After missing the NCAA tournament the last two seasons and sitting on the brink of a third straight year out of March Madness, Oregon instead went into Sunday and the tournament selection show with no stress or suspense.
The Ducks' surprise run to the Pac-12 tournament championship in Las Vegas in the preceding days ensured their spot on the final bracket as it was unveiled Sunday night.
The only mystery was who and where Oregon (23-11) would start its NCAA tourney push.
The answer came as the Ducks were slotted as a No. 11 seed in the Midwest Region, opening against No. 6 South Carolina (26-7) in Pittsburgh on Thursday (1 p.m. PT on TNT).
"We missed it a couple years ... it never gets old," Ducks coach Dana Altman said. "It does leave an empty feeling when you're not involved, so the guys were excited. They were really excited last night. That's what I like seeing. I've had the opportunity to do this for a while, we go to the tournament now and then, but those guys with the exception of Gabe [Reichle], it's good to see them all excited [about] their first opportunity."
The Ducks draw a South Carolina program making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2017. The Gamecocks finished tied for the second-best conference record in SEC play (13-5) and lost in the second round of the conference tournament to Auburn.
They are led by junior guard Meechie Johnson (14.1 points per game), 6-foot-8 forward B.J. Mack (13.6 PPG), 6-foot-7 freshman forward Collin Murray-Boyles (10.8 PPG and team-high 5.8 rebounds per game) and veteran guard Ta'lon Cooper (9.8 PPG).
The Gamecocks are tied for 222nd nationally in scoring at 72 PPG (Oregon is 123rd at 75.3 PPG) but 46th in scoring defense in holding opponents to 67.0 PPG (the Ducks are 175th at 71.9 PPG).
"I have not seen South Carolina play. I'm sure we'll be able to get some stuff on them tonight and get started," Altman said Sunday. "Quick turnaround with the Thursday game so guys are going to have to really get some things -- and we're at the end of our quarter here so guys have a lot of academic things to take care of tomorrow -- so it's going to be a real busy day tomorrow and Tuesday trying to get organized and ready to go."
Oregon would seem to have a clear advantage in the frontcourt with 6-foot-11 senior center N'Faly Dante, who is averaging 16.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game this season and playing the best basketball of his career right now after going a remarkable 12 of 12 from the field for 25 points in the Pac-12 championship win over Colorado.
South Carolina doesn't have anybody that matches Dante physically aside from 7-foot center Josh Gray, who averages just 9.8 minutes per game off the bench.
"We've struggled shooting the ball from the perimeter and he's been our saving grace," Altman said of Dante. "He has really played well offensively. Defensively, just such a presence in there. I love the way he's playing and we're riding him pretty good right now. You guys asked last week if we had a chance, and I said, 'Well, we've got Dante, we have a chance.' I was right about one thing anyway."
An obvious individual storyline for this matchup is Ducks senior guard Jermaine Couisnard facing his former team. Couisnard, who has become the veteran leader of this Ducks team along with Dante, spent four years at South Carolina before transferring to Oregon prior to last season.
"I know a couple of those guys over there, a lot of the strength coaches and trainers, so it's going to be a fun game for me," Couisnard said, noting two of his former teammates still remain with the Gamecocks as well in Gray and junior Jacobi Wright.
"I still talk to them to this day, every day. They congratulated me [Saturday] for winning. I ain't checked my phone [today], but they've probably texted me -- I'm not going to text them back because they know how I get."
The winner of Oregon-South Carolina would advance to play the winner of No. 3 Creighton vs. No. 14 Akron, and Altman wasn't excited to see his former school as a possible Round 2 opponent.
But one step at a time ...
The Ducks' season looked to be over this time a week ago. Now, they have fresh momentum with a four-game winning streak, but the spotlight and stakes amplify on Thursday.
"South Carolina doesn't care that we won the Pac-12. It doesn't mean much. We've just got to refocus, forget about that and get ready for Thursday," Altman said.
