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_____Game of the Week_____
No. 4 Oklahoma State at No. 8 Kansas, 4 p.m. tomorrow
The Cowboys did the Jayhawks a big favor by somehow losing at Nebraska, 74-67, on Tuesday night. That allowed Kansas to climb back into a first-place tie with Oklahoma State in the Big 12 standings. Neither team has played like it wants a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Kansas (20-4, 10-3) has lost three in a row but somehow remains No. 1 in the Ratings Percentage Index, which the NCAA men's basketball committee uses to determine at-large bids and seeds for its tournament. The Cowboys' six-game winning streak was ended by the Cornhuskers, who beat a top-five opponent for the first time since 1994. The winner of tomorrow's game should remain in contention, along with Boston College, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina and Wake Forest, for one of the NCAA's four No. 1 seeds. Kansas has won three of four games in the series, but Oklahoma State (20-4, 10-3) won, 80-60, in Stillwater, Okla., in the teams' only meeting last season.
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_____RPI Watch_____
It is beginning to seem more and more possible the Pac-10 will get only two teams in the 65-team field, unless somebody other than Arizona or Washington wins the conference tournament. Stanford and UCLA are the only other teams with winning records in Pac-10 play, and the Cardinal is down to eight scholarship players because of injuries and other off-court issues. Playing without leading scorer Dan Grunfeld, who tore knee ligaments Feb. 12, the Cardinal lost at Oregon State, 84-83, on Thursday night. Stanford (15-10, No. 44 RPI) won 10 games against teams ranked outside the RPI top 100 and was swept by Arizona State. UCLA (15-9, No. 40 RPI) lost to Stanford after Grunfeld was hurt, and the Bruins are 1-7 against teams in the RPI top 50. Arizona State (18-10, No. 56 RPI) has lost four of its last six games, and 11 of its wins came against teams ranked outside the RPI top 100.
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_____Top Five Mid-Majors_____
Teams outside the top seven power conferences:
1. Gonzaga (22-4): The Zags won their fifth consecutive West Coast Conference title.
2. Pacific (22-2): The Tigers try to win 19th straight today against Cal State Northridge.
3. Nevada (21-5): The Wolf Pack has a two-game lead in Western Athletic Conference standings.
4. Southern Illinois (23-6): The Salukis can win Missouri Valley Conference title if they beat Wichita State today.
5. Vermont (21-5): The Catamounts won America East Conference and should get NCAA at-large bid.
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____ NCAA Hoops Forecast ____
Note: This is an unscientific survey of washingtonpost.com readers.
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