College

The NCAA Tournament established game times for the Sweet 16 Tuesday, and Oregon State got a 4 p.m. slot against second-ranked Baylor in Lexington, Ky.

Oregon will play Central Michigan Saturday at 3 p.m. in Spokane, Wash.

Baylor is 33-1, while OSU is 25-7, but has a 3-0 record against the Bears all-time. The Beavers beat Baylor in 2016 to advance to the Final Four for the first time. It's the third-straight year OSU has reached the Sweet 16.

Oregon heads for the Sweet 16 for the second-straight year after advancing to the Elite 8 last year. The Ducks are 32-4, while Central Michigan is 30-4.

2. WINTERHAWKS HEADED FOR PLAYOFFS

The 72-game regular season came to a close with a 5-4 loss to Spokane Sunday for the Portland Winterhawks, but the season begins anew Saturday. Portland, which finished the regular season at 44-22-1-5 for 94 points, plays the Chiefs in a seven-game series with the first two games in Portland Saturday and Sunday.

3. TIMBERS/THORNS EYE LEAGUE PLAY

The Portland Thorns and Portland Timbers return to the pitch Saturday with league matches. The Thorns, who drew with Houston 0-0 Saturday at Merlo Field, open NWSL play at North Carolina Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Portland won its second NWSL title last season.

The Timbers, 0-2 in MLS action, play at Houston Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Portland has scored just once in its two games, and is looking for its first win under new coah Giovanni Savarese.

4. PAC-12 SOFTBALL, BASEBALL

In Pac-12 softball, Sixth-ranked Oregon is 25-5 heading for a weekend off before a three-game series with rival Oregon State March 29-31 in Corvallis.

Oregon State recovered from a 12-0 loss Saturday to beat Cal 8-3 Sunday and earn a 2-1 series win in Corvallis. Oregon State is 19-10 heading into a three-game series at UCLA Friday.

In Pac-12 baseball, top-ranked Oregon State is 18-1 on the year, matching the 1951, 1962, 2013 and 2017 teams for the best record through 19 games. OSU has won 13 consecutive Pac-12 games dating back to the 2016 season. The Beavers start a three-game series with Washington on Friday.
 
In other Pac-12 action, Oregon starts a three-game series with Cal starting Friday. Oregon is 8-2 at home this season.

When the NCAA Tournament bracket was released for women’s basketball last week, Oregon State University didn’t get treated very well. And, it kinda got worse, because even though the Beavers’ program produced some unprecedented success, the entire women’s game got fairly well disrespected this weekend.

For starters, Oregon State, despite being ranked No. 13 nationally in the Associated Press poll, which is promoted on ncaa.com, the Beavers were relegated to a No. 6 seed, something that would put them ranked 24th or worse. With that seed, OSU didn’t get to play host to one of the 16 four-team sub-regional tournaments, which the sixth-ranked Oregon Ducks did as a No. 2 seed. The Beavers were the only team among the top 16 that didn’t get to host games over the weekend.

When the results came in, though, the NCAA did plenty to disrespect more than just the Beavers. They did it to the women’s game.

Oregon State won its two games, including a win over host Tennessee that was the Vols’ first ever at home in the tournament. The Beavers might not have gotten seeded where they should have, but they played like a team that should have been seeded higher. Great job OSU.

It’s in looking for results on the game via the NCAA website that you find out how much respect the organization has for women’s basketball, or perhaps women’s sports in general.

As the men’s tournament is taking place at the same time, there’s tournament games aplenty to provide results on, and the NCAA did that ... for men’s games. Every game Sunday got a video, a short recap of the game and the game box score. The front page of the NCAA website shows off the thrill of the tournament. And, there’s one story on the women’s game.

Each one of the women’s games got a box score, and a link to a story that turned out to be the tournament bracket. The games involving a No. 1 or 2 seed got a short video, but all the website links went to the same place - the tournament bracket. Even the headlines from Monday that promoted some excitement of the day - “8 more teams vie for Sweet 16 berths” - went to the bracket.

