PORTLAND – The Rose City is poised to host the state’s first NCAA tournament games in 26 years this Thursday and Saturday at the Rose Garden.
The Rose Garden, in association with the University of Oregon, was one of 22 locations selected to host 2009 and 2010 tournament games in a bidding process that included 56 locations and concluded July 6, 2006.
Oregon last hosted tournament games in 1983. The organization does give preference to sites that have gone longest between hosting games.
That, coupled with the elimination of the Sports Action lottery game by state legislators, brought the tournament to Oregon after its long absence.
The Oregon Sports Authority, an organization that lobbies to bring high-profile sports events to the state, launched the successful effort to eliminate Sports Action and was also behind the bid for tournament games.
Friday, No. 5-seeded teams from the West and South regional brackets will face off against No. 12 seeds, while No. 4-seeded teams from those regions will take on No. 13 seeds.
Saturday’s action will feature the resulting second-round matchups, with the winners advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in Phoenix, Ariz., for the West and Memphis, Tenn., for the South.
No. 4 Washington Huskies (25-8) vs. No. 13 Mississippi State Bulldogs (23-12)
Washington was rewarded by the selection committee for its outright regular-season Pacific-10 Conference championship with a short trip down I-5 for its first round matchup with the Southeastern Conference’s Mississippi State Bulldogs, who ended Oregon’s season last year, besting the Ducks in the first round of last season’s tournament in North Little Rock, Ark.
No. 5 Purdue (25-9) vs. No. 12 University of Northern Iowa (23-10)
Purdue rolls into the Rose City fresh off a win in the Big-10 Conference Tournament final over Ohio State. It was Purdue’s first-ever conference tournament championship. Northern Iowa punched its ticket to the Big Dance with an overtime win over Champ Oguchi’s Illinois State Redbirds in the final of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
No. 4 Gonzaga Bulldogs (26-5) vs. No. 13 Akron Zips (23-12)
Gonazaga punched its 11th-straight ticket to the NCAA Tournament with an 83-58 win over St. Mary’s in the final of the West Coast Conference Tournament. Of course, the Bulldogs didn’t need the conference tourney to get in after going undefeated through the WCC regular season. They were rewarded for their efforts with a short commute for their first round game against the Akron Zips, who defeated Buffalo 65-53 in the final of the Mid-American Conference Tournament to secure their berth.
No. 5 Illinois Fighting Illini (24-9) vs. No. 12 Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers (24-8)
The Fighting Illini will be looking to rebound from their 66-56 loss to Purdue in the Big-10 Conference tournament semifinal. Western Kentucky secured tournament berth No. 21 in the school’s history by defeating the University of South Alabama 64-56 in the final of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament behind 18 points from junior guard A.J. Slaughter.
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Tourney returns to Oregon after 26 years
Daily Emerald
March 15, 2009
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