Ten more days and we can visualize the selection committee behind closed doors trying to thread a needle. Sixty teams they can pick, but the last five can make you sweat.

Last five in, last five out. Words that make a college basketball player cringe. Here’s hoping the new RPI — with some flaws — is not totally dismissed.

Q: If you had to pick today — which of the Western U.S. Teams do you think will be seeded highest and/or go furthest in the NCAA Finals — Washington, Arizona or Gonzaga? Any a Final Four team?
— Vance McFarland, Bloomingdale, Georgia

A: All three could be No. 3 seeds. The longest on the dance floor? It will be either Arizona or Washington, and it will depend on which team does better in the Pac-10 Tournament in L.A.

Both Arizona and UW finish on the road so their RPIs won’t take a big hit. They split the season series, so you can’t decide by that, even after Arizona ended up winning the conference crown when Washington stumbled against Stanford on Saturday.

Now, as far as who goes further in the NCAAs, it’s a toss-up among UW and U of A.

I think the loser of the Pac-10 Tournament ends up in the Chicago Regional to set up a possible clash with Illinois.

I can see TV caretakers pulling the strings now. The monster three-headed backcourt of Illinois vs. the monster three-headed backcourt of Washington in a regional final.

Wily Low / AP Salim Stoudamire and the Arizona Wildcats could end up facing Illinois in a regional final.

It could also mean Salim Stoudamire of Arizona vs. Luther Head/Deron Williams/Dee Brown. It could mean the suddenly unstoppable Channing Frye, the Wildcats’ big man, against the Illini’s unheralded frontcourt.

Both Washington and Arizona look like 3s right now, which means a regional final with Illinois, if either survives and if they are placed in the Chicago regional.

Gonzaga, I think, has good credentials for the NCAA Tournament because it has played a broader array of teams, from Oklahoma State to Georgia Tech to Illinois. The Zags, remember, beat Washington by 12 in December, but that was while UW’s Brandon Roy was injured.

The Final Four? I don’t think Gonzaga has the backcourt to survive. Arizona, I think, is going to get moved to Chicago, so that might eliminate U of A from Final Four contention.

However, this Arizona team is putting extra effort in getting back on defense. This Arizona offense makes the extra pass.

That leaves Washington in the West in a track meet with, say, North Carolina. It’s possible the Huskies are a darkhorse for St. Louis.

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