Today, after those eight games were decided, the NCAA website promoted the men’s tournament Sweet 16 being set with a video and story, and the women’s Sweet 16 being set with a listing of the scores from the previous two days.

This actually seems like an opportunity for women to address the importance of their sports to their governing body - why does the NCAA care more about the men’s game than the women’s game? Obvioiusly, it’s money. But, it shouldn’t affect something as basic as the NCAA website where the economic affect of putting a little more effort into promotion of the women’s tournament is just flat out effort.

Oregon and Oregon State are getting covered just fine by local media, which has put them at the top of their news. And, the Ducks and Beavers have plenty of fans - show off by the Ducks getting more than 7,500 fans for their game Sunday. But the NCAA is showing off just how little it thinks of women’s athletics by putting effort into only promoting the men’s tournament.

The Portland Trail Blazers start the first of four consecutive games against teams at the top of the the Western Conference and Eastern Conference with the Houston Rockets tonight.

Houston leads the Western Conference and will take on the Blazers at the Moda Center at 7:30 p.m., a game set to be televised by TNT.

Portland, with a 13-game winning streak through Monday, then gets Boston - the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 team - on Friday.

They head to Oklahoma City Sunday and play at New Orleans next Monday.

With the win streak the Blazers vaulted into third place in the Western Conference and first place in the Northwest Division. The conference strength is significant this season as all eight playoff teams are at least nine games above .500. The Blazers have just 12 games to go in the regular season.

Oklahoma City is 43-29 and just two games behind Portland in the race for the division title, while New Orleans is 40-30 and tied for fifth place in the West with Utah. The Pelicans may be a first-round playoff opponent for Portland.

2.NCAA WOMEN'S TOURNEY

Central Michigan, and 11th seed in the NCAA Women's Tournament 11th, scored a huge upset of Ohio State Monday, and will get the University of Oregon in the Sweet 16 Saturday in Spokane, Wash. Oregon is 32-4 on the year, while Central Michigan is 30-4.

Oregon State, meanwhile, gets second-ranked Baylor on Friday. The game is set for Lexington, Ky., Friday. Baylor is 33-1, while OSU is 25-7 following its upset of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sunday.

The Pac-12 got two more teams into the Sweet 16 Monday - UCLA and Stanford, and has four teams in the Sweet 16.

3. WINTERHAWKS HEADED FOR PLAYOFFS

The 72-game regular season came to a close with a 5-4 loss to Spokane Sunday for the Portland Winterhawks, but the season begins anew Saturday. Portland, which finished the regular season at 44-22-1-5 for 94 points, plays the Chiefs in a seven-game series with the first two games in Portland Saturday and Sunday.

4. TIMBERS/THORNS EYE LEAGUE PLAY

The Portland Thorns and Portland Timbers return to the pitch Saturday with league matches. The Thorns, who drew with Houston 0-0 Saturday at Merlo Field, open NWSL play at North Carolina Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Portland won its second NWSL title last season.

The Timbers, 0-2 in MLS action, play at Houston Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Portland has scored just once in its two games, and is looking for its first win under new coah Giovanni Savarese.

ALSO

In Pac-12 softball, Sixth-ranked Oregon is 25-5 heading for a weekend off before a three-game series with rival Oregon State March 29-31 in Corvallis.

Oregon State recovered from a 12-0 loss Saturday to beat Cal 8-3 Sunday and earn a 2-1 series win in Corvallis. Oregon State is 19-10 heading into a three-game series at UCLA Friday.

In Pac-12 baseball, top-ranked Oregon State is 18-1 on the year, matching the 1951, 1962, 2013 and 2017 teams for the best record through 19 games. OSU has won 13 consecutive Pac-12 games dating back to the 2016 season. The Beavers start a three-game series with Washington on Friday.
 
In other Pac-12 action, Oregon starts a three-game series with Cal starting Friday. Oregon is 8-2 at home this season.

Maybe the national rankings had it right.

Cast aside as a mere sixth seed despite being ranked 13th in nation polls at the end of the season, the Oregon State women’s basketball team beat third-seeded Tennessee - ranked just 12th - in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday in Knoxville, Tenn.

