The Cardinal probably will be notified sometime Sunday which team it will play in the postseason, but Stanford's 85-73 loss to No. 13 Washington in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals Thursday guaranteed that the Cardinal will not be playing in the March event that matters most - the NCAA Tournament.
In all likelihood, the Cardinal (18-13) will play in a postseason tournament for the 16th straight season, but for only the second time in 15 years, it won't be the main event.
"The NCAA is every team's goal," Stanford junior Landry Fields said, "but I know our team would love to keep playing. It hurts not to play in the Big Dance, but the next best thing is to play in something else."
Something else for the Cardinal might be the National Invitation Tournament, which announces its field Sunday after the NCAA Tournament names its 65 teams.
The Cardinal had given up on earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament weeks ago, but the hope of getting an automatic berth by winning the Pac-10 tournament got a boost when Stanford won three of four games heading into the matchup with regular-season champion Washington (25-7).
Thanks to the efforts of Fields, who filled every column of the stat sheet, and Anthony Goods, who had his second consecutive big offensive game, the Cardinal gave the Huskies a run.
The Cardinal tied the game 43-43 with 17:19 left on a basket by Goods, who had a season-high 26 points one day after scoring 23 in the win over Oregon State.
However, Stanford scored only one point over the next three minutes, while the Huskies stepped up the pace and scored seven straight points, systematically taking the Cardinal out of the game.
The Cardinal could not keep up with Washington's speed and never got closer than five points the rest of the way while losing to the Huskies for the third time this season.
"I thought early in the game when it was going up and down that it would be in our favor, and maybe it was," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said.
Fields had no trouble with the frantic nature of the game, collecting 16 points, a season-high 15 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. He also had five turnovers to put a significant number in every statistical category.
Washington, which ranks third nationally in rebounding margin, collected 18 points on second-chance opportunities, but the Cardinal countered by getting 20 second-chance points of their own. The bigger problem was the transition baskets that helped the Huskies shoot 60.7 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.
In all likelihood, the Cardinal (18-13) will play in a postseason tournament for the 16th straight season, but for only the second time in 15 years, it won't be the main event.
"The NCAA is every team's goal," Stanford junior Landry Fields said, "but I know our team would love to keep playing. It hurts not to play in the Big Dance, but the next best thing is to play in something else."
Something else for the Cardinal might be the National Invitation Tournament, which announces its field Sunday after the NCAA Tournament names its 65 teams.
The Cardinal had given up on earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament weeks ago, but the hope of getting an automatic berth by winning the Pac-10 tournament got a boost when Stanford won three of four games heading into the matchup with regular-season champion Washington (25-7).
Thanks to the efforts of Fields, who filled every column of the stat sheet, and Anthony Goods, who had his second consecutive big offensive game, the Cardinal gave the Huskies a run.
The Cardinal tied the game 43-43 with 17:19 left on a basket by Goods, who had a season-high 26 points one day after scoring 23 in the win over Oregon State.
However, Stanford scored only one point over the next three minutes, while the Huskies stepped up the pace and scored seven straight points, systematically taking the Cardinal out of the game.
The Cardinal could not keep up with Washington's speed and never got closer than five points the rest of the way while losing to the Huskies for the third time this season.
"I thought early in the game when it was going up and down that it would be in our favor, and maybe it was," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said.
Fields had no trouble with the frantic nature of the game, collecting 16 points, a season-high 15 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. He also had five turnovers to put a significant number in every statistical category.
Washington, which ranks third nationally in rebounding margin, collected 18 points on second-chance opportunities, but the Cardinal countered by getting 20 second-chance points of their own. The bigger problem was the transition baskets that helped the Huskies shoot 60.7 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.
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