Huskies picked as number four seed

by John Berkowitz on Mar 15, 2009 8:21 PM PDT

Pac 10 regular season champion Washington was picked as number four seed and will face off against Mississippi State in Portland. Mississippi State finished the season 23-12 and won the SEC tournament which earned them an automatic bid.

The Huskies will join five other Pac 10 teams in the tournament. UCLA (6), USC (10), California (7), Arizona State (6), and Arizona (12) were also picked. Arizona was a bit of a surprise after losing in the opening round of the Pac 10 tournament. Washington State is likely headed to the NIT.

Gonzaga is also a number four seed and will open in Portland against Akron on Thursday. Washington and Gonzaga will not meet in this tournament unless each team makes it to the final four. The Huskies are in the West bracket and the Bulldogs are in the South despite the fact start the tourney playing in Portland.

The Huskies are in the same bracket as those other Huskies from UConn. The two teams could conceivably meet in the Sweet Sixteen if the both advance that far. If Gonzaga makes it to the Sweet Sixteen their likely opponent will be North Carolina.

Portland State picked up a 13 seed and will open up with Xavier in Boise who is a number four seed.

Washington State, Portland, and Seattle U await word from the NIT, CBI, and College Insider Classic. Oregon State already has committed to host an opening round game in the CBI.

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times has the Huskies reactions.

At 3:17 p.m. the cheering started as the Huskies were announced as a No. 4 seed in Portland. A few seconds later, the cheering muted just a bit as UW's opponent was unveiled --- SEC tourney champ Mississippi State. The Bulldogs beat Tennessee today to earn a bid and finished the season 23-12.

Here are the times for the four games in Portland on Thursday:

11:20 a.m. Northern Iowa vs. Purdue
25 min. following conclusion : Mississippi State vs. Washington
4:25 p.m. Akron vs. Gonzaga
30 min. following conclusion : Western Kentucky vs. Illinois

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Comments

The assumption is that because Miss State is a big conference team

They’re also a good team. They’re not. They went 23-12 against pathetic SEC competition. They lost by 10 to WSU on a neutral court. Their KenPom ranking is 60 (9 spots worse than 8th best Pac-10 team Stanford). They lost to awful teams Charlotte and San Diego. The only plus they have going for them is that they’ve won 6 straight, but again, it doesn’t mean much when it’s done against SEC competition.
If you put Miss State in the Pac-10 they might win 3 games.
I don’t think the Huskies have much trouble in this one, with home court advantage as well as vastly superior talent.

http://www.spartyandfriends.com/

by thecassino on Mar 15, 2009 5:18 PM PDT reply actions

I agree

they are like us in that they play small lineups and try to keep running the ball. However, they are not nearly as physical as we are and will rely a lot more on three point shooting. They have a Brockman-like guy who anchors their half court sets and rebounds, but not a lot of other size to speak of. They are going to play us man up for most of the game. Quincy is going to be a very tough matchup for these guys and I can see Brockman really going off in this one.

"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.

by Gekko Mojo on Mar 15, 2009 5:35 PM PDT reply actions

Varnado vs. Brockman is gonna be one of the better matchups of the year

by Ezzra on Mar 15, 2009 5:48 PM PDT reply actions

Brockman just needs to be physical with him

Baynes dominated him early in the season by throwing his wieght around.

This is where per game statistics go to die.

CougCenter

by Craig Powers on Mar 15, 2009 6:54 PM PDT up reply actions

"Baynes dominated him"

… did I miss that game or are you referring the game where Baynes scored 8 pts and allowed Brockman to collect a career high 18 rebounds (including a least a half a doze offensive)? I remember that game. I thought the Cougs lost that one. My memory is a little fuzzy.

Cougs have a funny interpretation of reality.

"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.

by Gekko Mojo on Mar 15, 2009 8:43 PM PDT up reply actions

I’m pretty sure he meant that Baynes dominated the MSU big man…

by kirkd on Mar 15, 2009 8:47 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, he was saying that Baynes dominated Varnado

http://www.spartyandfriends.com/

by thecassino on Mar 15, 2009 9:01 PM PDT up reply actions

Was referring to Varvado

Settle down Gekko

This is where per game statistics go to die.

CougCenter

by Craig Powers on Mar 15, 2009 9:05 PM PDT up reply actions

i got you.

… my trigger finger was a little itchy because my little Coug brother has not piped down about the last UW/WSU match up where he claims Baynes was dominant, Rochestie was mugged and the Cougs failed to get any calls.

