Oregon Daily Emerald
Monday, November 28, 2005
“In general lam a risk-taker. We've gone
down that road. I probably have a propensity
to try and make things work. ”
Dallas owner Jerry Jones when asked whether
the Cowboys would be interested in Terrell Owens
■ In my opinion
SHAWN MILLER
FULL-COURT PRESS
Irish do not
deserve to be
considered
for BCS
At the risk of sounding like “Rain Man,” the
only way I can answer the question of whether
Notre Dame belongs in a Bowl Championship
Series game is: No, no, definitely not.
There is no way that Notre Dame should
be one of the two at-large teams chosen for
the BCS! This was further proved Saturday
as the Irish barely hung on to beat a five-win
Stanford team.
That win was Notre Dame’s ninth, making
it BCS eligible. Well, nine wins is respectable,
but let’s examine those victories.
Notre Dame’s “biggest” wins on a scale of
toughness were over currently twentieth
ranked Michigan at the beginning of the sea
son and Tennessee at the end of the season;
both opponents were playing at their worst. In
fact, only three of Notre Dame’s wins came
against teams with an above .500 record, and
those teams’ combined for a 19-13 record.
Common opponents between Notre Dame
and oh, Oregon. Both have played three other
Pacific-10 Conference schools: top-ranked
USC, Washington and Stanford.
Notre Dame nearly beat USC, while Oregon
lost by 32. However,had Oregon played USC
later in the season, perhaps when Notre Dame
did, the score might have been different.
Both teams beat Washington — Notre Dame
36-17 and Oregon 45-21. The same with Stan
ford, but the difference was that it took until
the final minute for Notre Dame to pull off the
seven-point win, while Oregon won 44-20.
It will likely come down to Notre Dame,
Ohio State, Auburn and Oregon for the two
at-large bids. Each of those teams has two
losses, except Oregon.
Everyone wants to watch a great matchup,
which will happen if any two of those teams are
pitted against each other. However, the likely
scenario is that because Notre Dame has great
“appeal,” it will be chosen. That leaves Ohio
State, Auburn and Oregon hoping for a chance.
Auburn probably is too far back in the
standings, so toss them out of the mix. No
body can deny that a Notre Dame/Ohio State
game would bring in great ratings. However,
so would a matchup of Notre Dame/Oregon
or Ohio State/Oregon.
If the Ducks aren’t selected, it will mark the
second time that they have been snubbed by
the BCS (2001 when Nebraska was picked
over Oregon to play in the championship
game) and the second year in a row that the
Pac-10 has been slighted.
The bottom line is that of any of the two
loss teams, Notre Dame deserves a bid the
least. It had a weak schedule, has lost to an
under -.500 opponent in Michigan State (5-6)
and the Irish are more known for their past
than their present success.
The BCS has a new low or controversy each
year and this season won’t be any different.
Regardless of whether Notre Dame is selected,
I just hope that this time it isn’t Oregon being
screwed... again.
smiller@do.ilyemerald. com
■ Men's basketball
Owls suffer Duck drubbing 84-60
Kate Horton | Photographer
Ivan Johnson slams two of his 10 points Saturday during an 84-60 Oregon win
over Rice. Johnson was one of five Ducks to score in double figures, and he also
grabbed seven rebounds.
Five Duck players score in the double-digits
as Oregon records its fourth win of the season
BY SHAWN MILLER
SPORTS EDITOR
Saturday’s match-up with Rice
(1-3) resulted in another “rou
tine” victory, according to Oregon
coach Ernie Kent after the Ducks’
84-60 triumph.
“This became another routine
win for us,” Kent said. “Our
numbers are almost identical in
all of the games. It’s been a pretty
good start to the season, but yet
we need to see the consistency
now when these teams step up
the competition.”
The Ducks (4-0) remain unde
feated at McArthur Court this
season, where 7,481 watched
Oregon run its way to an early
double-digit lead that it didn’t
relinquish Saturday.
Five Oregon players scored in
double figures, while Adam Zahn
added nine points. It wasn’t only
on the offensive end of the floor
that the Ducks picked up the
intensity; Oregon outrebounded
Rice 44-31.
“One of my jobs on the team is
to get rebounds, so I’ve got to make
that a focus too,” said Oregon’s
Maarty Leunen, who grabbed a ca
reer-high 13 rebounds.
Malik Hairston scored six of
his team-high 14 points in the
first half, which Oregon led 42-25
at the break.