The Oregon State women’s basketball team booked its third-straight trip to the Sweet 16 on Sunday, with a 66-59 win over the Lady Vols.
 
Senior Marie Gulich had 14 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks, and sophomore Mikayla Pivec led the Beavers with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Junior Katie McWilliams finished with 15 points and six assists, while freshman Taya Corosdale had seven points and nine rebounds.
 
Oregon State shot 45.7 percent in the contest, while holding Tennessee to 33.8 percent shooting. The Beavers also knocked down 19 of their 23 free-throw attempts.
 
The outcome marked Tennessee’s first-ever defeat in a home NCAA Tournament game, as they entered the game with a home postseason record of 57-0.

“I couldn’t be happier or more proud of this group,” Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck told reporters afterward. “The journey they have been on this year prepared us for this game. We knew we were going to have to deal with some adversity today, coming into a historic venue against an incredible team. All of our effort, all of our courage and all of our belief was on show today. This is a very special win not only for our team but for our program.”
 
The Sweet 16 appearance will be the fourth in Oregon State history. The Beavers will head to Lexington to continue their postseason run on Friday against second-seeded, and second-ranked, Baylor.
 
In a tight game, the Beaver offense exploded to end the third quarter, scoring the final nine points to open a 44-39 lead entering the fourth quarter.
 
Oregon State started off the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer and extended the lead to 12 with 3:30 left to play. Oregon State maintained control from there.
 
The Beavers will look to continue their program success, which includes a trip to the Final Four in 2016.

Overall, the Pac-12 went 2-0 on Sunday with Oregon beating Minnesota in Eugene. UCLA, Stanford and Arizona State play today.

The Oregon women’s basketball team moved to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the second straight year with a 101-73 win over Minnesota Sunday at Matthew Knight Arena.

Oregon will play either Central Michigan or Ohio State, which play today, Saturday with the winner facing either Notre Dame or Texas A&M next Monday in Spokane, Wash.

“I will be shocked if they’re not playing in the Final Four,” Minnesota coach Marlene Stollings said after watching the Ducks put up 30 points in two different quarters Sunday. “They were rolling on all cylinders.”

Sunday’s second-round game matched two of the top-10 scoring offenses in the nation, and the teams combined for 52 points in the first quarter. From there, though, Oregon - leading 30-22 after the first quarter, outscored the Gophers 52-28 in the next two quarters to effectively decide the outcome.

Oregon blew the game open with a 10-0 run to close out the second quarter, capped by a fadeaway three-pointer at the buzzer by Sabrina Ionescu, while she was being fouled.

Ionescu led all scorers with 29 points, while sophomore Ruthy Hebard added 22 for the Ducks - playing in front of a vocal crowd of 7,576 fans.

Oregon made 11 of its 22 3-point attempts.

The Ducks had never been to the Sweet 16 until last season, when they reached the Elite Eight.

2. PAC-12 BASEBALL

Michael Gretler homered in the second inning to spark the top-ranked Oregon State baseball team to a sweep of California Sunday as the Beavers won the series finale, 6-4, in Berkely, Calif.
 
The win pushed Oregon State to 18-1 on the year, matching the 1951, 1962, 2013 and 2017 teams for the best record through 19 games. The victory also sends the Beavers back to Corvallis with a 3-0 conference record; OSU has won 13 consecutive Pac-12 games dating back to the 2016 season.]
 
The sweep marked the Beavers’ third in Berkeley since 2012 after getting swept at Cal in 2016. OSU starts a three-game series with Washington on Friday.
 
In other Pac-12 action, Oregon lost all three games of its series against Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz., to drop to 12-7. The Ducks return to Eugene for a three-game series with Cal starting Friday. Oregon is 8-2 at home this season.

3. PAC-12 SOFTBALL

Sixth-ranked Oregon rallied from a loss Friday to beat UCLA Saturday and Sunday and is 25-5 heading for a weekend off before a three-game series with rival Oregon State March 29-31 in Corvallis.

Oregon State recovered from a 12-0 loss Saturday to beat Cal 8-3 Sunday and earn a 2-1 series win in Corvallis. Oregon State won the first game of the series 10-5 Friday and is 19-10 heading into a three-game series at UCLA Friday.

