Conference Update: It’s Never Been Sweeter

Welcome back to 750 The Game’s Conference Update, brought to you by Pacific Seafood, the official meat & seafood provider of the Pac-12 Conference.

This week’s update:

In our state, it’s never been sweeter

For the first time ever, the men’s and women’s basketball programs from both Oregon State University and University of Oregon reached the NCAA Tournament in the same season.  Not only that, but each program earned at least one victory in their respective brackets.  The Oregon State men were a 12-seed in the Midwest Region and pulled off back to back upsets of 5-seed Tennessee and 4-seed Oklahoma State en route to their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 1982.  The Beaver women, an 8-seed in the Hemisphere Region, blasted 9-seed Florida State in the first round 83-59, before bowing out to top-seed South Carolina in the second round.  The Ducks men, a 7-seed in the West Region, earned advancement out of the first round when VCU encountered COVID issues and were unable to play.  Oregon went on to stun 2-seed Iowa in the second round 95-80, setting up a Sweet Sixteen showdown with conference rival USC on Sunday night.  And the Oregon Ducks women, a six-seed in the Alamo Region, cruised by 11-seed South Dakota in the first round before upsetting 3-seed Georgia in the second round, 57-50, behind 22 points from Sedona Prince.  Oregon advances to their fourth straight Sweet Sixteen appearance where they face 2-seed Louisville on Sunday at 4pm on ESPN.

Beavers ready for Ramblers

Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle joined the Bald Faced Truth radio show on Friday afternoon, a day before his Beavers face Loyola Chicago in OSU’s first Sweet Sixteen appearance since 1982.  Listen to the full conversation with coach from Indianapolis.

Voice of the Beavers Mike Parker also stopped by the show this week, as he made the trip to Indy after calling the Pac-12 Tournament games remotely from Corvallis.  Listen as Mike gives perspective on what it’s like to follow this magical Beavers run.

Pac-12 rivals UO and USC battle for the Elite Eight

A Pac-12 school will be in the Elite Eight, one win from the Final Four.  Whether that school is Oregon or USC will be determined Sunday night (6:50pm TBS and 750 The Game).  USC is a 2-1/2 point favorite and coming off a 85-51 beat down of Kansas, while Oregon dominated Iowa 95-80.  The winner of Ducks-Trojans goes to the Elite Eight to face the winner of Gonzaga and Creighton, a game played Sunday afternoon.

Pac-12 earning respect in the Tournament

“Maybe now we’ll get some damn respect,” Beavers coach Wayne Tinkle said of the Pac-12 Conference after his Beavers upset the 11th-ranked team in the country in Oklahoma State in the second round.  The Pac-12 placed 5 teams in the Field of 68, and four of those programs are still dancing in the Sweet Sixteen.  For the first time in history, four teams from the same conference are in the Sweet Sixteen seeded number-four or lower (USC-6, Oregon-7, UCLA-11, Oregon State-12).  Only 5-seed Colorado is out after they dominated 12-seed Georgetown but couldn’t get past 4-seed Florida State.

Make sure to tune in to ALL the NCAA Tournament action exclusively right here on 750 The Game, 750TheGame.com, the Radio.com App and the iHeart Radio App!  We’re your home of March Madness from Westwood One!