As "Christopher Boykin" asked in my last blog..."seriously though tim, do you think the cougs will be able to slow down the tandem of Jared Bayless and Chase Budinger...who do you put Weaver on...they put him on Budinger before, but Bayless has been on fire."

Here's what I think: After watching Kyle Weaver shut down James Harden (he held him to 10 points Thursday), you have to put him on Arizona's biggest threat. Right now, that's Jerryd Bayless (he led all Wildcats scorers again on Thursday against Washington with 22 points). After complimenting Weaver's effort against Harden Thursday, Tony Bennett talked about how to shut down Bayless (which leads me to believe Weaver's the go-to-guy Saturday). Bennett says the key is bothering his shots. You can square him up, but he jumps so high it doesn't really matter. In my mind, Weaver has the length to get the job done.

I think the Cougs can take a hint from Washington's win over the Cats on Thursday (the only thing the Huskies are good for). The Dawgs played very physical against Arizona (there were 51 fouls called between the two teams). The physicality (I still debate if that's a real word) seemed to throw UA off of their game. Plus, the Wildcats aren't the deepest team in the league, so getting some of their stars into foul trouble would be beneficial (their bench accounts for 15 points per game...on a good night). The Cougars aren't the deepest team either, so we'll see if this plays out.

You also have to keep in mind that Arizona is on the ropes (6-7 in the Pac-10). They'll do anything they can to avoid another loss in the conference, especially with a tough schedule ahead of them (they have USC, UCLA, Oregon (in "The Pit"), and Oregon State left).

On the other hand, Washington State is the hottest team in the Pac-10. They've won four straight (the longest streak in the league) and are 9-5 in the conference. If they keep winning, I expect a four seed in the NCAA tournament and a short trip to Denver or Anaheim to kick things off (your thoughts?).

I applaud everyone who showed up Thursday night against Arizona State (nice work Ryan Camp...a faithful blog reader...Choo Choo!). It was an announced crowd of 9,212...much better than the season average of 7,913. I'm hoping for a sellout on Saturday night (even my brother, one of the laziest people I know, is driving from Seattle for the game)...let's make it happen.

P.S. I'm sticking with Ken Pomeroy (www.kenpom.com). He predicted that the Cougars would beat the Sun Devils 62-53 with an 87% chance of victory (WSU won 59-47...that's pretty impressive). He's calling for a 65-57 Cougar win on Saturday (with an 80% chance of victory). My fingers are crossed!

P.S.S. Here's what some of the guys had to say about Saturday's game (courtesy of WSU):

Aron Baynes: "It should be a good game for us. We've got a few things to go back and work on, but we don't want to get swept by any team in the Pac-10. We're going to try and come out with some aggression."

Note: As "Joe Kane" (another great name) commented in my previous blog, "Baynes on a breakaway was one of the most exciting moments of my life! sad maybe, but you all know you feel the same." There is nothing sad about it...that was awesome!

Kyle Weaver: "We're ready...that's one good thing about the conference, you get everybody twice. I think we learned a lot from the first game."