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ByTimBooth TheAssociatedPress SEATTLE There may not have been a more top-heavy confer- ence in the country this season than the Pac-12. That may best be illustrated by Stanford, which is the No. 4 seed for this week's confer- ence tournament and yet is still ranked No. 11 in the AP Top 25. For the second straight year, No. 8 Oregon State and No. 10 Arizona State are the top two seeds for the Pac-12 tourna- ment, which begins Thursday. The Beavers and Sun Devils both finished the regular season at 16-2 and shared the confer- ence title. No. 12 UCLA knocked off Arizona State on Sunday to drop the Sun Devils into a tie with Oregon State for the regu- lar-season title and give the Bea- vers the No. 1 seed in the tour- nament. "For us to be in such a dog- fight with ASU, with Stanford and UCLA right on our heels it created the most dramatic finish you could imagine. Sun- day was pretty surreal," Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. "We're excited about the week- end ahead and the challenges ahead, and proud of what this team accomplished during the season." The Beavers will face the win- ner of the first-round matchup between USC and Washington State in Friday's quarterfinals. Arizona State will face the win- ner of Utah-California; UCLA will take on the winner of Or- egon-Arizona; and Stanford awaits either Washington or Colorado in the last of the four quarterfinals. Unlike previous seasons, it's WOMEN'S PAC-12 TOURNAMENT Great teams gather in Seattle for tourney Stanford has No. 4 seed yet Cardinal are still ranked No. 11 in most recent AP Top 25 poll CLIFFGRASSMICK—THEDAILYCAMERA Colorado's Bri Watts, le , and Stanford's Alanna Smith reach for a rebound during a recent game. By Andrew Baggarly Bay Area News Group SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. It was the second inning of the Cac- tus League exhibition opener, when the most stressful activi- ties are supposed to be sunblock application and selecting from among four colors of lemonade. Jeff Samardzija set his jaw and pitched as if an entire sea- son were at stake. He gave up a leadoff double to the Los Angeles Angels' Car- los Perez, and was determined to prevent him from scoring. His pitches became carefully placed barricades. Two walks and a sac- rifice fly later, Perez crossed the plate. But it was the effort that was noteworthy. "'Cause that's what's expected here," said Samardzija, whose debut was the most anticipated portion of the San Francisco Gi- ants' 4-1 victory Wednesday af- ternoon. "When you're in an organiza- tion like this, there's no going through the motions. I learned pretty quick that when you're here, you're here for a reason. And it's not just to do busy work. You're here to get better and the best way to do that is to con- stantly have your head working." Samardzija is invigorated by those expectations. He is a pitcher who owns a fastball with the explosive sink of a depth charge and a slider that cuts like a scimitar. He is not a pitcher accustomed to winning. His teams have a 54-77 record in his starts. With the Cubs in 2014, he had a 1.46 ERA through his first 10 outings and no victo- ries to show for it. He'll acknowledge it now: last year, after the hapless Chicago White Sox didn't ship him away by the July 31 deadline, he took the mound and sent postcards anyway. In nine starts after the deadline, he was 1-8 with a 9.24 ERA. It is a distracted disillu- sionment that he never hopes to experience again — but also hopes never to forget. "I had a couple really, re- ally odd years (not knowing) where I was going to be and how long I'm going to be there, and that can wear on you," said Samardzija, who signed a five- year, $90 million contract with the Giants in December. "As a professional, you try to block out as much as you can. But when there's constant talk and con- stant uncertainty about your situation … it was a tough time. "It was a big year for me, I put a lot on my shoulders, and when the deadline came and went and nothing happened, some- times it's a little weird. But you learn from that, you know? … There's a lot more positives than it would seem on the surface, be- cause this game tests you. When you let the game win and get the best of you, you're going to have a quick career." Samardzija's first inning as a Giant was a 10-pitch breeze. The second-inning jam revealed a bit more about him. He issued one- out walks to Craig Gentry and Todd Cunningham, mostly be- cause he didn't want to groove any fastballs. He got out of the inning when shortstop Kelby Tomlinson charged a slow roller SPRING TRAINING GiantsbeatAngelsto winexhibitionopener Samardzija allows 1 run in 2 innings in spring debut outing with San Francisco PHOTOS BY JOSIE LEPE — BAY AREA NEWS GROUP The San Francisco Giants' Jeff Samardzija (29) pitches against the Los Angeles Angels in the first inning of their Cactus League opener at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Wednesday. The San Francisco Giants' Andrew Susac (center) runs during morning stretches with George Kontos (right) before the Cactus League opener against the Los Angeles Angels at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Wednesday. GIANTS4,ANGELS1 Up next: Milwaukee Brewers vs. San Francisco Giants, 12:05p.m. Thursday at Scottsdale, Ariz. THESCORE By Tim Booth The Associated Press For a change, the product on the field is the main focus head- ing into a new Major League Soc- cer season. Previous hot topics like expan- sion and labor negotiations are secondary heading into the 2016 season that begins this weekend with all 20 teams in action. After celebrating its 20th anniversary a year ago with an appreciation for the ups and downs that got MLS to age 20, the league is now mov- ing into its next stage of continu- ing growth while competing with other leagues around the world. "We're launching sort of the next generation in the life span of our league," MLS Commis- sioner Don Garber said. "We're embarking on a plan that hope- fully allows us to achieve our goal of being one of the top leagues in the world and doing it with great players and really deeply con- nected clubs." Expansion has been the hot topic for a number of years, but entering 2016 it's tempered. No new untapped markets. No flashy debuts in major metropolitan ar- eas. Those are still on the horizon MLS PREVIEW Expansion isn't now in forefront of season League embarks on 21st year with future growth PAUL VERNON—THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE The Portland Timbers raise the trophy a er defeating the Columbus Crew 2-1in the MLS Cup championship game Dec. 6. LYNNE SLADKY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Rory McIlroy signs autographs for fans during the practice round Wednesday in Doral, Fla. By Tim Reynolds The Associated Press DORAL, FLA. Jordan Spieth, Ja- son Day and Rory McIlroy are the top three players in the world golf rankings, which assures them of absolutely nothing this week. Doral hasn't been overly kind to any of them. Spieth has been over par in five of his eight rounds there over the last two years, Day has posted two rounds in the 60s in his last 16 at- tempts at the Blue Monster, and McIlroy — who won at Doral as a 9-year-old — casually tossed his 3-iron into the water after a bad shot last year, a fairly strong in- dicator of how he would assess his play. Yet they'll have the bulk of the attention Thursday when they'll be in the same group at the open- ing round of the Cadillac Champi- onship, the first of the four World Golf Championships. "Everyone's fighting for the same prize," Spieth said. "When we get out there, we're playing our own game. I don't think any of us are buying into any added motiva- tion or excitement because of the pairing. I don't think we would at any point. Not trying to downplay WGC GOLF Spieth, Day, McIlroy group featured at Cadillac event GIANTS PAGE 2 MLS PAGE 2 PAC-12 PAGE 2 GOLF PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, March 3, 2016 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1