Note: Preview was written prior to the release of the brackets.

For Boise State coach Greg Randall, it's been a season of highs and lows. One of those "highs" to start the year was expectations. With a large roster of experienced and returning NCAA qualifiers, the Broncos were poised to make a run at the nation's top five come March.

Heading into January, Boise State was unbeaten and ready to battle the nation's best at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals. The Broncos did well, finishing fifth, falling only to top-ranked Iowa.

Then the grind of the National Duals caught up to them. After beating Cornell for fifth in Cedar Falls, the Broncos dropped duals to Western Wrestling Conference foes North Dakota State and Utah Valley. Despite not having their full pool of starters for those duals, it had to rank as one of the lows for the season.

On the flip side, fourth-year coach Jim Zalesky at Oregon State has steadily been building back the mystique in Corvallis. The Beavers are ranked in the Top 25 and have been steadily improving, despite late-season losses to Boise State and Oklahoma.

At one point, the Beavers won 18 duals in a row, dating back to their first loss of the season - to Boise State.

Cal Poly and coach John Azevedo have also spent the entire season ranked in the Top 25, but for the Mustangs to challenge for the championship, their unranked wrestlers are going to have to step up. 

A lot of interest will be on the squad at Cal State-Bakersfield, which learned earlier this month their program would be in its final season (barring a financial windfall that could save the program).

T.J. Kerr's final season hasn't been one with great performances, but like Boise State, the Roadrunners have dealt with more than their fair share of highs and lows. One of those highs was the late insertion of Mitch Montiero into the NWCA All-Star Classic and his subsequent win over Iowa State heavyweight David Zabriskie. 

First-year coach Shawn Charles returned to his alma mater at Arizona State and has things moving forward. The Sun Devils might be out of the picture when it comes to the team championship, but individually, there are several threats to win weight classes.

With the recent release of the NCAA Division I Automatic Qualifiers, the conference will be well represented, picking up 12. more AQ's from last season. They'll take a minimum of 32 wrestlers. It would have been 33 and a net gain of 13, but Andrew Hochstrasser's qualifier bid at 133 goes back into the at-large pool. 

Here's what to watch for in the Pac 10.

125 pounds
Returning All-American Anthony Robles is the favorite. The returning Pac-10 champion is 25-2 coming in and has dispatched his Pac-10 foes with efficiency. Robles' top competition will come from Oregon State's Jason Lara, but "competition" is relative. Robles tech falled Lara in late January. Nineteen of Robles 25 wins have come via bonus, including all seven Pac-10 opponents he faced in the regular season (not counting a forfeit against Cal Poly). 
After Robles, there is considerable depth, with Lara, Stanford's Ryan Mango, Cal State-Fullerton's Andre Gonzalez, UC Davis' Kody Klaus, Boise State's Alan Bartelli, and Cal State-Bakersfield's Frank Lomas. 
Lara has beaten Bartelli three times this season, topped Mango by a point in early January and has beaten Klaus, Cal Poly's Micah Ferguson and Gonzalez this season. Gonzalez split with Mango this year, but Mango won the most recent match between the two in late January. Bartelli has also split with Gonzalez, making seeding pretty intriguing. 
All things considered, Robles should have no trouble defending his title, but after him, it's pretty wide open, with Lara and Mango battling for the other finals spot. With four automatic qualifiers at the weight, someone might be hoping for a wild card. 

133 pounds
The question surrounding Boise State since the National Duals has been the whereabouts of All-American Andrew Hochstrasser. Boise State's athletic site listed the entry for the Pac-10 tournament as Ben DeMuelle, signifying that 133 will be devoid of a returning All-American. 
But the gap at 133 behind the top gun isn't as expansive as it is at 125, with Cal Poly's Boris Novachkov spending much of the season ranked in the Top 5. Oregon State's Kelly Kubec, a returning NCAA qualifier, along with UC Davis' Brandon Low, also a returning qualifier, add depth to the weight class. Low has fewer than 10 matches this season, but his lone loss this season was to Oklahoma State's Jordan Oliver, an opponent Novachkov has split with this season. Low beat Novachkov earlier this month in the dual meet and is unbeaten in the Pac-10. But one opponent he didn't face is Arizona State's Ben Ashmore. 
Ashmore, despite certifying at 125 pounds, is a dangerous foe, but his success has been limited in Pac-10 competition. Kubec majored Ashmore in late January, and has two conference losses - the other coming to Novachkov. 
With Hochstrasser out, the weight is still strong with Kubec, Low and Novachkov and Ashmore. Stanford's Justin Paulsen is somewhat of a dangerous commodity in the early rounds. 
The top four will qualify, with the bid earned by Hochstrasser thrown back in to the at-large pool, as noted earlier. 

