oregon state got off to a fairly good start in robinson's first year, starting with a 6–6 record; a january 2009 conference win over usc broke a nearly two-year pac-10 losing streak and earned robinson a congratulatory call from then-president-elect obama. robinson continued his tough love approach, tailored to strengthening each player's weaknesses. after that first win, robinson's team won another six pac-10 games, exceeding expectations for his first year on the job given that his personnel was essentially unchanged from the team's prior year. one key was that the offensive system he installed raised the team's collective field goal percentage almost 10 points. some commentators felt he was deserving of consideration for the pac-10 coach of the year award, and by late february, robinson had hopes of the team getting a bid from one of the postseason tournaments. the team was indeed accepted into the 2009 college basketball invitational, where it went on to post a 5–1 record and captured its first post-season tournament championship ever with a final series victory over the utep miners. of the win, robinson said, "i can't tell you how proud i am of these guys. ... this is a great story for anybody." the beavers finished with an 18–18 record for the season and had what rivals.com deemed a top-25 recruiting class as well.