– After UCLA ousted the Ducks in the second round of the Pac-12 tournament on Thursday, the Ducks could be destined for an early date with a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. CBS’ Jerry Palm, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and USA Today all project Oregon to be a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which would set them up against a regional No. 1 seed should the Ducks make it to the second round. You can watch Selection Sunday at 3 p.m. PST on CBS. @@two names checked@@
– After an unexceptional time of 4.50 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, former Oregon running back De’Anthony Thomas helped his draft stock out Thursday by clocking in at 4.34 seconds at Oregon’s pro day, according to the hand-held times of scouts that were at the event. After the event, Thomas told reporters that he had run 4.50 in the 40-yard dash when he was in the ninth grade, which had surprised him and that he used for motivation to train harder in preparation for the NFL draft.
– The NCAA Indoor Track and Field championships are already underway today, as the Oregon women look to bring home their fifth consecutive indoor title. The women enter the competition ranked No. 2 and the Oregon men rank No. 6. Leading the way for the women are Laura Roesler, Phyllis Francis and Jasmine Todd. Roesler and Francis enter the meet with the No. 1 times in the nation in the 800 meter and 400 meter events, respectively, while Todd is ranked No. 2 in both the 60-meter dash and the long jump. @@three names checked@@
– The Oregon baseball teams kicks off conference play tonight at PK Park, as the Ducks will host USC in the first of a three-game weekend series. Oregon enters the series No. 11 and is coming off a 2-1 series win against Ohio State in which it erupted for 20 runs in the final game of the series. The Ducks will pitch Tommy Thorpe on Friday, Matt Krook on Saturday and Jeff Gold on Sunday. @@three names checked@@
Follow Chris Mosch on Twitter @chris_mosch