For the third year in a row, the University of Alberta Golden Bears basketball team are playing the top teams in the country but a playoff loss has them playing as underdogs against the top-seeded team.
Last Saturday Golden Bears lead scorer Brody Clarke was hanging out with his teammates as they watched NCAA basketball on TV. It was a bit of a distraction as the team had lost a 2-1 playoff series to the UBC Thunderbirds the weekend prior in Edmonton.
The team’s last hope to get into the U Sports Final 8 tournament in Halifax was an at-large berth based on finishing second in their conference with a 15-5 regular season record.
As Clarke and his teammates watched college hoops they received the news the team would get one last chance at the national championship this season.
“It was a bit of a sigh of relief,” Clarke said. “We knew that we had a really good chance at it.”
The team is ranked eighth in the tournament with a first-round match up against the No.1-ranked Carleton Ravens. The winner goes on to the semi-finals while the loser heads to the consolation round.
“The fact that we get to be an underdog is fun in itself,” Clarke said. “I think it’s going to be a different opportunity than we’re used to out in Can West. Hopefully, we can make the most out of it.”
Clarke, a civil engineering major, is the team’s leading scorer averaging 19.8 points per game and 10.9 rebounds.
Last year, the Golden Bears came into the tournament as the fourth seed before losing to fifth-ranked Ryerson Rams. Half of the Golden Bears current roster is new to the tournament.
Golden Bear forward Brody Clarke will play in the U Sports Final 8 tournament with the team for the third year in a row. (Golden Bears and Pandas Athletics)
Both Clarke and head coach Barnaby Craddock said they are relaxed heading into the team’s must-win game against the 22-1 Carleton Ravens Friday at 3 p.m. MT.
“We’re at the tournament. That’s a privilege,” Craddock said. “Obviously as a number eight you’re going to be the underdog, but you know, nothing changes.”
‘It really is a special experience out here’
It’s an unbelievable weekend for Canadian university basketball players, Craddock said.
“The city of Halifax buzzes with basketball. They do a fantastic job,” he said. “It really is a special experience out here. People stop you in the street to talk about it this year and the restaurants and the pubs. Everyone’s alive and the crowd comes out and they’re loud. It’s just the way it should be.”
The last time the Golden Bears basketball team appeared in the national tournament three years in a row was 1998-2000.