Themod

The Huskies lost to West Virginia, 69-56, on Thursday night in their NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game. The loss ends the Huskies’ season and Quincy Pondexter’s college career.

I’m bummed out. Super bummed. . . More from our staff writers (and from me) in the coming hours and days. But, I’m curious, what’s your best explanation for the loss? Vote below, but also let us know in the comments section.

Thanks for coming, and thanks for a great season. We’ll be here throughout the off-season (not every day, but we’ll be here). We hope you will be too.

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If you’re like me, you’re looking for something. . . anything to read about the upcoming Huskies’ Sweet 16 matchup against West Virginia. Particularly if the story gives you some sort of angle that helps you believe the Huskies have a chance to win the game and give us yet another Husky game in this unexpectedly elongated 2009/2010 campaign. ,

Also if you’re anything like me, as happy as you are about where the team is now, you’re also, maybe, a little stressed out. As an 11-seed, coming in, there wasn’t much to lose. If Marquette beat us in the first round, it would’ve been a bummer, but the season was already a success.

Now, though? After two wins in the Tournament, somehow I don’t feel like we’re playing with house money anymore. Maybe because it’s not even such a remote part of my brain that’s dreaming Final Four for these Dawgs. It’s a very real, very reasonable part of me that’s thinking: We. Could. Do. It.

But, I’ll give you the same advice that I’m trying to heed myself (unsuccessful as I may be): take a deep breath, remember what a success this season has been, and enjoy the rest of the week until tip-off on Thursday afternoon. It won’t come any faster, and the Dawgs won’t come out any stronger, just because you’ve dissected every last column inch of pre-game coverage.

As it’s been for the Huskies’ past couple of games, it could be over at any moment, leaving us with some sweet memories but no more Husky hoops until November.

So, take it in. Enjoy it. And root like hell on Thursday for one more game. And repeat after me: We. Could. Do. It.

Thanks for coming!

Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images

The Huskies won their first-round game against Marquette in an instant classic, 80-78.

Quincy Pondexter drove the lane and scored with 1.7 seconds left to give the Huskies the win.

The Dawgs came back from a 15-point deficit in the game’s final 13 minutes. They shot nearly 56% from the field, and shot 9-14 from three-point range, in their best performance of the season, bar none.

More later. . . GO HUSKIES!

Thanks for coming!

Anyone else’s head spinning? Anyone else afraid it’s not going to stop in time to watch the Huskies in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament in just a few hours?

I mean, talk about a weird, up-and-down season: From being the 13th ranked team in the country to proving they have no shot at all against a Division I opponent outside of their own building with seven straight losses, to looking like they can play with anyone, anywhere over the past month, with seven straight wins (all but one outside of Hec Ed).

A week ago, I was completely prepared for the eventual end of this sometimes puzzling season. Sad, but resigned to six months without Husky hoops starting after the Pac-10 Tournament.

A week ago, I figured that Selection Sunday would be somewhere between a hopeless exercise (if we lost in the Pac-10 Tournament’s first round) and an iffy proposition (if we made it to the final and lost to Cal).

But these Huskies literally saved their best for last. In the midst of racking up 24 wins, I haven’t really felt like I believed in this team until this very moment.  Now, I’m not ready to say “good-bye” anymore.

So this roller coaster season gets us here: to the NCAA Tournament, as an 11-seed, playing a geographically favorable game against a good-but-not-great school from the Big East.

We’ve won seven straight, vanquishing champion Cal for the second time this year, and twelve of our last fourteen games. All of a sudden we’re on a roll, and I want to see more.

So yeah, I’ve filled out six brackets in the last three days, and all of them have Washington beating Marquette on Thursday. Four of them have Washington winning their second round game too. I’ve bought into this sometimes frustrating, but never boring squad, and I just hope my bubble doesn’t burst in a hurry Thursday.

Call me crazy, but I believe we’ll be right here on Friday talking about New Mexico (or Montana), and that it’s quite possible we’ll have a few days next week when we’ll try to convince ourselves we can beat West Virginia, or whoever else comes out of that bottom portion of the draw.

Or, we won’t. And, it all ends tomorrow.

Either way, I’m going to enjoy 40 more minutes with these guys. It hasn’t always been pretty. There were definitely moments this year when I thought the Huskies were all but finished. But, we’re here, and I couldn’t be happier.

One more game, at least. But, hopefully more than that. I’m just not ready for this ride to end.