Jim Moore, head coach of the No. 7 Oregon volleyball team, sat at the white-plastic table with a blank bracket in front of him. Next to him sat his son Matthew, who also had a bracket.
Father and son were in front of a small, flat-screen TV, which the entire volleyball team, fans and Oregon personnel were watching to find out where the Ducks were going to play in the 2008 NCAA volleyball tournament. As the ESPN anchor read off the names, Moore would either shake his head or smile, and fill in another slot in the bracket. He let out a few audible “that’s crazy,” or “that was a no-brainer,” remarks, and anyone who watched him understood the man knew a lot about seeding and the NCAA tournament.
But the most surprising part of the evening came when Oregon’s name was announced. The seed wasn’t a surprise; Moore thought that the Ducks would be the No. 11 overall seed, but the site was a little shocking: Washington, D.C.
That pick made the Ducks the only Pacific-10 Conference team that doesn’t get to stay on the West Coast for the first week of the tournament. No. 2 Stanford, No. 5 Washington, No. 8 California, No. 9 UCLA (which Oregon beat twice this year) and No. 12 USC all play in their home arenas in the first two rounds.
It’s a little unbelievable that the selection committee would do this to an Oregon team that has done nothing over the past three years but exceed expectations. Two years ago it snuck into the tournament and got bounced by Hawaii. Last year it made an improbable run to the Sweet 16, and this year the team posted its best record since the 1983 season and have been ranked in the top 10 for the past nine weeks.
How can you justify having a 20-10 UCLA host over a 23-8 Oregon team? The Bruins finished 9-9 in the Pac-10 and lost twice to all of the teams that had a winning record in league: Stanford (17-1), Washington (15-3), California (13-5) and Oregon (11-7). The only team that UCLA beat that was ranked in the Pac-10 was USC on the last day of the season.
Instead of placing Oregon across the country in the nation’s capital, the committee could have made the unranked teams travel. Delaware, American and North Carolina are the other three teams in the sub-regional with Oregon, and those three have significantly fewer miles to travel than the Ducks. The NCAA should have switched it around so UCLA went to D.C., and placed the Ducks in with No. 25 San Francisco, Duke and LSU. Then the site for the first two rounds should have been moved to Eugene, where Oregon could then have enjoyed another week at home and have been rested for the Sweet 16 in Austin, Texas.
It’s a shame, really. Oregon played well all season long, just to get banished to the East Coast. The Ducks played nine other teams that also are in this tournament, and they are 7-7 against them (they played the Pac-10 teams twice). And their biggest plus side wasn’t even considered: Oregon is 3-1 against tournament teams that don’t have membership cards to the OK Corral that is the Pac-10.
But for all the reasons I’ve just given for Oregon to feel slighted, fans will be happy to know that the team doesn’t feel that way. When their name came up Sunday night, all the players on the team yelled and screamed, and smiled from ear to ear. They’re pumped to go to D.C. After an initial phase of disappointment, even Moore came around to the idea of playing in the nation’s capital. He quipped that he’d like to figure out how they could stay around for another month so they could see President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration.
It’s good to see that the team brushed aside such distractions right away. That means they’re ready. Senior Kristen Forristall said it best: “It’s tournament time. You just have to keep on winning.”
Very true, and even though the NCAA didn’t help them out with their site, it did help the Ducks out with the draw. They won’t have to play anyone from the Pac-10 until the Elite Eight – and that’s only if UCLA manages to upset No. 3-seed Texas. Granted, Oregon has to win its matches as well, but with a first-round draw of Delaware, then a potential second-round match up with North Carolina (who the Ducks beat in three sets in the second match of the year), Oregon’s trip to the Sweet 16 will be significantly easier than in 2007.
BEN SCHORZMAN
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