For only the second time in history, six teams from the Pacific-10 Conference reached the field of 65 of the NCAA Tournament. As the newly crowned Pacific-10 Conference Tournament Champions, the Ducks got an automatic bid to the Big Dance. Here’s a brief look at the other five teams.
UCLA
After losing to Florida in last year’s national championship game, UCLA – the team with the most NCAA men’s basketball titles in history – makes a return to the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the West Regional bracket.
The Bruins compiled a 26-5 record this season and were ranked No. 1 for six weeks during the regular season. But they stumbled in the Pac-10 tournament with a shocking 76-69 first-round loss to California that cost the Bruins the No. 1 seed.
The Golden Bears shut down UCLA’s offense, limiting junior guard Arron Afflalo to a season-low three points, and out-scoring the Bruins 15-8 in overtime.
Now, the Bruins must find their momentum again to advance beyond their first round matchup against No. 15 Weber State this Thursday.
USC
After its 81-57 defeat to Oregon in the Pac-10 Tournament Championship game, USC is now the No. 5 seed in the East Region bracket.
The Trojans are back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002, and will play No. 12 seed Arkansas on Friday in Spokane, Wash.
If USC wins on Friday, this could set up a potential matchup between USC and fourth-seed Texas, which plays No. 13 New Mexico State in the first round.
Washington State
The Cougars are the third seed in the East Regional tournament bracket, and will face No. 14 Oral Roberts in the first round in Sacramento, Calif. on Thursday.
The Cougars, who lost to USC in the Pac-10 Conference semifinal match, finished the regular season with 25 wins, the second most in school history. They ended the season ranked 11th in the AP standings, and first-year coach Tony Bennett was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year.
If Washington State gets past the first round, they will face the winner of the George Washington/Vanderbilt game, and beyond that, could potentially have to play No. 2 seed Georgetown in regionals.
But first the Cougars have to find a way to stop Oral Roberts’ Caleb Green, whose 2,489 career points makes him the NCAA’s active scoring leader.
Arizona
Lute Olson’s Wildcats finished fourth in the Pac-10 conference, and are the eighth seed in the Midwest bracket. Arizona, which is making its 23rd-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, takes on No. 9 Purdue in New Orleans on Friday.
This marks the third time in four years that the Wildcats have drawn an 8-9 matchup. In 2004, No. 9 Arizona lost to No. 8 Seton Hall in the first round. Last year, the eighth-seeded Wildcats beat Wisconsin in the first round only to come up short against Villanova.
History could well repeat itself this year. A win over Purdue would probably result in an Arizona-Florida matchup in the second round.
Stanford
Stanford had to wait until the very end of the selection show to find out if it had made the tournament. The last team from the Pac-10 to receive a bid will play the No. 6 seed Louisville Cardinals. Though Stanford’s record was 18-12, the Cardinal’s resume boasted wins against UCLA, Oregon, Washington State, USC and Virginia and, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, Stanford’s RPI ranking, 67, was “the second-worst RPI ever for an at large bid” behind only New Mexico, which had a 74 RPI Ranking in 1999.
“It just underscores the fact that the RPI is a guideline, but not an absolute predictor,” chairman of the selection committee, Gary Walters, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
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