The Oregon Ducks kicked off the 2023-24 men’s basketball season well, winning eight of their first 11 games. Despite the hot start, Joe Lunardi, a college basketball analyst for ESPN, omitted the Ducks from his most recent bracketology list predicting the 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament.
Lunardi’s bracketology is updated periodically throughout the college basketball season until Selection Sunday. It is designed to anticipate where teams would be seeded in the NCAA Tournament if the season ended today. For most of this season, Lunardi listed the Ducks as a bubble team — either one of the last four in or the first four out.
In Lunardi’s defense, Oregon has not looked great in its last two matchups, although it has gone 1-1. The Ducks’ biggest issue has been injuries, particularly to their big me. The Ducks’ 3-point shooting (19.6% in the last two games) and team defense have suffered during the injury plague.
But still, I find it hard to believe, that Oregon (8-3) would be left out of the tournament if the season ended today. The Ducks have shown that, if healthy (which is admittedly a big if), they are one of the best Oregon men’s teams in years and a team to be nationally respected. Of the Ducks’ three losses, two were close games against good teams (Alabama and Santa Clara). Their only blowout came against Syracuse, a game Oregon had just seven scholarship players available.
Obviously, the nonconference portion of the Ducks’ season will be a small blurb on Oregon’s resume come March. The Pac-12 season and Pac-12 tournament will have a larger impact on Oregon’s NCAA tournament aspirations. There’s hope that N’Faly Dante will return to the floor somewhat soon and that Mookie Cook is nearly ready to make his NCAA debut. Both players would help the Ducks tremendously. If Oregon can get healthy, I don’t see them being left off Lunardi’s bracketology for long.
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