141 pounds
Without question, the Pac-10's deepest weight is at 141 pounds. Six of the eight wrestlers come in thinking they've got a shot at the championship. What's hard to figure is how the seeding will be figured out, because everyone has a loss against conference opponents. Boise State's Levi Jones and Cal Poly's Filip Novachkov, on paper, should be the top two seeds, but that's complicated by the fact Novachkov lost to Bakersfield's Elijah Nacita. The pair split matches, but Nacita won the last match between the two. So the 2-3 seed is up for discussion, and it's not just as simple as saying, "Ok, they'll meet in the semis to determine it." The quarterfinals are crucial here, because sitting at the 4-5-6 (and not in this order, or perhaps in this order) are Oregon State's Michael Mangrum, Fullerton's Adin Duenas and Arizona State's Chris Drouin, a returning All-American.
Drouin is the most dangerous of the lower seeds. He's shown the ability to wrestle with the nation's best, but he's got conference losses to Novachkov, Mangrum, Nacita (twice) and Jones. He's beaten Duenas. Nacita has been his nemesis since high school. 
The conference received five automatic qualifier spots for the NCAA Championships, leaving Duenas, UC Davis' Bryan Osuna and Stanford's Bret Baumbach in the running to steal an automatic berth. 
One upset by either could really shake the balance of the automatic qualifiers. As far as a favorite, Jones could be considered such, strictly on paper, because this weight has been anything but predictable.

149 pounds
Boise State's Jason Chamberlain is the easy favorite here, but like 125, there's a gap between the top wrestler and the rest of the field. Battling for qualifying spots will be cumbersome because the conference only qualifies three automatically. After Chamberlain, UC Davis' Barrett Abel, Oregon State's R.J. Pena, Arizona State's Vicente Varela and Cal Poly's Nick Fisher seem to represent the rest of the top five. What complicates the weight is how they'll end up being seeded, since the bottom for of the top five (if you can follow that) have wins and losses against one another. Abel's lost to Chamberlain twice, but also has a loss to Fisher (albeit by injury default). He should end up being the second seed. Following Abel could be Pena, who has four conference losses, but has a win over Varela, who has just two conference losses. A common opponent that could mess things up with seeding would again be Fisher, who pinned Pena but lost to Varela. Fisher has four conference losses, including one to Oregon State's backup. 

157 pounds
There's a two-horse race here, with a solid attempt to show following at 157 pounds. Boise State's Adam Hall and Cal Poly's Chase Pami have been battling for this weight for the last two years. Pami placed at the NCAA championships last year, but Hall will come into the Pac-10 Championships as the top seed by virtue of an unblemished conference mark and an 11-6 victory over Pami earlier this season. After Pami, Oregon State's Keegan Davis should come in third. He's lost to both Hall and Pami, but has wins over the rest of the conference. Stanford's Lucas Espericueta has been out of the lineup since January, and if he's back, he could be a problem draw at the fourth-seed. Te Edwards of Arizona State has been average, but has performed better at 157 than he has in his dozen matches at 165. At 157, he's more of a threat to pick off someone than he would be at 165. The rest of the conference doesn't appear to be a threat to the top four, but only three will automatically qualify, making Espericueta the one to watch in snagging a bid away and sending someone to the at-large pool.

165 pounds
Don't expect much come tournament time at 165 from the Pac-10. Sure, Stanford's Nick Amuchastegui knocked off Missouri's Nick Marable last year, but the depth of the Pac-10 is not at 165. Amuchastegui should be the top seed and favorite, but following him is Boise State's Michael Cuthbertson, Arizona State's Kyle DeBerry and Oregon State's Dan Brascetta. Depending on the qualifier allocation, Amuchastegui could be the only Pac-10 wrestler in the weight before the wildcard selections. Cuthbertson's 12-13 against Division I opponents this season. While Boise State didn't dual Arizona State this season, he's got a win over 157-pounder Edwards (during his 12-match run at 165). Cal Poly's Stephen Vasquez could also play a role, beating Cuthbertson back in January. DeBerry's also under .500, but beat Vasquez. Brascetta is 12-7 on the year, but just 9-6 against Division I opponents. He's only lost to Amuchastegui in conference, which makes him the likely second-seed. Only the champion at this weight gets an automatic qualifier, which makes sense based on what's known about the weight. 

