Oregon head coach Kelly Graves tracked down longtime ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme by phone on Sunday and posed a simple question: Should the Ducks put together a celebration seeding party? Or do something private?
Creme’s answer was unequivocal.
“He told me, in his opinion, we could do a big party,” Graves said during a radio appearance on Oregon IMG’s Duck Insider on Tuesday. “I feel pretty good. We have 20 wins, 10 of which were against teams in the toughest conference in the country. We have four top-25 wins.”
The Ducks’ NCAA RPI stands at No. 35 nationally, and Creme’s Tuesday projection has the Ducks as a No. 8 seed facing No. 9 LSU in Waco, Texas, in the first round.
Oregon (20-13) advanced to the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament last weekend, cementing their spot in March Madness for the first time since 2005. The Ducks took down Arizona, then knocked off No. 11 Washington before falling to No. 10 Stanford.
“The Washington win, in a word, was incredible,” Graves said. “Just the whole circumstance around it.”
The Ducks played before a record-sized crowd at KeyArena on Friday night. In reflecting on the game, Graves said his team’s approach against Washington was spot-on.
“Our kids just really played their hearts out,” Graves said. “I give my staff a lot of credit. … They put together a great game plan. They figured them out. And we did some unorthodox things to slow them down and it worked.”
Graves gave his team the week off from practices. He’s encouraged his players to get in the gym and get shots up, but the team won’t practice until Saturday morning.
Graves leaves town to recruit Wednesday through Friday.
The break will help the Ducks feel rested after three games in three days in Seattle.
“I like it. It’s a good break for everybody,” Graves said. “You still have to recruit and key an eye to the future. It gives you a chance to go out and see the state tournaments — see kids you hadn’t seen or support the ones you already know you want. I’m going to do a little bit of both.”
The Ducks will practice on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, when the bracket is released at 4 p.m. on ESPN.
Graves indicated that the Ducks will take Tuesday off, practice on Wednesday in Eugene then “likely” leave on Wednesday.
The Ducks hope to send seniors Jacinta Vandenberg and Mar’Shay Moore off with a positive experience in the NCAA Tournament. And for the Ducks’ younger players, postseason play will set the tone for the future, Graves said.
“They were the first seniors to get us to a tournament in a long time,” Graves said. “For the young kids, it’s so valuable. … I think this is a program that’s going to be competing for Final Fours at some point. [And] just to get a taste of it, regardless of how we do — but I still believe if we get in, we can win some games.”
Follow Jonathan Hawthorne on Twitter @Jon_Hawthorne