With a No. 8 seed, the Ducks
will play Utah in Nashville,
Tenn., in the first round of the
NCAA Tournament on Friday
Adam Jude
Senior Sports Reporter
All they want to do is rest.
The madness, however, is just
beginning for the Ducks.
After returning home Sunday
from Los Angeles with the Pacific
10 Conference Tournament trophy,
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the Oregon men’s basketball team
had little time to catch its breath.
The team was greeted by a large
gathering of autograph-seeking fans
at the Casanova Center. Then,
about an hour later, the Ducks sat
with anticipation as the NCAA
Tournament field was selected.
Oregon, sweating out a possible
bid a week ago, was named the No. 8
seed in the Midwest and will play No.
9-seed Utah on Friday in Nashville,
Tenn., with a possible second-round
matchup with No. 1 Kentucky.
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In short, there will be no
rest any time soon for the
Ducks (23-9 overall), especially if
they intend to make good on their
goal of a Final Four appearance.
“This is going to be a long ride,”
Oregon senior forward Robert John
son said after the announcement
Sunday. “It’s a tough little bracket
with Kentucky, but Utah is another
tough team. It’s going to be a fight.”
Oregon’s hectic Sunday followed
three grueling games in three days
at the conference tournament,
f which the Ducks say helped
them improve their NCAA seed.
“It’s a good draw for us,” Oregon
head coach Ernie Kent said. “I think
a No. 8 seed is a direct result of us go
ing through that Pac-10 Tournament
and winning that championship,
which I think is a compliment.”
After their Pac-10 regular-season
championship last season, Oregon
earned a No. 2 seed in the Midwest
and went to the Elite Eight, where
it lost to Kansas.
“We want to get back there and
do the same thing we did last year,”
Johnson told KUGN-AM after Satur
day’s game. “Once these new guys
get to that environment, they’ll real
ize how pumped we were, how
much energy we had and the reason
why we went that far. ”
Junior point guard Luke Ridnour,
the PaolO Player of the Year and Pac
10 Tournament MVP, may be playing
in his final games with the Ducks, but
he said his focus is solely on the team.
Turn to Ducks, page 7B
Mac attack
McArthur Court
plays host to four
women’s teams in the
first round, including
No. 9-seed Washington
Page 2B
In the ’Zona
One of five Pac-10
teams to earn an
NCAA bid, Arizona
is the No. 1 seed
in the West region
Page 7B