N’Faly Dante named as one of top players on double-digit seeded teams

Andy Katz named N’Faly Dante as the No. 1 player on double-digit seeded teams in this year’s NCAA tournament field.

The Oregon Ducks are in the NCAA tournament for the first time in three years. Making it to the Big Dance was a long shot for Oregon since the Ducks needed to win their conference tournament to qualify. But after battling hard for three straight games in the Pac-12 tournament, the Ducks punched their tickets to the tournament.

A massive reason for Oregon’s success in the conference tournament was the premier play of senior center N’Faly Dante. In the Pac-12 tournament, Dante averaged 20.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.3 stocks (steals + blocks), per game.

Dante’s recent run of elite form has garnered national attention since Oregon received its automatic bid. Andy Katz, a reporter with the NCAA, named who he sees as the best 10 players from double-digit seeded teams in this year’s field. Topping the list, is N’Faly Dante.

Five seasons ago, Dante joined the Oregon Ducks, and since then, his road through college hasn’t been easy. But in a career riddled by injuries, Dante has persevered and enshrined himself as one of the great Oregon big men. In those five seasons, Dante has played over 100 games and scored over 1000 points for the Ducks. Now, he’s headed to his first NCAA tournament.

On Thursday, Oregon will play South Carolina at 1:00 p.m. PT in the first round of the NCAA tournament. If they win that game, they’ll play the winner of No. 3 Creighton vs. No. 14 Akron.

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Intriguing freshman with Oregon basketball ties to enter transfer portal

Stanford freshman Andrej Stojakovic has entered the transfer portal and will look for a new school to continue his career at.

While the Oregon Ducks are preparing for their first-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament later this week against the South Carolina Gamecocks, part of the coaching staff is also being asked to keep an eye on the transfer portal, which opened on Monday for college basketball players.

One intriguing name popped up when the portal opened, with some Oregon ties over the last year as well.

Stanford small forward Andrej Stojakovic is reportedly looking to transfer to a new school for his sophomore season after averaging 7 points and 3 rebounds per game in 2023. Stojakovic shot 40% from the field and 32% from deep as a freshman with the Cardinal, and had one 20-point game to go along with a pair of 18-point showings.

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Stojakovic, the son of former NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic, had the Ducks among the final schools in his recruitment last year as a 5-star player who was ranked as the No. 25 player in the nation. He took a trip out to Eugene for Oregon’s football game vs. BYU in 2022 and spent some time shooting around with his dad inside Matthew Knight Arena. 

We will see if he takes another look at the Ducks this time around, but we do know that there is at least a prior relationship there with the program.

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Ducks open as underdog to South Carolina in NCAA Tournament first-round game

The Oregon Ducks are slight underdogs to the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Oregon Ducks have made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2020-21 season. As a No. 11 seed, they will have their work cut out for them to make a deep run, likely being underdogs for most of the games ahead of them.

It will start in the first round. They have drawn a matchup with No. 6 South Carolina, which opened as a 1.5-point favorite. The game will be played on Thursday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The money line has not been released.

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The Gamecocks were 26-7 overall (13-5 SEC) in 2024 and are led by Meechie Johnson and BJ Mack. They will pose a tough test for the Ducks, but if Oregon, led by N’Faly Dante and Jermaine Couisnard, can continue to stay hot, it will be a very tough out in the tournament.

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Oregon to face South Carolina in the first round of March Madness

The Oregon Ducks first round matchup in March Madness is the South Carolina Gamecocks.

For the first time since the 2020-21 season, the Oregon Ducks are headed to the NCAA Tournament. The road to the Big Dance wasn’t smooth for Oregon, but it persevered and won the games that mattered most. The Ducks ended a magical run in dramatic fashion on Saturday night with a Pac-12 championship, beating the Colorado Buffaloes to clinch a tournament berth.

In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Ducks are a No. 11 seed, matching up with No. 6 South Carolina. Oregon’s first-round matchup (and second-round matchup if it wins the first game) will be in Pittsburgh. Other teams in the same region include Purdue (No. 1), Gonzaga (No. 5) and Kansas (No. 4).

