the oregon ducks men's basketball team finished tied for second in the pac-12 conference, but won the conference tournament beating ucla, and were at one time this season ranked in the top ten in the united states collegiate rankings.
not too bad. not too bad, at all.
yet, at the ncaa tournament they got a very low seeding, as specious a screw job as anyone in the country, ... , seeded 12th in the midwest regional. (if early press releases are to be trusted.) they are seeded lower than any of their conference foes, those whom they vanquished during the regular season and during the conference tournament: the ducks undoing was loosing to their lessor lesser foes.
but, what a screwing it turned out to be.
if any other number 12 seed in the tourney has been put into as favorable a position as the ducks, i would like to know about it. if they win the first game and play well, they almost march into the regional final. this is known otherwise, as the "elite 8."
the fact is, to advance in the tourney you have to win. you loose, you are out. and, to play with the big guys, you eventually have to play the big guys. if you aren't up to it, you are gone, and it makes little difference what your seeding was. the thing about the seeding, is that it is designed so that the big guys play the little guys early on, and are expect to devour them for a couple games, before they start playing "themselves," e.g., other "big guys." oregon is expected to be devoured by oklahoma state. but, if oregon can beat oklahoma state, a very doable thing, then oregon moves into the position of perhaps being able to devour the little guys oklahoma state was "designed" to devour by the seeding process. so, oregon just might benefit in the long run by the machinations of the seeding committee.
a spurious, a specious, a royal screw job, .... , nonetheless, it's all the same, you have to win.
but, the oregon ducks have been put into a very favorable position as far as potential adversaries go, and it is hard to imagine a number 12 seeding being as advantageous as it is. (hint: again, the lower your seeding, the more it signifies the selection committee's intent to get rid of you early, to separate you as chaff from the wheat those worthies foresee as playing for all the marbles. a number 12 seed is not a sign of respect.)
if the ducks win a couple early, they may very well find themselves positioned playing for those proverbial marbles. and, all because of a royal fucking. put simply.
john jay @ 03.17.2013
I know all about "dissed". The Zags were given the 4th #1 seating, talk about disrespect.
Go Zags!!!
Posted by: Friend Fuchs | March 17, 2013 at 04:47 PM