4. WINTERHAWKS HEAD FOR PLAYOFFS

The 72-game regular season came to a close with a 5-4 loss to Spokane Sunday for the Portland Winterhawks, but the season begins anew Saturday. Portland, which finished the regular season at 44-22-1-5 for 94 points, plays the Chiefs in a seven-game series with the first two games in Portland Saturday and Sunday.

EXTENDED 4CAST

The Portland Thorns and Portland Timbers return to the pitch Saturday with league matches. The Thorns, who drew with Houston 0-0 Saturday at Merlo Field, open NWSL play at North Carolina Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Portland won its second NWSL title last season.

The Timbers, 0-2 in MLS action, play at Houston Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Portland has scored just once in its two games, and is looking for its first win under new coah Giovanni Savarese.

The Umpqua women’s basketball team reached the NWAC Championship game Sunday, but fell to Walla Walla 90-74 to finish second.

The Riverhawks got 27 points and 13 rebounds from Dajanay Powell in 38 minutes, and 16 points from Jordan Stotler, but lost for only the second time all season. Umpqua finished 31-2.

Walla Walla finished 32-1 and with a 29-game win streak to end the season. The Warriors reached the final last season, but lost.

Umpqua was seeking its third league title, having won in 1997 and 2000. The program also reached the final in 2014.

MEN’S NWAC BASKETBALL RECAP

Portland and Linn-Benton both reached the Final Four on the men’s side, but lost Saturday a game from the finals.

PCC, the Southern Region champion, fell 79-73 to North Idaho, ralling from a 4-of-17 performance from 3-point territory to take a brief lead in the second half. The Panthers finished with a 17-12 deficit in turnovers and shot just 38 percent from the field for the game. The Cardinals had a 31-14 edge in free-throw attempts as well.

Linn-Benton lost to Peninsula 89-75 Saturday, finishing with a 32-6 deficit in free-throw attempts.

North Idaho beat Peninsula 90-83 in overtime to win the title Sunday.

OREGON FALLS IN CHICAGO

The Oregon men lost 101-92 to Marquette Saturday to end its run in the National Invitational Tournament. Oregon, which trailed 58-36 at halftime, finished 23-13 on the season.

PSU ENDS IN SAN DIGO

Portland State dropped out of the Collegeinsider.com Tournament with a 67-64 loss to San Diego Saturday, with the final points scored by the Toreros on a 3-point shot with 0.5 seconds left in regulation. PSU closed the season, the first under coach Barret Peery, at 20-14.

Oregon Staten and Oregon begin their Pac-12 baseball and softball schedules this weekend, with both colleges having a top-10 team.

The Beavers's baseball team, at 15-1, are ranked No. 1 play a three-game series at Cal starting today before returning home for a three-game series with Washington starting March 23.

Oregon, 12-4, plays at Arizona State in its conference opening series beginning today, then plays host to Cal March 23-25.

Oregon's softball team enters its schedule at 23-4 and ranked sixth in the nation. The Ducks play host to UCLA in their conference-opening series today.

Oregon State, at 17-9, plays host to Cal in its conference opener today as well.

The first of the Civil War series begins in Softball, March 29.

The Ducks and Beavers don't meet each other until April 19 in baseball.

The Beavers play in Knoxville, Tenn., in a four-team sub-regional that begins today, with the winner advancing to the Lexington, Ky., Region final.

Oregon State, the sixth seed, plays Western Kentucky today and 9 a.m., with Tennesee, the third seed and sub-region host, playing Liberty in the other game. The winners meet Sunday.

Four teams will play in Lexington regional with the winner moving forward to the Final Four in Columbus, Ohio, March 30. Louisville and Baylor are seeded 1, 2, in the region.Oregon is fresh from sophomore Sabrina Ionescu has been named a finalist for national player of the year the university announced this week.

Ionescu, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, is one of four finalists for the Wade Trophy, which is voted on by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

UConn's Katie Lou Samuelson, Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell and South Carolina's A'ja Wilson are the other finalists.

