About the Basketball Team
The Oregon Ducks have a history of making waves in the Pac-12 Conference of NCAA Division I Basketball. Over 10,000 fans rush to the arena every game day to watch the best in college basketball action.
But it’s not too late to book your seats to upcoming Oregon Ducks games and events. And you won’t want to miss these games, as the Ducks have a history of making it to the NCAA tournament and have worn several conference championships across the program’s history.
Which means they are a force to be reckoned with. Their strong offense and unstoppable defense makes every home game battle at Matthew Knight Arena a treat for fans and a thrill for anyone who loves the sport. You can get all the Ducks tickets you need via this website. So read on and see why this team is more than worth your time.
About Oregon Ducks Arena
The Oregon Ducks home court is none other than The Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon. The arena was named after Matthew Knight, the son of chief donor Phil Knight.
The 12,364 seat multi-purpose arena was built to replace McArthur Court and is located on the east side of the campus at the corner of Franklin Boulevard and Villard Street. Construction on the arena began in 2009 with an intended opening for the 2010-11 season, but wasn’t completed and opened to the public until January 13, 2011.
Since the arena’s opening, it has played 19 sold-out games, including the inaugural battle between the Ducks and USC, whom the DUcks defeated with a final score of 68-62.
Team Summary
But where did the Oregon Ducks come from? Where did they get their start as a college basketball team?
The University’s first basketball team played their first season in 1902-03 with CHarles Burden as the head coach. The team only played two games during this season with Oregon struggling against their opponents and losing both games. In fact, the team struggled to earn any wins until their fourth season in 1907 where they defeated Roseburg. That season also saw a winning record of 4-3 under then head coach Hugo Bezdek, who was also the coach of the university football team.
Bezdek left after that season to coach for Arkansas until 1913 when he returned to lead Oregon once again from then until 1917.
But during Bezdek’s absence, the basketball team was coached by William Hayward, who was Oregon’s track coach. Later, in 1923, William Reinhart took over as the teams’ head coach and remained in the position through the erection of McArthur Court until 1935. These were considered the team’s strongest early years, as Reinhart only suffered one losing season during his tenure.
The Oregon Ducks Today
Since then, the team has had their ups and downs as most teams do. But the recent 2015-16 season was particularly exceptional for the Ducks victory in the Pac-12 Conference Tournament. They then became the top seed in the West Regional of the NCAA Tournament that year which was also its first ever top seeding in the NCAA Tournament. The Ducks were victorious in the first two rounds of the tournament to advance to the sweet 16 in Anaheim where they defeated the Duke Blue Devils to advance to the Elite 8.
The following year saw the Ducks become the Pac-12 conference co-champions with Arizona who defeated them in the championship game of the Pac-12 Tournament. And during that year’s NCAA Tournament the team advanced to the Final Four only to lose to North Carolina by a single point.
Achievements
The Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team is an intercollegiate basketball program that competes in the NCAA Division I and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference, representing the University of Oregon. The Ducks play their home games at Matthew Knight Arena, which has a capacity of 12,364. Then coached by Howard Hobson, Oregon won the first NCAA men’s basketball national championship in 1939.[2] They again reached the Final Four in 2017 under head coach Dana Altman, marking the longest span between appearances in NCAA history (78 years). The Ducks have made the NCAA tournament 17 times, and have won eight conference championships.
With a history as long and storied as the Oregon Ducks, it’s easy to guess that they have countless achievements under their belt. Several of their seasons were strong winning seasons including their 1939 run that led to becoming NCAA Tournament Champions as well as two appearances to the Final Four in 1939 and 2017.
The team has also made it to the Elite Eight 7 times and have made it to the Sweet Sixteen 8 times across their career. All told, the team has made it to the NCAA Tournament 17 times and nearly half of these appearances have led to conference championships.
Below is a run down of the team’s best seasons across its entire career in the NCAA.
- NCAA Tournament Champions
1939
- NCAA Tournament Final Four
1939, 2017
- NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
1939, 1945, 1960, 2002, 2007, 2016, 2017
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1960, 2002, 2007, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021
- NCAA Tournament Round of 32
2002, 2007, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021
- NCAA Tournament Appearances
1939, 1945, 1960, 1961, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021
- Conference tournament champions
2003, 2007, 2013, 2016, 2019
- Conference regular season champions
1919, 1939, 1945, 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021