Saturday Roundup

Don't look now, but Washington is the No. 1 team in the Pac-10. The Huskies are 6-1 in the league and 15-4 overall. And Lorenzo Romar's guys got a big win yesterday, an 86-75 home win against UCLA. It's hard to score 86 points on UCLA.

Washington goes on the road for its next four games: at Arizona, at Arizona State, at Cal, at Stanford. Let's withhold judgment until that part of the schedule is done ...

Elsewhere
-- Duke beat Maryland, 85-44. Maryland is supposed to be one of the better non-Sweet 16 contenders in the ACC. I don't think Pitt would ever beat a team like Cincinnati by 40. Ever. Just sayin'.

-- And more evidence of the Big East's toughness: Villanova wins at South Florida, 70-61; Marquette, on its home floor, beats the worst team in the Big East, DePaul, 79-70.

-- Illinois keeps getting big wins. The Illini got a nice win against a down Wisconsin, but it's still a good one.

-- Oklahoma is the real deal. As if there was any doubt, right? The Sooners crushed Baylor, 95-76.

-- UConn and Notre Dame butted heads in South Bend. UConn snapped Notre Dame's 45-game home winning streak. The Huskies held ND to 33 percent shooting. This game serves as notice: If the Irish struggle shooting, don't expect them to do anything. I think this ND team is ripe for an early exit in March.

-- Aaaaand Xavier got a nice win at LSU. I watched that one. Xavier has the poise at the end of games to finish them. I liked how the Musketeers made their foul shots and played good defense as LSU rushed its possessions.