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Las Vegas • With dreams of a conference championship erased on Saturday, coach Larry Krystkowiak said he was eager for a new day to begin.
No. 12 Utah (26-8) will be able to salve its wounds from a 88-57 loss to Oregon at 3:30 p.m MST on Selection Sunday, expecting a top-4 seed for the NCAA Tournament.
While Utah's defeat was unsightly, it seems unlikely to have much seeding impact. BracketMatrix.com averaged Utah's seeding as 2.95 entering Saturday's contest. With Oregon as a favorite in the game, most bracket projections had the Utes as a three with a chance to move up to a two.
While Utah's first-ever Pac-12 Tournament title would've been extremely satisfying — especially against dreaded Oregon — Krystkowiak said the focus now shifts forward to the the first round of the Big Dance.
"I know our guys would trade for some success starting Thursday or Friday, whenever that might be," he said. "If it means getting our butts waxed in the championship game, then we'll take our medicine and hopefully be focused for some practice on Monday."
As far as tournament resumes go, Utah looks solid — particularly on the wins they did manage to seize this week.
Utah was ranked at No. 6 in RPI on Saturday, with a 9-7 record against top 50 RPI teams and an 18-8 record against top 100 RPI teams. ESPN rates Utah's strength of schedule as No. 13 in the country, and Utah finished 10-7 in road and neutral court games.
Geographically, the Utes hope for a quick skip over to Denver for a first-round game on Thursday, March 17.
While it was certainly easy to be gracious after whipping Utah by 31 points, Oregon coach Dana Altman was confident the Utes wouldn't stay down long.
"Obviously Utah just had an off night," he said. "Larry and his team will regroup and, I believe, have an outstanding NCAA Tournament. They're a good team."
In blowing out a good team, the Ducks (28-6) made themselves look great. It's raised the question in recent weeks if they're deserving of a No. 1 seed. Altman said he wasn't prepared to lobby for one of the top four spots, only wait and see where Oregon will head.
Krystkowiak also wouldn't comment on whether he thought Oregon was a No. 1 seed, saying it wasn't "part of my job description." But he's hoping for bubble teams, like Oregon State and USC, to break into the field.
"I'm not here to get up on the stand and say Oregon needs to be a No. 1," he said. "But it would be a dang shame if we didn't get some of those teams in the NCAA Tournament, because they're definitely among the top 68 teams."
Twitter: @kylegoon