Oregon Ducks land 5-seed in NIT, visit 4-seed Utah State in first round
After bowing out in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals, the Oregon Ducks knew their chances of landing an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament were slim to none.
Sunday night, some began wondering if an NIT bid was even in their future.
The Ducks had to wait to the very end of the NIT bracket reveal before knowing their postseason fate.
Oregon will be a 5-seed in the 32-team NIT field, and will visit 4-seed Utah State in the first round on Tuesday, March 15th. Tip off is set for 6pm and will be televised on ESPN.
Oregon and Utah State have met five times in their history, but not since the last meeting in 1965. Oregon leads the all-time series 3-2.
The Ducks finished 19-14 in the regular season, going 11-9 in Pac-12 play and earning the five-seed in last week’s Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas. Oregon beat 12-seed Oregon State 86-72 in the first round but lost in the quarterfinals to 4-seed Colorado 80-69.
The Buffaloes are also in the NIT as a 4-seed and will host 5-seed St Bonaventure in the first round in Boulder, Col. Washington State also made the NIT as a 4-seed and will host Santa Clara in the first round.
Per Oregon athletics, the Ducks are 14-12 all-time in NIT games, having appeared in the tournament on 11 occasions. Their last NIT bid came in 2018. The program has reached the NIT Final Four three times (1975, 1999, 2004).
