Utes getting set for Ducks

Utah coach Rick Majerus arrived at the University Park Marriott Sunday night at 10 o'clock after flying in from Las Vegas and immediately went to work.

His team was waiting on the third floor, and his assistant coaches already had tapes and preliminary scouting reports of the Utes' NCAA opponent, the Oregon Ducks.

The fact that the Utes received a No. 9 seed didn't seem to bother Majerus as much as it had Ute fans and players who expected a better seed when the NCAA bids were announced six hours earlier.

"Given the way the season ended, I would say that's a fair seeding," said Majerus. "I can't say we deserved to be seeded higher. Three weeks ago we were probably a four or five seed."

The Utes are headed to Nashville, Tenn., to face an Oregon team that won the Pac-10 tournament over the weekend. The Utes (24-7) and Ducks (23-9) will tip off Friday at approximately 1 p.m. (MST) in the second game of the day at the Gaylord Center, following the Kentucky-IUPUI game.

Yes, that's right — the Utes' longtime NCAA nemesis, Kentucky, the No. 1-ranked team in the country and tournament favorite, is in the same bracket and awaiting the Utes should they get past the Ducks.

While many Ute followers may look at it as some kind of a sick joke, considering that the Utes have been beaten by the Wildcats in four NCAA games since 1993 — including the 1998 championship game — Majerus just shrugged.

"I have no reaction to that," he said. "I don't want to look past Oregon. It's a very formidable challenge. If we get to the point where we face Kentucky, it will be a nice situation for us."

Coincidentally, the Utes played in the NCAA Tournament in Nashville a decade ago in the 8 vs. 9 game and defeated Pittsburgh, only to face Kentucky in the second round, losing 83-62.

But like Majerus said, the Utes have enough worries with Oregon, which began the season as a Top Ten team after making it to the Elite Eight a year ago.

The Ducks are led by the two Lukes — Luke Ridnour and Luke Jackson. Ridnour, a 6-2 guard, was recruited by the Utes four years ago and even made a visit to the Ute campus before choosing to stay near his home state of Washington. This year he was named the Player of the Year in the Pac-10 Conference, despite his team finishing fourth averaging 19.9 points per game on 39.1 percent 3-point shooting.

The 6-7 Jackson, an Oregon native, averages 16.1 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 6.9 per game.