Oregon’s senior point guard Aaron Brooks said most of the team’s wishes were granted on Selection Sunday – that is, almost everyone’s.
The Ducks, after a romp through the Pacific-10 Conference Tournament, received the No. 3 seed, and will play Miami (Ohio) in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in nearby Spokane, Wash., marking Oregon’s first trip to the tourney since 2003.
“I was nervous. I don’t know why,” Brooks said. “I wanted it to be Spokane. We’re glad all the fans can get there… I think we really showed the caliber of team we are in the Pac-10 Tournament, and the NCAA rewarded us with Spokane and a high seed.
“Most of us got our wishes, except for (Tajuan Porter) and Malik (both Detroit natives). But I think we’re all happy.”
The announcement came on CBS’ Selection Show that was aired on two large projection screens in front of an estimated 2,500 fans in McArthur Court. Following a season highlight video, player introductions and two short, emotional speeches from Oregon coach Ernie Kent and radio play-by-play announcer Jerry Allen, the crowd erupted into a frenzy when Oregon’s name appeared as the third-seed in the Spokane region.
“They’re a team to keep an eye on,” CBS analyst Craig Kellogg said of Oregon.
The Ducks knew they were in the tournament but needed an impressive showing in the Pac-10 Tournament to stay nearby. Early projections had Oregon anywhere from a fifth to an eighth seed and playing in Buffalo, N.Y. or Chicago.
But Oregon, the fourth seed in the Pac-10 Tournament, won its second Pac-10 Tournament championship in impressive form, beating Arizona 69-50, California 81-63, and USC 81-57 in the championship game.
“What a fitting tribute,” Kent said. “It starts the final chapter of our book. What a great, great honor for these guys. Number one, I think it speaks volumes about where this team is and how important a conference tournament is. Number two, to stay in the west so we can get the band and family and friends and fans there.
“It’s a good start for what hopefully is a good run for us.”
Though junior guard Malik Hairston may not have gotten his wish of playing near friends and family in Chicago, he described the entire experience Sunday as “unexplainable.”
“I have never watched the Selection Sunday before I got to college or during, since we weren’t winning how we should have,” Hairston said. “But it was just a great feeling, and to have the crowd behind us, it was just great support.”
Junior guard Bryce Taylor reflected momentarily on the struggles of the last two seasons – when the Ducks missed the postseason – and then reveled in the moment.
“It’s definitely rewarding just because there were a lot of ups and downs – more downs, a lot of criticism,” Taylor said. “It was a humbling experience and it made us learn what it takes to be successful.”
Following the announcement, the Ducks didn’t immediately know much about their opponent, the Miami University (Ohio) RedHawks out of the Mid-American Conference’s East Division. Kent said he expects to break down film in the coming days and planned to have a scouting report together within an hour after the selection show by calling various sources in the area that “know the team, that have played that team.”
The RedHawks finished the year 18-14 overall and 10-6 in conference, third in the East Division and are led by a pair of forwards in 6-foot-6-inch, 230-pound junior Tim Pollitz, the MAC Tournament MVP, who averages 15.9 points per game and 6-foot-8-inch, 227-pound senior Nathan Peavy, who averages 14.2 points per game. Miami beat Akron for the MAC Tournament championship on a controversial last-second three-point bank shot by senior guard Doug Penno that set off a wild celebration. Officials held a 10-minute conference to determine if the shot was released before the buzzer sounded, eventually putting six-tenths of a second back on the clock before an Akron pass sailed out of bounds.
Oregon is joined by five other Pac-10 teams in the tournament with Stanford, at 18-12, the last team announced by CBS. UCLA, after losing its last two games, slipped from a projected number one seed to a number two seed in the West Region. Washington State also received a three seed, while USC, also playing in Spokane but in the East Region, is the five seed, and Arizona grabbed the eighth seed in the Midwest Region.
But for this day, it was all about the Ducks.
“This was all new for us sitting there and watching our name come up,” junior forward Maarty Leunen said.
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