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Will Oregon make the NCAA Tournament?

By Alicia de Artola

Oregon basketball's Will Richardson and De'Vion Harmon. (Chris Coduto-USA TODAY Sports)
Oregon basketball's Will Richardson and De'Vion Harmon. (Chris Coduto-USA TODAY Sports) /
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Oregon basketball’s NCAA tournament hopes are in serious trouble as the Ducks sit on the edge of the March Madness bubble.

It should be a nervy end to the college basketball regular season for the Oregon Ducks with a return to the NCAA tournament very much in question.

Last year, Oregon didn’t have too much to worry about, securing a No. 7 seed and moving on to the Sweet Sixteen with a COVID forfeit from VCU and a win over Iowa.

This year, with four losses in their last six games, the Ducks with have to scrape and claw their way into March Madness by any means necessary.

Oregon basketball: Ducks bracketology and where we stand

Oregon is 18-11 with two games to go in the regular season against Washington and Washington State. They could have greatly improved their tournament resume if they had paired their upset win over UCLA with a victory over Arizona or USC but they fell just short. Now they don’t have quality wins to add to the mix.

Instead, the Ducks will likely have to play their way in with a run in the Pac-12 Tournament.

Bracket Matrix, a compilation of 106 different bracket projections from around the internet, isn’t high on Oregon’s chances. Only 13 brackets currently include the Ducks.

Jerry Palm of CBS expects Oregon to be one of the top four teams left out along with Michigan, VCU and Indiana.

Brad Evans of Bally Sports echoes that sentiment with the Ducks on the outside looking in and just on the edge of making it. So does Brian Bennet of The Athletic.

Joe Lunardi of ESPN doesn’t have Oregon in the first four out. He has them in the next four to not make the cut putting them even further from March Madness than SMU, San Diego State, BYU and Dayton.

That’s not to say Oregon couldn’t make it. But the only bracketologists predicting that outcome are significantly less well known than those big hitters.

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