Commentary: When it comes to Pac-12 basketball this season, how bout them Cougs?

The Cougs have won seven straight games and are just a half-game out of first place in the Pac-12. The spotlight deserves to be on the folks in Pullman.

This is about the time of year when all our attention starts to shift toward that dominant men’s basketball team in the eastern half of our state.

Except something is different this year. Because it’s not just Gonzaga. It’s Washington State too.

The Cougs have now won seven straight games and are 20-6 this season – the same record as the Zags, but in a tougher conference. Washington State is just a half-game behind fifth-ranked Arizona in the Pac-12, with an enormous showdown between the two schools in Tucson coming up on Thursday night.

Do I need to remind everyone that the Cougs were picked to finish TENTH out of 12 teams in the preseason Pac-12 poll?

And with five games left, they have a legitimate chance to win the conference instead.

Which brings me to the importance of a competent head coach. At this point, Kyle Smith is arguably the frontrunner for Pac-12 coach of the year, leading a team that’s come out of nowhere to overperform and contend for a Pac-12 title. For all the challenges that come with recruiting to Pullman and coaching there, Smith has guaranteed the Cougs their third straight season with a winning record in conference play.

And while Smith has the Cougs in position for their first NCAA Tournament berth in 16 years, Mike Hopkins continues to put up mediocre results on Montlake.

It’s a glaring dichotomy, seeing the overperformance in Pullman, and comparing it with the consistent mediocrity Hopkins has overseen the last four years after making the tournament in 2019.

Over the last four seasons, the Huskies are 28-50 in Pac-12 regular season games. That’s 22 games under 500. Frankly, that’s atrocious. And this season, with arguably better talent, the Dawgs have continued to underperform. I certainly like Hopkins as a person, but the coaching results are simply not there. And I wouldn’t be surprised, barring a shocking showing in the Pac-12 Tournament, that Hopkins is coaching his final season in Seattle.

But that’s a topic for a different week. Because right now, the spotlight deserves to be on the folks in Pullman.

Kudos to Coach Smith and the Cougs for being one of the feel-good stories in college basketball so far this season.

And if they pull off another upset win over Arizona on Thursday and sweep the season series, their time as the one of the most overlooked and neglected stories will come to an end as well.