Ducks Could Stay Local for NCAA Tournament

Adam Kruse FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Lots can change quickly in college basketball, but with the Ducks’ latest win streak, they have a legitimate shot to play their first NCAA Tournament game in Portland — a de-facto home game for Oregon. In the his latest Bracketology, Joe Lunardi actually projects the Ducks to play in Seattle as a No. 10 seed vs No. 7 Michigan State (a nice rematch from this fall).

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Oregon’s Pit Crew may have a short drive.

However, the Moda Center will host the West Regional No. 7 vs No. 10 and No. 2 vs No. 15 matchup, as well as the South Region’s No. 5 vs No. 12 and No. 4 vs No. 13 matchup. At this point, it’s unlikely the Ducks will move as high as a No. 2, 3, 4 or 5 seed without a long run and potential Pac-12 Tournament victory; however, a No. 10, 12 or 13 seed is very possible — even likely — if the NCAA Tournament started today. Whether or not the Selection Committee would give Oregon a home game is another matter for debate.

Seattle will host the Midwest and South region in the same seed matchups as Portland, giving the Ducks additional odds of a Northwest crowd even if they aren’t awarded a Portland game (typically the NCAA rewards higher seeds with games closer to come, i.e. Arizona has pretty good odds as the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the West).

Top Photo by Kevin Cline

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