The Ducks play host to a four-team sub-regional that begins today, with the winner advancing to the region finals in Spokane, Wash. Oregon plays Seattle University Friday, following the Minnesota-Wisconsin Green Bay contest. The winners meet Sunday. Four teams will play in Spokane with the winner moving forward to the Final Four in Columbus, Ohio, March 30.

The first game is set for 1:30, while the Oregon-Seattle game is set for 4:30, and will be televised by ESPN2.

Notre Dame is the top seed in the Spokane regional, with Oregon seeded No. 2.

Connecticut is seeded No. 1 in the Albany, N.Y., region, with Mississippi State seeded No. 1 in the Kansas City region.

2. OREGON, PORTLAND STATE TOURNAMENT ACTION

With Marquette's 67-60 win over Harvard Wednesday, the Oregon Ducks will head to Milwaukee for a game against the Golden Eagles Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the second round of the NIT. Oregon beat Rider in the opening round of the tournament Tuesday night. in Eugene.

The winner of Sunday's game will play the winner of the Notre Dame-Penn State game Tuesday in the quarterfinals. The Final Four is set for March 27-29 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Portland State, continuing one of its strongest season in more than a decade, will play at San Diego Saturday in the second round of the Collegeinsider.com Tournament. Match-ups for the following round - quarterfinals, will be established following this weekend's games. All games will be played on campus sites.

3. PCC, LBCC, UMPQUA HIT FINAL FOUR

The Portland Panther, Linn-Benton Roadrunners and Umpqua Skyhawks will play Saturday for a spot in the NWAC championship game Sunday in Everett, Wash.

Portland, which played the entire men's regular season ranked No. 1 or 2, plays North Idaho at 4 p.m., following the Linn-Benton-Peninsula game.

Umpqua played the entire women's season ranked No. 1 and heads into the Final Four at 30-1. The Skyhawks play Bellevue at 6 p.m. with the winner meeting either Wall Walla or Big Bend Sunday.

All the games are available via video on nwac.org.

4. WINTERHAWKS NEAR REGULAR SEASON CLOSE

The Portland Winterhawks close their regular season this weekend with games at home against Seattle tonight, at Seattle Saturday and at home against Spokane Sunday.

The Hawks are 43-21-1-4, with 91 points in the U.S. Division standings, four points behind Everett for the division lead. Portland has one more game in-hand with nine points possible this weekend. The Hawks have eight wins in their past 10 games.

ALSO

The Portland Thorns finish their preseason schedule with a game against Houston at Merlo Field Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Oregon sophomore Sabrina Ionescu has been named a finalist for national player of the year the university announced this week.

Ionescu, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, is one of four finalists for the Wade Trophy, which is voted on by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

UConn's Katie Lou Samuelson, Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell and South Carolina's A'ja Wilson are the other finalists.

The Ducks play host to a four-team sub-regional that begins Friday, with the winner advancing to the region finals in Spokane, Wash. Oregon plays Seattle University Friday, following the Minnesota-Wisconsin Green Bay contest. The winners meet Sunday. Four teams will play in Spokane with the winner moving forward to the Final Four in Columbus, Ohio, March 30.

Notre Dame is the top seed in the Spokane regional, with Oregon seeded No. 2.

Connecticut is seeded No. 1 in the Albany, N.Y., region, with Mississippi State seeded No. 1 in the Kansas City region.

The Beavers play in Knoxville, Tenn., in a four-team sub-regional that begins Friday, with the winner advancing to the Lexington, Ky., Region final. Oregon State, the sixth seed, plays Western Kentucky Friday, with Tennesee, the third seed and sub-region host, playing Liberty in the other game. The winners meet Sunday.

Four teams will play in Lexington regional with the winner moving forward to the Final Four in Columbus, Ohio, March 30. Louisville and Baylor are seeded 1, 2, in the region.

2. OREGON, PORTLAND STATE TOURNAMENT ACTION

With Marquette's 67-60 win over Harvard Wednesday, the Oregon Ducks will head to Milwaukee for a game against the Golden Eagles Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in the second round of the NIT. Oregon beat Rider in the opening round of the tournament Tuesday night. in Eugene.

