In the first of our series of overviews of the pre-season magazines, we'll today look at Athlon's, which predicts the Huskies to finish sixth in the Pac-10 and relegated to the NIT.

Here's how Athlon's sees the Pac-10 this year:

1, UCLA
2, Arizona State
3, USC
4, Arizona
5, WSU
6, Washington
7, Cal
8, Oregon
9, Stanford
10, Oregon State

Athlons picks Jon Brockman as one of five players on its All-Pac-10 First Team and pegs Isaiah Thomas as a member of its third team.

Athlon's first team consists of: Brockman, Chase Budinger (UA), Darren Collison (UCLA), Taj Gibson (USC) and James Harden (ASU). The second team is Aron Baynes (WSU), Jordan Hill (UA), Jeff Pendergraph (ASU), Tajuan Porter (Oregon) and Josh Shipp (UCLA). And the third team is Thomas, Demar DeRozan (USC), Daniel Hackett (USC), Jrue Holiday (UCLA) and Taylor Rochestie (WSU). (A quick analysis of those picks makes it clear how much talent the Pac-10 lost last season --- just a lot of new names on those lists).

Collison is picked as the player of the year and the best defensive player, Rochestie the most underrated player, and Holiday the newcomer of the year.

While UW is picked sixth, the comment in the prediction lends some hope by saying that "Jon Brockman needs help and the Huskies think they have found some.''

The final analysis of the team preview section on UW reads: "The Huskies have had trouble putting the ball in the basket and getting consistent production out of anyone other than Brockman. If Thomas is as good as advertised, look for Washington to become a serious player in the Pac-10 again.''

The Huskies also earn some mention in some other sections of the magazine:

--- As one of its "10 things to watch'' in college basketball this year, Athlon's proclaims this this will be "a down year in the Pac-10'' and that a "strong case'' can bemade that only two teams in the league will be better this season than a year ago --- ASU and UW. It concludes the item by saying that the only sure bets for the NCAA Tournament out of the Pac-10 are UCLA, USC and ASU and that the conference "might be headed back to its days as a four-big league.''

--- Brockman is rated as the ninth-best post man in the nation in the "Hoop Superlatives'' section.

--- In a section on fantasy basketball, Brockman is listed as the 12th-best pick in the nation and the third among power forwards.