Here it is again, like a big rattler coming to bite us in the behind.
The Pacific-10 Conference Tournament, like a plague, is permeating the Pac-10 schedule. The conference announced Monday that CBS would pick up broadcast rights to the brand-new men’s tournament starting in 2002, and that 7UP would be the major sponsor of both the men’s and women’s tournaments.
Hey, don’t get me wrong. I think it’s great that the Pac-10 is getting national exposure for its basketball teams. Of course, the nationally broadcast tournament works wonders for recruiting.
Highly touted recruit #1 (flips to CBS): “Dude, is this March Madness?”
Highly touted recruit #2: “Yeah, dude, it says ‘tournament,’ doesn’t it?”
Highly touted recruit #1: “Dude, I want to go to Oregon!”
No, my beef is with the scheduling. In this department, specifically, the Oregon men’s team is really, and pardon my bad English, screwed.
Any true Oregon fan will hate to see this on the schedule: “Dec. 20, UCLA, at Mac Court, no TV.” Although the men haven’t released their schedule yet, the women play at Pauly Pavilion on that date, and with the Pac-10’s home/away schedule, the men and women always switch locations against the same teams on the same days.
So … December 20 … at Mac Court … against Jason Kapono, Matt Barnes and the rest of the Bruins who went to the Sweet 16 in last year’s NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Duke.
I’m almost speechless.
The only things coming to my mind are images. UCLA at Oregon, with the Duck in a Santa hat? Tinsel hanging from the Mac Court rafters? No students? No students? No students.
No students!
UCLA will get another shot at the Ducks later in the season, in Los Angeles. You see, the Pac-10 Tournament will take place in the Staples Center in that wonderful Southern California city. Every year.
Advantage, UCLA and USC. What are the chances of Oregon pulling off a miracle Pac-10 tourney victory in the massive, SoCal pro arena? Next to zilch. Actually, zilch.
Of course, the Oregon women have none of these problems. The Duck women are just peachy-keen, thank you.
The Oregon women get to play at a stony-silent Pauly Pavilion before Christmas, put their feet up a bit, and then take on Washington at Mac Court to a post-Christmas, pre-New Year’s Eugene crowd.
Oh, and at the end of the season? The women’s Pac-10 Tourney is at Mac Court.
Advantage, Oregon.
All this means that the Duck men will face one of their toughest scheduling tests of recent memory in 2001-02, while the women will catch a scheduling break in their first season under new coach Bev Smith.
This is exactly how the Pac-10 and CBS higher-ups want things.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to showcase the return of the Pac-10 Tournament, providing increased national exposure to the conference prior to the start of the NCAA Tournament,” CBS Sports’ Mike Aresco said.
Right, Mike. You mean the increased national exposure of Stanford, Arizona and UCLA. Only the championship game of the tournament will be broadcast on CBS, while the early rounds will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net.
This will benefit only the big-name programs of the Pac-10, while conferences like the ACC have their entire tournaments broadcast on ESPN and the like.
Of course, the women are also out of luck, in a way. While the men have at least a shot at the national spotlight, the women have no television contract at all, not even a Fox Sports contract.
So, as you head down on that road trip to Los Angeles next March, remember the rattler. Perhaps you won’t need to, but remember the bite of that evil conference tournament.
Peter Hockaday is the sports editor for the Emerald. He can be reached at [email protected].