The winner of Sunday's game will play the winner of the Notre Dame-Penn State game Tuesday in the quarterfinals. The Final Four is set for March 27-29 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Portland State, continuing one of its strongest season in more than a decade, will play at San Diego Saturday in the second round of the Collegeinsider.com Tournament. Match-ups for the following round - quarterfinals, will be established following this weekend's games. All games will be played on campus sites.

3. BEAVERS, DUCKS START PAC-12 SCHEDULE FOR BASEBALL, SOFTBALL

Oregon State and their rivals from Eugene begin their Pac-12 baseball and softball schedules this weekend, with both colleges having a top-10 team.

The Beavers's baseball team, at 15-1, are ranked No. 1 play a three-game series at Cal starting Friday before returning home for a three-game series with Washington starting March 23.

Oregon, 12-4, plays at Arizona State in its conference opening series beginning Friday, then plays host to Cal March 23-25.

Oregon's softball team enters its schedule at 23-4 and ranked sixth in the nation. The Ducks play host to UCLA in their conference-opening series Friday.

Oregon State, at 17-9, plays host to Cal in its conference opener Friday as well.

4. DECATHLON, HEPTATHLON HIGHLIGHT EARLY SEASON TRACK

Willamette's Keaton Beckmann won the decathlon in a dual with Corban that finished Wednesday with a point total of 6,184 in the first multi-event competition of the season for the Bearcats. Sara Falardeau won the heptathlon at 3,478 for Willamette in the dual.

Small college track and field heats up with George Fox playing host to the Rich Allen Classic Saturday.

ALSO

The Portland Winterhawks close their regular season this weekend with games at home against Seattle Friday, at Seattle Saturday and at home against Spokane Sunday.

The NCAA Tournament begins today, at least the men's portion does, and I'm probably the least interested that I've ever been in the bracket.

Again, at least the men's side.

With the Oregon men's team pretty much making next season far more interesting than this one due to recruiting, and playing only into the NIT, and Oregon State just in the background of the conference, the local need to pay attention went away in the past month. And, that's

Then, there's the national scene that went haywire, which I'll get to later.

Oregon's women, and the Beavers, too, helped save some my attention for college hoop, but sports fans on the national level still aren't ready for women's basketball other than on cable television. The Ducks are going to be televised, but only at a neighboring restaurant that pays for the most expanded cable package available.

Oregon State, too.

One of the key issues in college men's basketball this season has been all the scandals involving the biggest programs. North Carolina, Louisvill, Arizona. And, there's the issue of whether high school players should be able to return to simply bypassing college altogher and go to the NBA.

And, there's Lavar Ball and European basketball. In covering high school games, I've taken to asking players being recruited by Div. I colleges if they'd consider heading to Europe if a two-year contract worth more than $100,000 per season were offered them by a team in Greece. Would they sign that? So far, the answer has been "no - my education comes first," but, perhaps, only because that thought never came up before. When asked a second time, and the amount of money being stressed further, the answer came back as, "I'd have to talk to my parents," for both the players I talked with.

The high school season really captivated my interest in the game, but it's over.

If you have a television in your house, and who doesn't, you can't miss the men's tournament, and it is fun to await the crazy upsets that happen today and tomorrow. I picked the Pac-12 teams to advance at least to their region finals in my online bracket, but two of the three teams already lost their play-in games. Thanks UCLA and Arizona State.

Hopefully, the Ducks will blow out their first two opponents this weekend in the women's tournament.

Probably the most interest I'll have this weekend is in Knoxville, Tenn., where Oregon State got sent with a sixth seed. I might even follow their game Sunday against Tennessee - if it happens - online, to pull for the Beavers giving a big middle finger to the NCAA selection committee for making them a six seed despite being ranked 13th.

The NCAA doesn't seem to think much of Corvallis, so this is a great year for Oregon State to make a playoff run like the Ducks did last year as a 10-seed reaching the Elite Eight.

I'm a fan of the underdog, so Oregon State might actually be the team I'm pulling for most, at least this weekend.