The month of March is just right around the corner and the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team not being on the bubble for the NCAA tournament wouldn’t be a surprise if this was November.
Going into the Big Dance should have been a sure thing for the Ducks. They were picked to finish third in the Pac-12, a spot that would have put them in the NCAA tournament without any problem.
But the season hasn’t gone according to plan and even with Oregon’s last-second victory in Corvallis, it wasn’t enough to put the Ducks on the bubble, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
As things stand now, if Oregon (16-13, 10-8) doesn’t make some kind of magical run in the Pac-12 tournament down in Las Vegas next week, the Ducks will be NIT bound.
But it’s not like Oregon isn’t capable of making that magical run. The Ducks have done it before in years past. Dana Altman has led his team to three conference tournament titles and his teams are famous at peaking in March.
Unfortunately, this particular Duck squad has been one of the most inconsistent in Altman’s tenure in Eugene. They could very well sweep this weekend and grab the 4-seed, which means not playing on that first day in Vegas.
But then again, they could get swept by the Bay Area schools and lose in the first round in Sin City.
Lunardi says that the Pac-12 has two solid teams in the tournament with UCLA and Arizona. But USC, while in the tourney for now, is on that bubble and the Trojans have a tough weekend ahead as they host the Arizona schools.
Even with their most recent upset win at Arizona, Lunardi has ASU as one of the first four out. With at least three games to be played, the Sun Devils still have time to play their way into the Big Dance.
Unlike the Sun Devils, however, the Ducks can’t afford to lose any more contests.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 27, 2023
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