CORVALLIS - Over the past month, it has been clear that Oregon State was heading toward the 10-seed at this week's Pac-12 Tournament.
Yet despite owning the lower seed, the Beavers have opened as two-point favorites over 7-seed Washington for their first round matchup at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Las Vegas. While noteworthy, the line can hardly be characterized as a surprise.
During a season in which less than a handful of Pac-12 teams are in play to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, the conference can be optimistically viewed as balanced. Within that context, OSU and the Huskies have looked like two of the league's most evenly matched teams.