Oregon Ducks Basketball: Lofty March Madness NCAA Tournament Prediction
The No. 12 Oregon Ducks have been a major surprise not just in the Big Ten Conference but the entire country through their 9-1 start. After winning the first annual Players Era Festival with a 83-81 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Ducks program started gaining national recognition.
ESPN's Joe Lunardi listed the Ducks as a No. 4 seed playing in at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle in his updated March Madness bracket prediction. That would essentially be a home crowd environment for Oregon during the first, potentially second round out in the Pacific Northwest.
MORE: Oregon Ducks' Jaxson Jones Enters Transfer Portal Before College Football Playoff
MORE: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Todd Bowles Gives Bucky Irving Injury Update
MORE: Heisman Trophy Odds: Travis Hunter, Ashton Jeanty Clear Favorites Over Dillon Gabriel Cam Ward
Coach Dana Altman has a roster that is both deep and experienced across the board. That veteran leadership has allowed this team to have a successful first quarter of the season that has exceeded expectations. A lot of room for improvement is still needed to be made if this team wants to make the Final Four trip to San Antonio at the Alamodome in April. Rebounding and trying to break the press as well as matchup zones is still needed to be worked on to get to that point.
Altman has a trio of stars who have helped him get to this point. Guard TJ Bamba has led the charge for the Ducks while averaging 11.0 points per game, 3.2 rebounds per game, 2.8 assists per game, and 1.4 steals per game. The transfer from the Villanova Wildcats has made a seamless transition from the Big East Conference to the West Coast.
After dealing with injuries and illness for almost the entirety of last season, center Nate Bittle is healthy while acting as a force in the middle. The senior is averaging a team-high in 14.4 points per game, 9.1 rebounds per game as well as 2.0 blocks per game.
While he has show spurts, guard Jackson Shelstad is still not at his best which is a frightening sign for what Oregon's ceiling can truly be. Shelstad hasn't been shooting the basketball as well as he did in his coming out party last season. He shot 45.0 percent from the field and 34.5 percent on three-pointers during his standout freshman campaign. His sophomore season has been a bit more rough with 35.8 percent inside the arc and 29.2 percent outside the arc.
Oregon may no longer be undefeated after losing to UCLA at the Matthew Knight Arena off a game-winning buzzer beater from UCLA Bruins guard Dylan Edwards but the sky is still the limit for the program. The Ducks definitely have the pedigree to be one of the Final Four teams when it's all said and done.
Oregon hosts the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks out of the Southland Conference on Sunday, Dec. 15 at 3 p.m. next.
MORE: Oregon Ducks' Rose Bowl Broadcast Team Announced: Kirk Herbstreit?
MORE: Oregon Ducks Hosting No. 1 Ranked Transfer Portal Safety Dillon Thieneman
MORE: Nick Saban Asks Oregon Ducks' Dan Lanning About Rat Poison: College Football Playoff