PORTLAND, Ore. — At the revamped athletic offices in Matthew Knight Arena, a trophy case has a small platform that has deliberately been left empty as one tribute to a celebration that never happened.
Would the Oregon Ducks — who were ranked No. 2 nationally and had the star guard Sabrina Ionescu plus two other players eventually selected near the top of the W.N.B.A. draft — have won the women’s N.C.A.A. basketball tournament last season?
The team never got the chance to find out as the hoops bonanza known as March Madness became one of the first major sporting events in the United States canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.