SPOKANE, Washington (Ticker) -- Minus NBA draft picks Casey Jacobsen and Curtis Borchardt, No. 4 seed Stanford makes its ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance on Thursday when it faces San Diego in a South Region first-round contest.

The Cardinal have won eight straight first-round games, but are coming off a 79-74 setback to Southern California in the first round of the Pac-10 Conference tournament.

Stanford struggled early without Jacobsen and Borchard, dropping to 5-3 following consecutive losses to Montana and Richmond in its own tournament in December. But the Cardinal got their act together, winning 18 of their last 22 regular-season contests and finishing second in the Pac-10 behind Arizona.

Stanford boasts a strong perimeter attack, led its trio of guards - junior Matt Lottich (11.2 ppg), Julius Barnes (15.7 ppg) and sophomore Josh Childress (14.2).

But the Cardinal would be well-advised not to look past San Diego, which may have the bulk up front to offset 245-pound forward Justin Davis and 275-pound center Rob Little.

The Toreros (18-11) are led by 6-11 center Jason Keep a free spirit, whose 290-pound frame and array of tattoos makes him an intimidating character. Keep, who was kicked off the Oklahoma State program, can also play as he averages 18.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

Keep, who led the WCC in field goal percentage, ranks 20th nationally at .618 and has scored in double figures in 22 straight games

San Diego beat Gonzaga on its home court to win the West Coast Conference tournament title and earn its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1987 as a No. 3. Overall, the Toreros are making just their third trip to the "Big Dance" since moving up to Division I in 1979.

"When you think of San Diego, you don't think of a good basketball team, you think of the beach, weather, women and all those other things," Barnes told the San Jose Mercury-News. "But it'll be a challenge because we don't have much time to prepare for them, and they did beat UCLA."

San Diego relies on strong defense, shoots well from the perimeter and has four senior starters, including forward Jason Blair, who averages 16.8 points per game and compliments Keep inside.

If the Cardinal get past San Diego, they would take on the winner of the Connecticut-Brigham Young contest and could be looking at a return trip in the regional semifinals to the Alamodome in San Antonio, the site of Stanford's 1998 Final Four appearance.

However, Stanford has gone out in the second round in three of the last four years.