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, 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.
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 Johnson 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, 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 going 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 Saturday’s game. “Once these new guys get to that environment, they’ll realize how pumped we were, how much energy we had and the reason why we went that far.”
Junior point guard Luke Ridnour, the Pac-10 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.
“We’ve got work to do in the NCAA Tournament,” Ridnour said. “We want to go deep like last year or even deeper. We’ve got to refocus and get ready to go.”
One advantage the Ducks have is playing on Friday instead of Thursday, allowing for an extra day off. The team will rest today before practicing on Tuesday, and then travel on Wednesday.
Overshadowing the short break, though, is finals week.
“Rest is the key to preparation right now,” Kent said. “We’re going to take a couple days to let our bodies bounce back and get going on finals. We’re going to stay right on top of finals through the tournament run that we’re fortunate enough to have.”
To make any kind of run, the Ducks will first have to get past Utah (24-7), the Mountain West Conference regular-season co-champion with Brigham Young.
Kent said he is familiar with Utah head coach Rick Majerus’ system, and the Utes are familiar with Oregon, too. Utah assistant Silvey Dominguez was Kent’s assistant for five years at St. Mary’s.
“We know their program in terms of being able to prepare for them, and I’m sure (Utah) is feeling the same way,” Kent said.
A common opponent of Oregon and Utah this season was Arizona State. Oregon won two out of three against the Sun Devils — including a last-second, one-point win Thursday at the Pac-10 Tournament — while the Utes split a pair of games with ASU, including a 78-55 win in Salt Lake City on Dec. 7.
“This is an exciting time of year for us to be a part of March Madness again,” Kent said. “This is an excellent opportunity for us to continue to showcase who we are and what we’re all about.”
Friday’s tipoff time at The Gaylord Entertainment Center will likely be announced today.
A win over Utah would probably pit the Ducks against Kentucky (29-3) on Sunday. The Wildcats, who have won 23 straight games, play 16th-seed Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis University in the first-round. A No. 1 seed has never been upset in the first round.
“If we’re fortunate enough to get to (the second round), that would be a very good basketball game,” Kent said. “Kentucky is a great program, and obviously they’ve had tremendous success this year. When you look at Utah and you look at Kentucky, those are schools that we can get up for.
“We feel like we can play with anybody if we’re on our game.”
The Ducks showed that at times this year, with a win over Kansas and its championship run in the conference tournament. Their success, however, is countered with road losses to Washington and USC.
In a season that featured a high of a No. 5 national ranking and the low of a “bubble” label, the Ducks are hoping they’ve peaked at the right time.
“We’re battle-tested and we’re ready,” senior center Brian Helquist said.
Ready for a little rest, for sure. But that can wait until the madness is over, perhaps in a few weeks.
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