cardinal won only 13 conference games.

UCLA: The Bruins have lost at least four conference games in every season except 2005, when they were 6-2. UCLA can still add to its bowl total as it will be invited to the EagleBank Bowl if Navy beats Army on Saturday, thereby eliminating the Black Knights from bowl eligibility.

USC: The Trojan Decade ended with a thud, but the streak of seven consecutive league titles and seven consecutive seasons with double-digit victories was utter dominance. Those 15 first-round picks are more than twice any other Pac-10 team.

Washington: The far-and-away Pac-10 King of the 1990s (58-21-1) would have tied for last this decade if it hadn’t defeated Cal on the last weekend of the regular season.

Washington State: From 2001 to 2003, no team had more than the Cougars’ 19 conference victories (USC did, too). Those memories will have to keep Wazzu warm; in the seven other seasons, WSU managed a mere 14 league wins.

If you see any corrections, send them to me at anthonygimino (at) gmail.com.

Vote for the top UA football stories of the decade at our sports network partner wildaboutazcats.com

Washington will play Arizona next Saturday on a two-game losing streak, including Saturday’s thrilling-to-watch overtime loss at Notre Dame.

Now, do those two losses make Washington angry and hungry? Or it has it deflated the Huskies’ confidence after they beat USC?

Washington junior quarterback Jake Locker was so upset after the loss that he asked to not speak to media for the first time ever.

Last week, Scott Terrell of our partner UAsports.net figured it was best to root for Notre Dame because “I’m playing the ‘I hope the Huskies face the Cats riding a two-game losing streak with their confidence in the toilet’ card,” he wrote.

Doesn’t matter to me. It’s hard enough to predict games without trying to predict a team’s emotional mindset. Let’s just call next week’s game in Seattle another major tussle … and go from there.

That’s the way the Pac-10 is. With the exception of its game against Washington State, Arizona can expect to play seven more games like the one against Oregon State — hard-fought, physical, down to the wire.

You either make a handful of plays and win.

Or you don’t and lose.

The Huskies could have/should have beaten Notre Dame — how in the world did the officials take a late TD away from Washington on a replay ruling? — and will be kicking themselves for getting stuffed repeatedly at the goal line.

I wouldn’t expect any hangover. A night game Saturday at Husky Stadium will be the cure.

“If you take anything for granted, you’re going to get slapped around,” UA coach Mike Stoops said during the bye week. “We understand. We’re not good enough to beat anybody unless we’re at our absolute best.”

I’m writing this as the USC-Cal game is beginning, and one of those teams — who were Nos. 1-2 in the league in my mind before the season began — will have two league losses later tonight. That is the brink of elimination in the Pac-10 race. (No three-loss team has ever won the conference.)

But look who’s on top: Stanford. The Cardinal is 3-0 after Saturday’s 24-16 win over UCLA. As UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said last week about Stanford’s physical play: “You better put on your big-boy pads.”

Former UA coach Dick Tomey, whose San Jose State team has lost to USC and Stanford this season, was asked about the Trojans last week on a podcast at the Tucson-based radioexiles.com. Tomey instead talked about the Cardinal.

“We played Stanford, and I think Stanford may well be a better team,” Tomey said. “Stanford is a very good team.”

Stanford has its toughest challenges ahead, but will be a tough out. Same thing about the Huskies next week. Same thing for most teams every week. I hope Arizona got a good rest during its off week.

* * *

Next Saturday’s game at Washington is set for 7:15 p.m. and will be shown locally on Fox Sports Net Arizona, although the announcers will be from Fox’s Northwest crew. UA’s home game against Stanford will either start at 12:30 p.m. (on ABC) or at 4:30 p.m. (on Versus).

* * *

Washington lost starting free safety Justin Glenn, a redshirt freshman, to a broken fibula against Notre Dame. The Huskies might also be without their starting strong safety against Arizona. Nate Williams suffered a concussion against the Irish. Big-play receiver D’Andre Goodwin also suffered a concussion.

* * *

I was surprised at this stat, given how mediocre Notre Dame has been recently: Including the overtime victory against Washington, the Irish have won nine consecutive games against Pac-10 teams not named USC.

Anyway, Notre Dame’s streak against the Pac-10 dates to an Oregon State victory over the Irish in the 2004 Insight Bowl. For what it’s worth, the Irish have won 14 consecutive regular-season games against non-USC competition from the Pac-10.

Granted, most of the opponents haven’t been the best Notre Dame has to offer, but this is a team that has lost to Syracuse, Air Force and Navy in recent seasons. Here is the list of Notre Dame’s Pac-10 conquests in its nine-game streak: