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Opinion by Greg Hansen : Cats testing fans' faith, loyalty early in season Opinion by Greg Hansen : 'Underdog' will often describe UA Opinion by Greg Hansen : Cats, Hoosiers on same path Opinion by Greg Hansen : Second half encouraging, but UA is long past moral-victory stage Opinion by Greg Hansen : Interim coach: a curse or a chance? Opinion by Greg Hansen : Ultracool atmosphere at UO fouled by some uncool fans Opinion by Greg Hansen : Film is Busch League work, and great Opinion by Greg Hansen : Dec. 30, 1998, is no longer 'last time' Hansen's Sunday notebook Opinion by Greg Hansen : Victory just shows Arizona has 'a lot more to play for'

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Big ol' Aron Baynes is the kid of Washington State's basketball litter. He's 6 feet 10 inches, 270 pounds, usually wears a full beard and has already spent time playing for Australia's semipro national championship team.

The other five Cougar mainstays, including sixth-man Daven Harmeling, are older than Baynes; all are either 22 or will turn 22 during the regular season.

Nevertheless, no one at Wazzu refers to Baynes as "Pup'' or "Junior'' and especially not "Squirt.''

Washington State must surely be the oldest college basketball team to crack the top 10 in the 21st century. Baynes just turned 21 and yet if you put him in the mix with Arizona's rotation of regulars, it's inevitable they'd call him "Pops.''

Four of WSU's six leading scorers have been around for so long that they played at McKale Center against Isaiah Fox and Jesus Verdejo.

How old are the Cougars? Their regulars have started 332 career games. Arizona's starters: 138.

After a 25-year period, 1981 through 2005, in which talent always won out in Pac-10 hoops, Washington State has beaten the system.

"Nobody left early, which has helped them, obviously,'' UA interim coach Kevin O'Neill said Tuesday, comparing WSU's rise to that of 15th-ranked Butler, among others.

"I'm not downing them at all; they're really good. Often, it's juniors and seniors playing against freshmen and sophomores. Regardless of talent level, that's a big advantage.''

Washington State's starting lineup has scored a composite 3,594 points. Arizona's starters: 2,293.

Since the core of this WSU team came together in the 2004-05 season — Channing Frye and Salim Stoudamire helped Arizona go 30-7 and win the Pac-10 that year — nine Pac-10 players have bolted early for pro basketball.

Ike Diogu, Marcus Williams, Arron Afflalo, Jordan Farmar, Leon Powe, Nate Robinson, Spencer Hawes, Gabe Pruitt, Nick Young.

Those defections took a heavy toll on all teams involved. The Cougars just kept on keeping on.

And it's not just age; it's a collective wisdom.

Here's a good idea of what that age and savvy means: Two weeks ago in Los Angeles, Wazzu visited talent-laden USC. Had you put the rosters of both teams into a draft lottery, the starting five surely would have included USC's O.J. Mayo, Taj Gibson, Davon Jefferson and probably Daniel Hackett.

Strictly on talent, WSU's lone starter from the combined rosters likely would have been versatile senior forward Kyle Weaver. Or maybe guard Derrick Low. Tough call.

WSU blew 'em out, winning 73-58.

Junior guard Taylor Rochestie, who turns 23 in July, outplayed the ridiculously over-hyped Mayo. How did he outplay Mayo on a night Rochestie attempted a mere five shots afield? He had a 7-1 assist-turnover ratio. (By comparison, the entire USC team didn't have a steal in 40 minutes).

Yet Rochestie got the most out of his limited attempts by swishing both three-pointers he attempted and going 4 for 4 at the foul line.

Mayo's cluttered statistical line included five turnovers.

A few days before beating USC, Rochestie told reporters with eerie insight: "It's going to come down to us, our team — and I'm not saying USC is not a team — but our team beating their talented individuals. We need to have a defensive mind-set and an underdog mentality.''

In some ways, the Cougars remind me of those vintage Mike Montgomery Stanford teams of 2000, 2001 and 2004. Those three Pac-10 champions had future NBA players such as Casey Jacobsen, the Collins twins (Jason and Jarron) and Josh Childress.

What allowed the Cardinal to win those league championships were senior starters Matt Lottich, David Moseley, Ryan Mendez, each one 22 years old, each having spent a minimum of four years at Stanford, each one playing with confidence and maturity.

Moseley averaged 13 points in 2000. Mendez: 11.4 in 2001. Lottich, who never seemed to miss a clutch shot, averaged 12.3 in 2004.

The Cougars have a lot of Lottich/Moseley/Mendez on their roster.

Here's how Mendez, who didn't get a sniff from the NBA, explained it to the Stanford Daily in 2001:

"It's my job to get us on the same page, and to get us going. And, if we're not going, then I have to get on the court and show them how to take a charge, dive on the court for a loose ball — something like where if the words aren't doing it, actions will."

And isn't that the stuff from which the '08 Cougars are made? It isn't about words. It is about will.