AP

Oregon's Aaron Brooks, right, drives to the basket around Arizona's Marcus Williams during a quarter-final round game at the Pac 10 men's basketball tournament in Los Angeles, Thursday, March 8, 2007.

EUGENE, Ore. - Miami University coach Charlie Coles has the utmost respect for Oregon guard Aaron Brooks. That said, there's no doubt he'd still like the RedHawks to upset the Ducks.

Third-seeded Oregon (26-7) plays 14th-seeded Miami, Ohio, (18-14) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Spokane.

"This may sound crazy, but I'm excited to see Brooks. When you're playing against real good players, and you know you have to play them, you tend to perk up a little," Coles said. "I think he's an All-American caliber player, and I'm anxious to see him in person."

The Ducks head into the NCAA tournament on a six-game winning streak. They haven't been to the tournament since 2003.

Oregon routed Southern California 81-57 Saturday to win the Pac-10 tournament title and an automatic berth. They were ranked No. 10 in the final AP poll.

Brooks, a senior, is a big part of that success. He leads the team with an average of 17.6 points and 4.6 rebounds. All five of Oregon's starters are averaging in double figures.

"Oregon is fast, and they can score points. Nobody we've played this year, including Kentucky, has their kind of scoring options," Coles said. "They have five guys scoring in double figures. We haven't played anyone like them this year."

The RedHawks won the Mid-American Conference's automatic berth by beating Akron 53-52 in the conference title game on Doug Penno's banked 3-pointer in the final second on Saturday night.

It is the RedHawks' first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1999, and first automatic bid since winning the 1997 MAC Tournament in Coles' first year as head coach.

While Oregon has its scoring offense, Miami has defense. The RedHawks have not allowed an opponent 70 points this season.

"That's Miami's trademark. It's a culture that carries over from year to year. If you're not going to play defense, you're not going to play. Nobody wants to let anyone else down by letting their man score," center Monty St. Clair said.

Oregon players, at least at the beginning of the week, had little familiarity with Miami, and indeed, little familiarity with the NCAA Tournament. None of the players has been there before.

"I don't know what to expect, I just know I love playing basketball and I know we're going to be doing a little bit of that and I look forward to it," Oregon's Malik Hairston said.

Oregon and Miami of Ohio have met just one other time, a 74-38 UO win in 1938-39. That season the so-called "Tall Firs" of Oregon went on to win the first NCAA championship game.

It would be Oregon's only NCAA title.

The players aren't the only ones excited about Spokane.

Oregon put 55 tickets -- 10 percent of Oregons allotment of 550 tickets -- on sale to university students on Tuesday morning. A line of students camped overnight in hopes of securing one.

Incoming Oregon athletic director Pat Kilkenny had noticed the line forming Monday night. So early Tuesday morning, he stopped by the group bearing coffee and pastries, and paid for their tickets out of his own pocket.

He also arranged a bus to take the students to Spokane.

"As a former University of Oregon student, I can relate to the passion that they have exhibited for their school's basketball team and deem them to be an important ingredient in its success," Kilkenny said. "The excitement generated by our tournament appearance is shared by everyone, and I felt that students should be given the opportunity to witness it first hand."

Kilkenny takes over as AD on April 1.