USC coach Tim Floyd meant it as a compliment when he said of Washington: "I can't imagine there being a better seventh-place team in the country."

It's a rather dubious distinction, one the Huskies would rather not own after being picked to finish third in the Pac-10 this season. They were considered the dark horse of the Pac 10 tournament.

The point of the round-about boasting, of course, is to suggest that the Pac-10 is so strong and so balanced this season that the seventh-place team has a shot to win the conference tournament, which starts tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

One of the reasons why the Huskies were considered the "dark horse" in the PAC 10 is when Washington beat No. 3-seed USC by 15 points and No. 1-seed UCLA by 10 in its final two games. The Huskies, who were ranked No. 13 in December, are dominated by freshmen who are maturing. In 2000, Romar coached a Saint Louis team that finished 7-9 in the conference to the Conference USA tournament title, beating No. 1 Cincinnati along the way.

But while they were tying Arizona State, they had the worst road record in the conference. Before sweeping UCLA and USC, the Huskies had lost four straight, including a loss to Oregon State.