Floyd Previews Pac-10

After easily downing Cal Poly on Saturday, Tim Floyd assessed the upcoming schedule and remarked on the start of Pac-10 play.

This league is so strong. I've had a chance, because of the limited number of games in the last three weeks, to have spent more time watching some of our Pac-10 teams that we'll be playing. I'm blown away that Arizona State's picked 9th. They remind me of Washington State a year ago, picked 10th. I think it's a team that can finish in the top two or three in our league.

I don't know who in the heck's going to finish 9th or 10th. That's the scary part about this league: who finishes 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th. It's just so strong from top to bottom.

Cal -- nobody's talking about them and they may have the best front line in the country. If they don't, it'll be our second game against Stanford. They may have the best front line in the country. I think they're probably saying the same thing at UCLA. Arizona State may be playing the best defense in the United States. You're looking at teams like Washington State and UCLA who play defense as good as anybody in the country. This is a great league and it's going to be a real challenge for our young guys to adjust to the different styles of play and understand the quality of the opponent night in and night out, but hopefully [USC's experience against] Kansas and Memphis will help us in that area.

It's hard to imagine a situation where .500 is acceptable, but when Times reporter Ben Bolch asked if that record would be good in league play, Floyd said yes. It isn't a matter of lowering expectations (as Trojan's remain very high this year), but a byproduct of playing in a league where as many as seven teams, including USC, could make the Big Dance.