174 pounds
Colby Covington is unbeaten in 2010. Before you say, "wait a minute," it's true. Covington's last loss was to Purdue's Luke Manuel in the consolation finals at The Midlands back in December. Covington has put up a ton of falls this season (15) and avenged an early-season loss to Boise State's Nate Lee, making him the easy pick for the top seed in the Pac-10. Covington has emerged as an All-American contender. The rest of the field follows. Lee is the probable second seed, but hasn't seen the mat too much this season. He's 13-4 going into the Pac-10 tournament and lost two of his last three coming in (Covington and Utah Valley's Brad Darrington). Cal Poly's Ryan DesRoches is 31-7 but has a conference loss to Lee and didn't wrestle Covington or Bakersfield's Trevor Hall. Cal State-Fullerton's Todd Noel would be a hands-down fourth seed, but his early season major decision loss to Arizona State's Eric Starks could play a factor. Starks beat both Noel and Hall, but his 11-11 record combined with a conference loss to Jake Johnson of Stanford could overshadow that win. Johnson's 18-14 this year, but just 10-12 against Division I opponents, but did finish his season with three straight conference wins - UC Davis' Alex Darkhovsky, Hall and Starks. After the top three, it should be a battle with Noel, Hall, Starks and Johnson. But getting into the top three is important, since that's the number of bids this weight gets from the AQ. 

184 pounds
There top two wrestlers are likely the only two qualifiers out of the Pac-10 at 184 pounds. Kirk Smith of Boise State, an All-American two seasons ago, and Stanford's Zach Giesen should meet in the finals and both go to the NCAA Championships. There isn't much in the way to challenge the two, as the conference has been incredibly mediocre at the weight. And mediocre might be overstating it. Oregon State's tandem of Brice Arand and Ty Vinson have been modestly successful, but Vinson's gotten the nod the last few duals to end the season. Both have 16 wins on the season. Arizona State's Jake Meredith is 10-11, Cal State-Fullerton's Mark Savalle is 10-18, Davis' Rory McBryde is 10-13, Cal Poly's Kelan Bragg is 8-11. In fact, other than Smith, Giesen and Arand/Vinson, only Bakersfield's Michael Larson is over .500, coming in 21-13 - and he's 7-12 against Division I competition. Giesen (27-4) should give chase to Smith, but the unbeaten Bronco is the class of the field. Barring an upset or two, it should be Smith and Giesen qualifying, because only two are assured at the weight. 

197 pounds
Bakersfield's Riley Orozco should come in as the top seed. He went unbeaten in Pac-10 competition and finished his season with 10 straight wins. His six losses this year have come to wrestlers who either were ranked or are currently ranked in the Top 20. After Orozco, Oregon State's Chad Hanke should be in line to challenge, along with Boise State's Matt Casperson. Hanke's won 28 matches this year, but has conference losses to Orozco and Casperson. With Casperson, you have an enigmatic wrestler, who came in highly ranked this season, but hasn't lived up to preseason expectations. He's up and down. Getting majored by Cal Poly's Ryan Smith (another guy to watch for at this weight), then beating Hanke in sudden victory. He's lost six of his last eight matches down the stretch, beating Hanke and Ethan Weisrock of Davis, who has one win the entire season. Smith could be the guy who disrupts the tournament for Hanke and Casperson, and in turn, the team title for Oregon State and Boise State. He's the dangerous guy in the draw despite a 17-10 record. Orozco and Hanke earned spots for the conference, so if either doesn't finish in the top two, they'll end up in the at-large pool come selection time. 

285 pounds
Heavyweight is probably the second-deepest weight in the Pac-10 behind 141 pounds. Six of the eight wrestlers will have records over .500 and five have been nationally ranked this season. And five is how many wrestlers the Pac-10 will automatically send to the NCAA Championships. Seeding this weight will be one of the least enjoyable moments for the Pac-10 coaches. 
Mitch Montiero of Cal State-Bakersfield came into the season highly-ranked and had the big win over David Zabriskie of Iowa State in the NWCA All-Star Classic, as noted above. He hit a funk in late December and early January, losing matches to Ricky Acala of UC Davis, David Wade of Eastern Michigan and Eric Nye of Arizona State. Montiero wrestled only four times in January, but ended the regular season with wins over Kurt Klimek of Fullerton, Clayton Jack of Oregon State, Sam Zylstra of Boise State and then majoring Acala in the season finale. 
The loss to Nye might not prevent Montiero from garnering the top seed. After Montiero, Jack, Nye, Klimek, Acala and Zylstra fill out the weight. 
Zylstra pinned Jack late in the season after losing to him back in November. Nye has beaten Montiero, lost to Jack and Klimek. Klimek's lost to Acala and Jack. Then there's Jim Powers of Cal Poly added to the mix. Montiero seems to have regained his form, and with Bakersfield fighting to save their program, he'll have added incentive to win the conference and place at the NCAA championships.