South Carolina shattered all preseason expectations. Some polls picked the Gamecocks to finish last in the SEC, but they ended up tying for second place in the conference.

One storyline to pay attention to in this matchup is Jermaine Couisnard. The sixth-year point guard has played his last two seasons at Oregon, but he played his first four seasons at South Carolina.

The Ducks’ first game will be on Thursday. If they win, they’ll play their second-round game on Saturday, also in Pittsburgh.

Ducks get favorable bid in final bracketology before Selection Sunday

The Oregon Ducks get a favorable draw in the final bracketology from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi ahead of Selection Sunday.

We will learn the fate of the Oregon Ducks on Sunday afternoon when the entire NCAA Tournament bracket is released during the annual Selection Sunday show. For now, though, we continue to speculate about whom Dana Altman’s team will face in the first round of the tournament.

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According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the Ducks are likely to be an No. 11 seed after beating the Colorado Buffaloes in the Pac-12 championship game on Saturday night. In Lunardi’s final bracketology before Selection Sunday, he has Oregon going up against the No. 6 Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Midwest Region.

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Texas Tech finished fourth in the Big 12 this year, going 23-10.

One benefit for Oregon in this scenario: It would play the Red Raiders in Spokane, Washington, allowing a large portion of the Ducks fan base to easily get to the game.

The final bracket will be released on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. PT on CBS.

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How to watch Selection Sunday, learn Oregon Ducks’ NCAA Tournament matchup

Everything you need to know about watching on Selection Sunday to learn the Oregon Ducks’ opponent in the NCAA Tournament.

It certainly didn’t feel like Selection Sunday was going to be much of an event for the Oregon Ducks, but as we’ve learned many times in the past, Dana Altman can work magic in March.

With their win over the Colorado Buffaloes in the Pac-12 championship gme on Saturday night, the Ducks clinched a spot in the NCAA Tournament. They will participate in March Madness for the first time since the 2020-21 season. After two straight trips to the NIT, this is a welcome outcome for Duck fans.

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So who can Oregon prepare to play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament? That will be decided on Selection Sunday. While many teams on the bubble await their fate, the Ducks have the luxury of waiting only to see who they will play.

Here is everything you need to know about when and how to watch Selection Sunday:

  • Date: Sunday, March 17 | Time: 3 p.m. PT
  • TV: CBS

The NCAA Tournament will begin on Tuesday, with the First Four games being played on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first round begins on Thursday, and the second round on Saturday. Here is a full schedule for the tournament:

  • March 19-20: First Four
  • March 21-22: First round
  • March 23-24: Second round
  • March 28-29: Sweet 16
  • March 30-31: Elite Eight
  • April 6: Final Four at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix
  • April 8: Final Four at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix

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Pac-12 men’s basketball bubble watch: Oregon pushes Colorado into uncertainty

Colorado is not a lock, and could easily go to Dayton.

The Oregon Ducks are a bid-stealer. They won the Pac-12 Tournament and grabbed an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Pac-12 is guaranteed to have three bids to the Big Dance. Now we get to see if Colorado will make it four.

Colorado is not in bad shape, but it’s not a lock with Oregon shrinking the bubble. North Carolina State grabbed a surprising automatic bid in the ACC. Florida Atlantic losing in the AAC Tournament means the AAC should get a second bid, which reduces the size of the bubble even more. Colorado could be thrown into a pot with Oklahoma, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, Virginia, Michigan State, Texas A&M, and a few other schools still on the bubble and not completely guaranteed to be in the NCAA Tournament. Colorado had a good week at the Pac-12 Tournament, beating Utah and Washington State, but with the bubble results we had on Friday and Saturday — in which a lot of automatic bids reduced the size of the bubble — at least one or two teams believed to be in good shape on Thursday or Friday will be pushed out of the field. That’s what those surprising automatic bids can do to bubble teams. Someone will be gut-punched on Selection Sunday.

