Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks almost never find themselves in a situation such as this where they are on the bubble with March two weeks out.
The Ducks have done a lot to salvage a season that looked to be headed toward a postseason-less finish, including Monday night's hard-fought victory over Washington State. Falling to a slumping California team on Saturday reduced the Ducks' at-large chances significantly.
ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi updated his "Bracketology" Tuesday and placed Oregon as the last team into the 68-team field as a 12 seed. This means that if Oregon suffers another ugly loss in the regular season, like on Saturday against Cal, the Ducks' NCAA Tournament hopes would likely require a Pac-12 Tournament title.
Oregon vs. Washington State Feb. 22
Jacob Young
Veteran guard Jacob Young shoots a floater against the Washington State Cougars.
Dana Altman
Oregon Ducks Head Coach Dana Altman takes in the action on a knee from the sideline against WSU Monday night.
Oregon sits at 17-8 overall with a 10-4 record in Pac-12 play — third in the standings behind Arizona (12-1) and tied with USC (10-4). With six regular season games remaining (four of which come on the road), Altman's team can boost its resumé with wins over ranked teams like Arizona, UCLA, and USC, with the latter two opponents coming to Eugene.
The Ducks' resumé as it stands holds some impressive wins (at No. 3 UCLA, at No. 5 USC, vs. SMU, at Colorado) and some brutal losses (vs. Cal, vs. Arizona State, vs. BYU by 32 points, vs. Houston by 29 points).
Things looked grim for the Ducks after starting 6-6, but going 11-2 since then has them squarely in the bubble conversation. Altman's teams always get better with time and are dangerous around late February and into March.
It's been a rockier road than usual to get to this point, but it's impossible to count out a team led by Altman in March no matter the competition.
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