So now we will see if two heads are smarter than the rest, if the arguments that Pac-10 basketball coaches Lute Olson and Mike Montgomery make against a conference tournament hold true.

	“	I would rather play UCLA (than Stanford), to be honest. I think we owe them one, and I think Stanford is better. ”
		— Sam Clancy, USC forward

So now we will see if this is such a good idea after all.

The conference returns to holding its postseason event this week for the first time since 1990, holding it despite the outspoken views by the league's two most respected coaches.

Four first-round games will be played Thursday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

"It's just asinine that we beat up on each other for 18 games and then turn around and exhaust whatever teams go to the finals," said Olson, whose Arizona team opens as the No. 2 seed against rival Arizona State. "It's not going to do anybody any good. I also detest our players having to miss three days of school at a very critical time."

Tests and other classwork can be made up. The one factor -- something regular-season champion Oregon might now find out -- that can't are tired legs.

This was a brutal race over 18 games, with the Ducks finishing 14-4 in conference, four teams going 12-6 and another 11-7. A record six conference teams are likely headed to the NCAA Tournament.

But whether or not Oregon or Arizona or Stanford or another has the best chance of making a deep NCAA run might depend on how hard it is pushed over the next several days. This is the essence of the Olson/Montgomery view -- that there is no time to regain one's form and flow and energy after playing three games in three days.

"I can see that part of the argument," said Oregon coach Ernie Kent, whose top-seeded team gets No. 8 Washington first. "Sure, it would be nice to have the week off. But I am still in favor of having the tournament. We're going to get national media attention that wasn't available to us in the past when everyone else was having their tournaments. And I know the players want it."

So now we will see if there is indeed any true separation between the top six teams. There are few league tournaments that offer first-round games like Cal against UCLA and Stanford against USC. There are few quotes like the one Sam Clancy lobbed out earlier in the week.

"I would rather play UCLA (than Stanford), to be honest," said the USC forward. "I think we owe them one, and I think Stanford is better."

It will be that kind of tournament. Aggressive. Intense. Competitive. You have a Washington team talking smack about the No. 1 seed. You have an Arizona State team that finished seventh but could shock the field with its physical play. You have a Cal team that is coming off its second-worst loss in school history.

You have UCLA, forever a mystery.

"We may not like going, but once you're there, you compete hard," said Stanford's Montgomery. "You don't go in with any other thought but to win it."

Ed Graney of the San Diego Union-Tribune is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at ed.graney@uniontrib.com.