The local CBS affiliate carried eight of the sixteen games first round Thursday games. They carried separate games between their regular NTSC VHF band and the HDTV band. The broadcast games were still determined by their relevance to the region. Also, the determination of HD or analog depended upon whether the site broadcast team was equipped. But this year, CBS also offers the MMOD streaming downloads for March Madness on demand FREE! They are showing commercials to pay for the streaming.

For the first time since 1997, the UCLA Bruin men’s basketball team at the top of the regular season standings with a record of 14-4 in the conference. The Pac-10 is one of the few major conferences left that still play home and home round robin games. UCLA has lost to Washington twice, and Cal and USC once. Last year’s champion, Washington, is in second place with a 13-5 record. The last time UCLA won the conference with a 14-4 record was the 1986-1987 season in which Washington was also the previous conference champion, and had defeated UCLA twice in the regular season. UCLA went on to beat the Huskies in the championship of the inaugural Pac-10 basketball tournament held at Pauley Pavilion.