ESPN Men's Basketball

As we head into a weekend packed with hoops, here are some rumblings and grumblings around the college basketball universe …

• There is hope for NC State under Sidney Lowe. Every ACC coach I have spoken to raves about the Pack's incoming recruiting class, and Tracy Smith just crushed Duke inside and Scott Wood is doing his best Jimmy Chitwood. With wins at FSU and at home over Duke, this team now has at least marginal hope for the postseason.

• While many have laughed off the Pac-10 as a one-bid league, we might want to keep an eye on Cal. The Golden Bears did nothing of substance in the nonconference, but have zero bad losses, and they were not whole without Theo Robertson earlier in the season. After blowing the doors off Oregon on Thursday, following their own embarrassing performance at UW last Saturday, the Bears must take care of their nemesis from last year. Oregon State's season basically was made on its two wins over Cal last year as the Bears struggled to defend the high post action of the Princeton scheme. With Jorge Gutierrez still out with a knee injury, D.J. Seeley has given them good minutes off the bench. Cal plays four straight road games after this weekend. That stretch will determine its viability as an at-large.

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