After defeating Tennessee and winning 4 games in as many days for the SEC Tournament title, the Bulldogs must now travel to the west coast to play No. 4 seed Washington Huskies in Portland, OR. for the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
So what have the Huskies done this year? Similar to when State played a two game series against Oregon in football a few years ago, many Bulldog fans may not know anything about the Huskies.
The Huskies finished the season 25-8 and won their first outright PAC-10 championship since 1953. They lost to Arizona State in the semifinals of the PAC 10 conference.
The Huskies also took home a slew of PAC 10 awards:
- Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon were named First Team All Conference
- Dentmon was also the Most Improved Player
- Isaiah Thomas was named to the Second Team and the All-Freshman Team
- UW head coach Lorenzo Romar was named PAC-10 Coach of the Year
Bob Condatta of the Seattle Times was with the Huskies as their seed was announced and has some reaction from them about Mississippi State:
At 3:17 p.m. the cheering started as the Huskies were announced as a No. 4 seed in Portland.
A few seconds later, the cheering muted just a bit as UW's opponent was unveiled --- SEC tourney champ Mississippi State. The Bulldogs beat Tennessee today to earn a bid and finished the season 23-12.
"I was surprised that Mississippi State was a 13 seed, no doubt,'' said UW coach Lorenzo Romar. "You win the SEC Conference Tournament, it seems like you'd be better than a 13 seed. But that's what it is.''
Want more info on the Huskies? Follow them on UW Dawg Pound here on SBNation, as well as Bob Condatta's blog at The Seattle Times.