“We’re just playing as a team.
We’re communicating a lot better.
We’re understanding our posi
tioning. We’re just locking up,”
Hairston said.
Offensively, Oregon made 13
three-pointers with a 46.4 percent
average. Prior to the game, the
Ducks averaged 5.3 three-pointers
made and a 33 percent average
from outside. Chamberlain Oguchi
and Aaron Brooks keyed a deep at
tack as both made four three-point
ers. Oguchi and Brooks scored 14
and 13 points, respectively.
“Personally, I’m not the biggest
on threes because I think you can
live or die by them,” Hairston
said. “I think you use the three to
get in the lane. Basketball is
played inside-out. It’s a matter of
using the three to get in the lane,
or get in the paint. The guys
made them tonight.”
Overall, Oregon made 48.3 per
cent from the floor, while Rice
struggled, connecting on only
36.4 percent.
“We missed shots that we have
normally been making,” Rice
coach Willis Wilson said.
Early in the game, the Ducks led
5-4 before using a 10-0 run, most of
which came in transition.
MEN'S, page 6
■ Duck volleyball
Three Oregon careers come to a close
Oregon closes out its season with two four-match
losses at home against Arizona and Arizona State
BY JEFFREY DRANSFELDT
SPORTS REPORTER
By the time the match ended,
emotions were in full force as sen
ior Kelly Russell reflected on her
completed Oregon career. The Ore
gon program made progress in
2005, but as shown Saturday night
against Arizona State, the Ducks
have a long way to go.
“1 wanted the program to
change,” Russell said. “But I got
to play in the best conference in
the nation, and I held my own
and made the top five (in kills) at
Oregon. That is something to be
proud of.”
Losing the match in four games
one night after extending No. 6
Arizona to four games overshad
owed the final appearances for
Russell, Jaclyn Jones and Kim Mc
Nally in an Oregon uniform.
Any momentum leading into
the match seemed to disappear in
the senior presentation before
hand. Oregon (12-18 overall, 1-17
Pacific-10 Conference) appeared
lifeless in losing the first two
games. Energy finally rose with
five consecutive points for a 28-26
Oregon lead and eventual game
three win on an Erin Little kill.
“I didn’t want to stop playing,”
Russell said.
Oregon traded points with Ari
zona State (8-20, 3-15) in game
four. Arizona State led 18-17, ex
tended it to 24-18 and survived
three consecutive Oregon points
to win the match when the Sun
Devils’ final kill glanced off
Russell’s hands.
Russell, libero Katie Swoboda
and Mira Djuric all finished with
individual accomplishments in
the loss.
With a team-high 15 kills, Rus
sell moved to fifth on Oregon’s ca
reer list with 1,283. Swoboda fin
ished in second place for single
season digs with a season-high 33
and completed the season with
448. Djuric tied for fourth on Ore
gon’s single season list for service
aces at 59 with one Saturday.
Swoboda, along with Djuric,
Kristen Bitter and Heather Madi
son join a strong returning cast for
next season. Djuric and Bitter post
ed 12 kills each. Madison had 11
digs and 30 assists.
The Arizona State match
followed a strong performance
against Arizona (22-5, 14-4) with
Oregon pushing the Wildcats to
four games. Oregon took game
three 31-29 and nearly forced game
five, losing game four 30-26. Swo
boda had 15 digs and four service
aces. Djuric slammed 16 kills as
Russell had 14 and Jones 13.
“You got to start somewhere,
and we’re building our program,
and I think this is a great start for
us,” Swoboda said. “We’ll only get
better in the following years.”
The season’s end marked mixed
feelings for Oregon coach Jim
Moore. Ready and eager to start
Marcus Larson | For the Emerald
Oregon libera Katie Swoboda lunges for one of her 15 digs Friday against No. 6
Arizona. Swoboda had 33 digs Saturday against Arizona State to finish with 448 this
season, second most in school history.
work on next season, he also
acknowledged he needs a break af
ter a difficult season and lengthy
travel schedule since becoming
coach in January.
“Sometimes you have to adapt,”
Moore said. “I will go in with the
same philosophy and the same
way, but I’m going to have to really
change things if we start down the
same path.”
The success Oregon had in
non-conference play, 10-1, disap
peared with two sweeps on Ore
gon’s opening road trip to ASU
and Arizona. Where Moore said
he initially thought six to nine
wins were possible, chances
VOLLEYBALL, page 6