Last Sunday was one of the biggest days in Oregon Men’s Basketball this season—or so they thought it would be.
Sunday marked the annual announcement of the 68 teams that will be competing in the 74th NCAA Tournament; a day that the Ducks have been anticipating since they started the season 18-2, but came to loathe when it was actually upon them.
[caption id="attachment_233" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Ducks went from ecstatic to absolutely shocked in less than 24 hours "]
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As CBS Sports analyst Greg Gumble read off the participants, it didn’t take him long for him to shock Coach Dana Altman and the rest of his squad. “Fifth-seeded Oklahoma State will take on the Twelfth-seeded Ducks of Oregon,” rang Gumble to the rest of the nation.
I almost didn’t believe it when I first heard it. I kept repeating it in my head, trying to make some sense of giving the Pac-12 Champs the twelfth-seed.
Yes, Oregon lost to Cal twice (who ended up getting a twelfth-seed), to Stanford once (who didn’t even make the tournament) and to Colorado twice (who got a tenth seed). All of those losses made a low seed understandable, but not a twelfth-seed.
With those losses came good wins.
The Ducks beat UCLA (a sixth-seed) twice and Arizona (also a sixth seed) once.
ESPN basketball analyst Jay Bilas summed up this year’s committee choice in one phrase, “It wasn’t who you beat, rather it was who you played and who you lost to.”
That is what hurt Oregon the most; their losses to Colorado, Utah, Stanford and Cal outweighed their wins against UCLA and Arizona.
Moving on from where the Ducks got seeded and how they received the low seed, the Ducks open their post season against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. OK State had a great season this year, finishing the season 24-8 and second in the Big 12.
The Cowboys are led by freshman guard Marcus Smart, junior guard Markel Brown, and sophomore forward Le’Bryan Nash.
Smart led the team in points (15.4 per game) and assists (4.2 per game) on his way to being named Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year. Winning both these awards, Smart joins former Kansas State forward Michael Beasley and former Texas forward Kevin Durant as the only Big 12 players to win both accolades in the same season.
Nash, Brown and Smart were the top three scorers on the team; the three players that the Oregon Ducks have to account for if they want a chance to win this game.
[caption id="attachment_238" align="alignright" width="248" caption="Oregon would love Johnathan Loyd to continue his hot streak that earned him Pac-12 Tournament MVP honors"]
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The Ducks are going to rely on their seniors—Carlos Emory, Arsalan Kazemi, Tony Woods and E.J. Singler—along with Pac-12 Tournament MVP Johnathan Loyd to counter the Cowboys’ “Big 3.”
It is going to be a tough battle for the Ducks, but look for them to come out with a chip on their shoulder and a desire to prove the NCAA Committee wrong for their twelfth seed.
The game is scheduled for Thursday, March 21 at 1:40 PST.
Prediction: Oregon 68 - Oklahoma State 64
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