In the most recent conference, Lute Olson, completing his 24th year at Arizona, called the Pac-10 the toughest its ever been last Tuesday.

The Pac-10 tournament started last March 7 at the Staples Center.

And Ben Howland, coach of top-seeded UCLA, expressed the opinion that six Pac-10 teams are a lock to play in the NCAA tournament, no matter what happens in the conference tournament.

“I was in the Big East for four years — that’s a point of reference for me,” Howland said.

Six Pac-10 teams have played in the NCAA tournament only once before in 2002.

To date, seven of the league’s 10 teams have at least 18 wins, and those seven went a combined 71-12 against non-conference opponents.

“Hopefully we’ll be rewarded for being a very, very tough conference,” Kent said. “We’ve kind of beaten up on each other.”

Four games will be played Thursday. The semifinals are Friday night and the finals Saturday.

“I feel like we should be in the (NCAA) tournament — win or lose,” said Stanford’s Trent Johnson, whose team appears to be the only one of the top six that could be bypassed.