With Super Bowl weekend in the rear view mirror we switch gears from football to basketball as we head into the stretch run of the basketball season. The Huskies have seven conference games left plus a game at Key Arena against Seattle U..

This is crunch time for this team. Three straight road losses have dropped them to third place in the standings and have put participation in the NCAA tournament in doubt. The good news is that five of those conference games are going to be played at home so the Huskies are still very much in control of their destiny.

The team needs to step up and start playing some defense, they need to handle the ball better. They need to start scoring inside, and stop relying on the jump shot. Washington attempted 27 shots from three point land against the Ducks on Saturday. They only had eleven free throws which means they aren't attacking inside.

I think the team bounces back this week at home against California and Stanford. What this team needs more than anything else is the dose of support you get at home from the Dawg Pack. We will see if that happens on Thursday night against a rapidly improving California team who the huskies handled last month on the road in Berkeley.