NCAA-bound teams seeded as predicted

By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

After two months of conference play, the top eight teams in the
Pac-10 engaged in a three-day slug-fest, also known as the Pac-10
Tournament.

It gave teams, like Washington and Arizona State, the chance to
vie for the conference’s automatic bid, and it also gave the
other six teams a chance to sweeten their bids for the Big
Dance.

And the way it all played out, the Pac-10 Tournament
didn’t have that much of an effect on how the six NCAA
Tournament-bound teams were seeded. The only team greatly affected
was USC, which jumped from a projected eight seed to actually
receiving a four.

Since UCLA and Stanford were knocked out in the first round, and
Cal in the second, each team’s actual seed was where they
were projected in the March 9 Bracketology on ESPN.com.

“Had we won two or three games in the conference
tournament, we could possibly be looking at a seven, or a seven and
a half,” UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said after his team
received the eighth seed in the West.

Oregon, as the regular season conference champion, was already
projected as a No. 2 seed, so its semifinal loss didn’t hurt
when Selection Sunday rolled around.

Both USC and Arizona were awarded for their participation in the
conference final game. Arizona’s stock went up after winning
its fourth conference championship, and they were given the No. 3
seed and a first-round site of Albuquerque.

The Trojans entered the conference tournament projected at an
eight seed, but after beating two ranked teams in three days, USC
was awarded with a No. 4 seed close to home. In addition to a
higher seed, USC also benefitted from the emergence of sophomores
Jerry Dupree and Desmon Farmer as players to look out for on the
Trojan squad.

“Most teams haven’t seen us play, at least in
person, and may not know how our team plays at this point,”
USC guard Brandon Granville said. “Jerry and Desmon improved
our chances in the (NCAA) Tournament. They stepped up at the right
time and made a huge difference for us.”

For the rest of the pack, the conference tournament gave teams
the opportunity to play in NCAA tournament-like conditions, at a
neutral site, with the ebb and flow of fans throughout the day.

“We get to play in single-elimination format,” Lavin
said. “Playing at Staples was (NCAA) Tournament atmosphere.
It gave the freshmen a chance to play in that kind of environment
before going to the NCAA Tournament.”