Following a great four-day run to win the Pac-12 Tournament and clinch a bid in the NCAA Tournament, the Oregon men’s basketball team gathered at Matthew Knight Arena to find out where its Tournament will begin.
Projected as an 11 or 12 seed, the Ducks had the possibility of going to Tulsa, Oklahoma, Salt Lake City, Utah, Jacksonville, Florida and San Jose, California.
Although some were maybe hoping for a better seed, Oregon was selected as the 12th seed in the South bracket, slated to play Wisconsin in San Jose on Friday, March 22.
Being named a 12 seed was advantageous for the Ducks. Not only do they get an extra day off, playing Friday instead of Thursday, the location proves easy for travel and the large Oregon fanbase in the Bay Area.
“It should be a great atmosphere,” point guard Payton Pritchard said. “Playing on Friday does give us an extra day of rest and another day to prepare for Wisconsin. We’re just looking forward to getting down there and competing and getting the W.”
Add this to the fact that 12 seeds are popular upset picks, and the Ducks make out like a bandit. There have been 47 12-5 upsets in the Tournament, good for a 34.6 win percentage. The most recent was in 2017 when Middle Tennessee defeated Minnesota 81-72.
Oregon also has successful history in this category. The 12th-seeded Ducks defeated Oklahoma State 68-55 in 2013. That game was also in San Jose.
The Badgers finished fourth in the Big10 with a 14-6 conference record. The highlight of their season was ending then-ranked No. 2 Michigan’s undefeated season.
Wisconsin relies on Ethan Happ heavily for offensive. The forward leads the team with 17.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Happ will spend most, if not all his time in the post. The big man has only attempted five 3-pointers this season. This means a matchup against Kenny Wooten and Francis Okoro awaits him.
Wisconsin’s last eight games have not been as fruitful as Oregon’s, but the 6-2 record is still very solid. Its best win in that stretch was probably the 73-67 win over now-11th seeded Ohio State on March 10.
“We’ll look at their last set of games, the last few conference games, their tournament games and go from there,” head coach Dana Altman said. “We’re a lot different team now then we were a month ago. I’m sure they’re gonna look at our eight games and we’ll probably look at their last seven, eight games.”
Although Oregon’s fate was set Saturday night, Sunday was still an exciting time for this Oregon team that has faced a lot more downs than originally expected. The team remains focused, however, and ready for Friday’s matchup.
“I think our guys, they know they’ve had a good week, and we’ve had a couple good weeks here, but I don’t think they’re satisfied,” Altman said. “We’ve underachieved this year and the only way to make that up is have a great run here. … That was a great four-day effort. The camaraderie, and the way those guys played together, it was fun to see.”
Follow Maverick Pallack on Twitter @mavpallack