NCAA Tournament: Oregon Selected as a 12 Seed, Will Face 5 Seed Oklahoma State

Oregon wrapped the 2012-13 season by winning the Pac 12 Tournament, but it did not translate to much with the NCAA Selection Committee. The 12 Seed Ducks will play in the Midwest Region and face 5 Seed Oklahoma State in the First Round on Friday(3/21). One good thing for Oregon, they won’t have to travel far this week. The games for Rounds 1 and 2 are in San Jose, California.

March 16, 2013; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Oregon Ducks forward E.J. Singler (25, right) and forward Arsalan Kazemi (14) celebrate after the championship game of the Pac 12 tournament against the UCLA Bruins at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Oregon defeated UCLA 78-69. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma State(24-8, 13-5 Big 12) finished third in their Conference behind both Kansas and Kansas State. Last Week Oklahoma State Freshman Marcus Smart was named Conference player of the year. He averages 15 points per game and is shooting 40 percent from the field for the year.

Addicted to Quack put things into perspective rather nicely and the Oregonian also takes a look at the Ducks first opponent.

CNNSI in their take on the Midwest Regional lists Freshman Guard Dominic Artis as the ‘Best Player You’ve Never Heard Of.’

Other matchups in the San Jose Regional include 4 Seed St. Louis and 13 Seed New Mexico. The overall top seed in the Midwest is Duke. Coach Altman’s former team Creighton is the 7 seed in the Midwest Region, the same as the Ducks.

By the way, UCLA is a 6 Seed in the South Regional. Other Pac 12 Teams making the NCAA Tourament include Cal(12 seed) and Colorado(10 Seed) in the East and Arizona(6 Seed) in the West.

Fans are disappointed in Oregon’s seeding, and even the media is talking about it including Joe Lunardi, who says NCAA Committee mis-seeded the Ducks by 4-6 lines, calling it “major blunder”. The blog AddictedtoQuack.com had a great piece on the RPI and how it’s important to seeding for the Tournament.

Oregon Senior E.J. Singler said it best,

“We’re just happy we’re in the tournament. We don’t care where we’re seeded.” –

The whole point of the NCAA Tournament is to be playing in it, not necessarily where you are seeded throughout the Tournament. If there is anything this season has showed, upsets can happen at anytime. The Ducks are on an upswing winning three in a row. Don’t hang your heads Duck Fans, just win six in a row and you have a National Title.

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