The Dam Links 3/19/2014: CBI

164 days until kickoff vs. Portland State...

Oregon State's first round CBI opponent is the Radford Highlanders, who are a charter member of the Big South Conference. The cleverly named Radford University is located in the city of Radford, Virginia, a city about a third the size of Corvallis. The school, which has about 8,000 undergraduate students, claims Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer as its most famous alumni, at least in the sports world.

Despite all of that, the Beavers are wisely refusing to take Radford for granted.

The mens' basketball team is paying $35,000 to host Radford in the CBI this week; it would take 2,333 fans to break even. If they win that game, they'll pay $50,000 to host Old Dominion or South Dakota State next Monday. Semifinal and final games cost $75,000 each. Considering the second round and semifinal games would fall during spring break week, I think it would be highly unlikely for the Beavers to even break even on those games...

Regardless of the cost, now that they've chosen to play in the Crappy Basketball Invitational, they'd better perform well, or it may be a sour memory, possibly moreso than if they had just ended it with a loss in the Pac-12 tournament. Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.

Sean Mannion is one of the headliners on this list of Top 10 Pac-12 seniors to watch in 2014. Steven Nelson gets consideration on the list.

ESPN's Ted Miller talks to Mike Riley about the John Garrett hire.

Brandin Cooks continues to prepare for the NFL Draft (with video). Former Beaver James Dockery re-signed with the Carolina Panthers.

The OSU website has put together a spring football preview. Part 1 looked at the offseason coaching moves. Part 2 takes a look at the offense.

Baseball America's three strikes article this week highlights Michael Conforto, who leads the country in On Base Percentage. The RPI for OSU's baseball team is getting better. Boyd's World ISR rankings are improving for the Beavers as well.

Former Oregon State beat writer Lindsey Schnell, now working for CNNSI.com, has an article on the Oregon State women's basketball team, and their proverbial rise from the ashes. Connor Letourneau reports on the Beavers' lone senior, Alyssa Martin, and how she stuck with OSU through the darkest times, and is now being rewarded with a trip to the NCAA tournament. The OSU website put together a video of the top 10 plays from the season. With the NCAA tournament berth, Scott Rueck earned himself a bonus.

If you're looking to make the trip to Seattle this weekend, ticket info is available on OSU's website. Tickets for all sessions start as low as $32, which will get you into all three games, including the one(s) that don't involve the Beavers.

Eight Beaver wrestlers will be participating in the NCAA championships this weekend in Oklahoma City.

The gymnasts will participate in the Pac-12 Championship meet this weekend in Berkeley. The Beavers are ranked #11 in the country this week.

Former Beaver running back Ken Simonton will lead some current Beaver athletes to the Dominican Republic this summer, on a Beavers Without Borders tour.

The Oregonian's Gina Mizell, a new beat writer for the Beavers, talks a little bit about her background.

I don't know if you speak Swedish, you might think differently, but I found it plenty funny without having a clue what they are saying. Of course, when it comes to Swedish chefs, isn't that the point? It makes no sense, but you'll figure it out pretty quickly, I promise.

As always, if I left anything out, post it in the comments. And make sure to vote in the poll below.