There’s an aspect of randomness when it comes to filling out an NCAA tournament bracket, but the No. 5 seed Oregon Ducks have to be happy with what they were given.
Oregon will open with the Liberty Flames in the first round of the 2025 NCAA tournament in Seattle on Friday. The Ducks couldn’t have asked for a better location to begin their journey. Seattle is just a few hundred miles from Eugene and is accessible for Duck fans to attend.
The Ducks are a 5-seed with Liberty being a 12-seed. Should Oregon defeat Liberty, they’ll most likely face No. 4 seed Arizona in the second round, also in Seattle.
Oregon is coming into the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the country. They had an eight-game winning streak before Michigan State eliminated the Ducks in the Big Ten quarterfinals. Even with that loss, head coach Dana Altman is proud of where his team is right now. They are primed to make a deep run in the tournament.
Given where this team was just a month ago, the Ducks can’t complain. Oregon had lost five straight, and there were questions about where this season might end. But that seems like forever ago as the Ducks have turned everything around.
Also key in the tournament is experience, and the Ducks have plenty of senior leadership to draw upon with the likes of TJ Bamba, Nate Bittle, Jadrian Tracey and Brandon Angel. Point guard Jackson Shelstad and Bittle were both named to the Third-Team All-Big Ten squad with Bamba and Bittle on the All-Defensive team.
The specific date and game time will be announced by the NCAA either Sunday night or Monday morning.