"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.

by Gekko Mojo on Mar 16, 2009 8:39 AM PDT up reply actions

There was a fair amount of mugging on both sides

It was reffed by Pac 10 officials.

This is where per game statistics go to die.

CougCenter

by Craig Powers on Mar 16, 2009 10:29 AM PDT up reply actions

And while we are fact checking...

Baynes had 16 points (on 5 field goal attempts) with 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.

This is where per game statistics go to die.

CougCenter

by Craig Powers on Mar 15, 2009 9:13 PM PDT up reply actions

Thought I recalled Baynes doing failry well

by Ezzra on Mar 16, 2009 11:59 AM PDT up reply actions

*fairly

by Ezzra on Mar 16, 2009 11:59 AM PDT up reply actions

Baynes played well. Any talk that either Brockman or Baynes “dominated” would be foolish. They both played well.

by kirkd on Mar 16, 2009 3:46 PM PDT up reply actions

OO

Another sweet sixteen husky husky match-up would be very interesting.

by AllEyezOnMe on Mar 15, 2009 6:07 PM PDT reply actions

Cougs got a #7 seed in the NIT

http://www.spartyandfriends.com/

by thecassino on Mar 15, 2009 6:08 PM PDT reply actions

I WANT UCONN

Chance for revenge is ohhhh sooo sweet! Thank you selection committee.

by JoeinFW on Mar 15, 2009 6:23 PM PDT reply actions

I didn't want a possible UConn rematch

In post season play Calhoun’s Huskies have beaten our Huskies. But if there is one No.1 seed to matchup with, why not go after the lowest of No.1 seeds. But I don’t like the matchup unless we can get this possible matchup played on the fast track.

All I saw was purple

by crazidawg on Mar 15, 2009 7:01 PM PDT reply actions

If you want to be a final four team ...

… you have to be able to better any matchup.

"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.

by Gekko Mojo on Mar 15, 2009 8:44 PM PDT up reply actions

Arizona

Still trying to figure out how Arizona got in. This will be the final act of Zona in the tournament unless they hire a bigtime coach- Pennell is not that guy.

All I saw was purple

by crazidawg on Mar 15, 2009 7:03 PM PDT reply actions

Tucson road warriors

The selection committee must think that Lute is still coaching, and threw him a bone for the streak. Az had a 2-9 road record. Going to the big dance is just going to make it more difficult to fire Pennell, who was the fourth choice to coach this year (Olson, last year’s coach, and the other assistant, who turned down the interim job). Beating Utah will make it even harder to fire Pennell. Olson has spoiled them and they want a big name, like Mark Few.

But I think if Few, who was raised just outside Eugene, wants to move on, it will be Ernie Kent’s job at Oregon.

by dawgdude on Mar 15, 2009 7:49 PM PDT up reply actions

I don't think Few is going anywhere

He’s got the Zags in position to make the tourney every year easily, and now they’re finally of high enough prominence to start grabbing some top flight recruits. He loves Spokane and doesn’t want to move his family.

http://www.spartyandfriends.com/

by thecassino on Mar 15, 2009 9:02 PM PDT up reply actions

Few

I heard Arizona is looking hard at Few and Bennett. I think if the money is there, Few takes the Zona job. He’s accomplished just about everything he can at Gonzaga. Arizona is a bigtime basketball program and the entire South Arizona region backs Wildcats basketball. Big national draw, national recruiting base, big program with realitively easy going fanbase. They expect to win but they don’t go crazi if you don’t.

So if the money is there Few goes. Perfect situation because Few would not be taking over for Legendary Lute. He’d be taking over for [yawn] Pennell.

All I saw was purple

by crazidawg on Mar 15, 2009 9:02 PM PDT up reply actions

they deserved it.

truth is that there were way too many bubble teams. Arizona had a few very strong out of conference wins, they beat the Pac 10 champ once during the season and they had a streak of 24 straight. That earns them a bit of latitude, and rightly so.

"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.

by Gekko Mojo on Mar 15, 2009 8:45 PM PDT up reply actions

That latitude should’ve been for last year’s tournament. This year their big wins were all at home. They had a 62 rpi, went 9-9 in a league where the experts thought it was a down year, and finished off the season losing 5 out of 6 games. St. Maries or SDSU should’ve gotten an invite.