We will see if Colorado is that team. That’s all for another year of bubble watch, the last one for the Pac-12 Conference.

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With Pac-12 championship win, Dana Altman and the Ducks are going dancing

Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks won the Pac-12 championship game on Saturday night, clinching a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

His name is Dana Altman, and he aligns Rubix Cubes.

After a disappointing season that seemed poised for a third straight NIT bid, the Oregon Ducks completed a miraculous run in the Pac-12 Tournament on Saturday night with a win over the Colorado Buffaloes in the championship game. The victory earned the Ducks the conference’s automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament.

Oregon’s N’Faly Dante was the best player on the floor by far, finishing with 25 points and 9 rebounds on 12-for-12 shooting.

This is the first time since the 2020-21 season the Ducks have made it to March Madness.

The Ducks were forced to go through the Pac-12 Tournament with just eight  scholarship players healthy after Keeshawn Barthelemy, Nate Bittle, Jessie Zarzuela and Mookie Cook went down with injuries this year. They almost lost Dante on Friday when the big man took a hard fall early in the game against Arizona.

The Ducks will learn their fate when the matchups are revealed on Selection Sunday.

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Pac-12 men’s basketball bubble watch: Oregon could ruin a lot of bubble teams, including Colorado

If Oregon wins the automatic bid in the Pac-12, that shrinks the bubble, and Colorado could be affected.

The Pac-12 basketball season just took a huge turn on Friday night at the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. The Oregon Ducks, who trailed top-seeded Arizona by 19 points early in the Pac-12 semifinals, stormed back for an absolutely shocking 67-59 win over the regular-season Pac-12 champion. The Ducks are now in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game and are one win away from getting an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Ducks Wire has more on the story, and here’s the bubble overview flowing from Oregon’s win:

Colorado beat Washington State in the second Pac-12 semifinal, with Buffaloes Wire providing complete coverage. Colorado’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament did increase with the win, but they might not have increased nearly as much as the Buffaloes and their fans would have liked.

Why? Oregon can now steal a bid from bubble teams, Colorado being one of them. If Colorado loses to Oregon on Saturday night, the Buffs’ chances of making the NCAA Tournament would be better than 50-50, but they would be far from a lock and could be excluded if other bubble teams succeed or if other surprising automatic bid-holders emerge from conference tournaments. We’ll have one more bubble watch on the morning of Selection Sunday. The Men’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show is Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific, on CBS.

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Dana Altman gives injury update on N’Faly Dante after scary fall

Oregon Ducks head coach Dana Altman gives an injury update on N’Faly Dante after taking a hard fall in the win over Arizona.

The Oregon Ducks pulled off a historic upset on Friday night, beating the No. 6 Arizona Wildcats and advancing to the championship game in the Pac-12 Tournament. After falling down 30-11 in the first half, the Ducks put together a masterful second half that led them to the 67-59 victory.

That outcome looked very much in doubt early in the game, especially after Oregon’s star N’Faly Dante went down with what looked like a brutal injury just one minute into the game. Dante went up for a block, and got undercut, coming down directly on his hip/lower back area.

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The center had to be carried off of the floor, and he was out of the game and in the locker room for a large portion of the first half while the Ducks tried to keep the game within reach.

Dante ended up returning to the game and went on to have 14 points and 10 rebounds in a comeback effort for Oregon. After the game, head coach Dana Altman gave an update on Dante’s injury status going forward.

“Dante took a terrible fall there, and they took him back for X-rays,” Altman said after the game. “Everything was negative, but he’s got a bad bruise on his tailbone. So he’ll be a little stiff in the morning. Hopefully, by 6 o’clock he will be loose.”

Oregon will need Dante as healthy as possible in order to take down whichever opponent they face — No. 2 seed Washington State is playing No. 3 seed Colorado in the second semifinal currently on Friday night.

The Ducks are 1-1 this year against Washington State, and 0-2 against Colorado.

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