UCLA leads, USC falters, and Vanderbilt!

In each of their first six counting games this year, UCLA has outrebounded their opponents by an average of 49.7 to 29.5. The Bruins have garnered 50 or more rebounds in four games: CSU Bakersfield, Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton, all 54, and 50 vs. Pepperdine. Senior Chinyere Ibekwe has led UCLA in rebounding in five games, posting two double-digit totals (14 vs. CSUF and a career-high 15 vs. CSUN). As of Dec. 1, UCLA has the best rebounding margin in the nation at 18.4 and the best in the Pac-10 at 48.8. UCLA is also the conference leader in offensive rebounding at 20.8 per contest. Ibekwe ranks second in the conference in rebounding with an average of 10.8. The Bruins dominated the boards against CSU Bakersfield, outrebounding the Roadrunners 54-25, including 29-3 on the offensive end.

USC, on the other hand, posted a surprising loss last night to Utah Valley State at the Hukilau Invitational in Hawaii. They repeated their misfortunte tonight with a one-point loss to BYU. What the heck is going on? True the team has been plagues with injuries the last few years, but they've also been consistent underachievers. Some on the message boards are saying Coach Mark Trakh is not cut out for the job. I guess time will tell, but in the meantime it's unfortunate that the Trojans again seem headed toward a disappointing season in the senior years of three good players.

Cal beat Princeton handily tonight, and Arizona State did the same with UC Irvine. Washington State beat Long Beach State last night. All of this has resulted in the following current Pac-10 standings:

2008-09 WOMEN's BASKETBALL

Team Conf. Pct. Overall Pct.
California 0-0 - 7-0 1.000
Stanford 0-0 - 6-1 .857
UCLA 0-0 - 5-1 .833
Oregon State 0-0 - 4-1 .800
Arizona State 0-0 - 5-2 .714
Washington State 0-0 - 4-2 .667
USC 0-0 - 4-3 .571
Oregon 0-0 - 3-3 .500
Washington 0-0 - 3-3 .500
Arizona 0-0 - 3-4 .429

I anticipated all of those placings at this point in the season except Oregon State. I admit they have surprised me, and pleasantly so.

UCLA plays Nevada tomorrow, and I'm not scurred.

UC Riverside beat Vanderbilt tonight, 50-47. I can't say I'm surprised. They struggled so hard to beat Fullerton the other night, and I agreed with the first pack of people who said they were overrated. They're a very good team, but I don't necessarily see them as SEC champs. That position is currently wide open for hire.

The other upset tonight was Arkansas-Little Rock over #17 Oklahoma State.