All it does is it puts a target on the Pac 10 in the tournament. We don’t have a lot of great teams this year so it would seem, therefore we have to show the nation we deserved 6 invites. Have you seen our brackets? We don’t have one easy bracket out of the six. Gonzaga’s bracket on the other hand looks gift wrapped for success. Hands down Gonzaga should face Carolina in the Sweet 16- it’s almost a lock. Pac 10 got screwed in the brackets!

All I saw was purple

by crazidawg on Mar 15, 2009 8:56 PM PDT up reply actions

in all fairness

Arizona did beat three conference champs (and three teams with four seeds or higher) in Wash, Kansas and Gonzaga. Whether or not at home, those are legit wins and definitely superior to anything St Mary’s (the Gaels lost to Gonzaga when they had them at home) or SDSU (SDSU lost to Arizona and to St Mary’s this year) put up. Their resume was at least “just as good” and they were right to have gotten the nod based on tradition alone.

"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.

by Gekko Mojo on Mar 16, 2009 8:45 AM PDT up reply actions

Go Huskies

I have you guys meeting UConn in the sweet 16. If Brockman can do a Blair impersonation and punk Thabeet, you guys could go even farther. I have to tell you, as a Bruin fan hearing people hype Eric Maynor, all I have been thinking is at least he isn’t s short quick guard like those bastards at Washington.

Good Luck!

by bruinponcho on Mar 15, 2009 7:56 PM PDT reply actions

Overton is one of the quickest I have ever seen

He really knows how to apply the pressure. We just need to stop turning over the ball and drive it inside.

by John Berkowitz on Mar 15, 2009 8:11 PM PDT up reply actions

and, we need to get shots 10 feet and in down.

I cannot believe how many shots at rim we’ve missed in the last three games.

"Greed is Good."
So is Rudy.

by Gekko Mojo on Mar 15, 2009 8:47 PM PDT up reply actions

And Thomas needs to play a complete game

And not lay an egg in the first half like he’s done the past few games.

http://www.spartyandfriends.com/

by thecassino on Mar 15, 2009 9:07 PM PDT up reply actions

Philadelphia Pod

Ponch you guys got a tough draw, having to go to Villanova’s hometown. I have you guys beating VCU, but with Ucla facing Villanova for basically a home game- haven’t decided to pencil you in over Nova. Yet with your tournament experience it will be a good game. I don’t like the possible UConn matchup and I don’t know what to expect from Miss. State.

All I saw was purple

by crazidawg on Mar 15, 2009 8:47 PM PDT up reply actions

Ugh, awful draw. Purdue is probably better than us, UConn is, Memphis is.

I prefer USC’s, UCLA’s, or ASU’s.

by lailaihei on Mar 15, 2009 10:10 PM PDT reply actions

Purdue is about even to us

They have a better defense, we have a better offense. And teams with better offenses have a history of outperforming defensive teams in the tournament. Add in the fact that assuming we get past Miss State and Purdue wins as well, we’d be playing them in Portland and a crowd very much in favor of the Huskies. I don’t think it’s bad at all.

And UConn and Memphis? Duh. They’re the #1 and #2 seeds. Once you get to the sweet 16 and beyond, all the teams are going to be top flight, so ours is no harder than any other bracket in that respect.

http://www.spartyandfriends.com/

by thecassino on Mar 15, 2009 10:34 PM PDT up reply actions

wow

I like to see how much confidence you have in the Pac-10, and UW for that matter…

by AllEyezOnMe on Mar 15, 2009 11:26 PM PDT up reply actions

If you want to be the champion

You need to be capable of winning all the games. It doesn’t really matter when you play them.

by John Berkowitz on Mar 16, 2009 9:43 AM PDT reply actions

That’s not entirely true – I think there are advantages to getting relatively easy games early in the bracket so you don’t exhaust yourself. I think it’s pretty clear that Gonzaga has a somewhat easier path than the UW.

But yeah, if you want to be NCAA champs, you have to be able to beat anyone.

by kirkd on Mar 16, 2009 3:52 PM PDT up reply actions

Good Luck Guys.

Grats on the 4 seed. Honestly, I am not sure who got screwed more here, UCLA or you guys.

Yeah, UCLA has to travel across the country and play both the first and second round against local teams. But, man did UW draw a ridiculously tough path to the final 4. Miss St(way underseeded), Purdue, Uconn, Memphis? Yikes.

by haster123 on Mar 16, 2009 4:37 PM PDT reply actions