MBB NCAAT R64: #5 Oregon vs #12 Liberty (Mar. 21, Fri 7:10 PM TruTV)

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Oregon gets the 5 seed in the East Region and will face 12 seed Liberty in Seattle on Friday. Winner gets Arizona/Akron.

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Going to be a tough region to get out of with the offenses they could face.

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[droop10]

Early look at Liberty’s roster and I think Bittle has a chance to dominate. Good first round matchup for the Ducks given the lack of size the Flames have. I think Sweet 16 is certainly doable with these matchups.

[UOducksTK1]

Ya will be an extremely tough bracket to get far in, but sweet 16 would be a very successful season IMO.

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Oregon just can't let Liberty get hot from three.

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[StevensTechU]

Glad they have Seattle to start, and definitely happy with Liberty as the matchup. Arizona as the potential second round matchup would be fun.

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Oregon ended up as the 19th overall seed. They ended up 8-7 against Tournament teams this year.

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Tipoff will be at 7:10 PM on TruTV.

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[TheDrake]

Ritchey Mckay ex Beavis coach

[73duck]

Altman always cracks me up. Extra practice days "desperately needed."

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[Phalanx]

Article picking against the Ducks vs Liberty:

No. 12 Liberty (+6.5) over No. 5 Oregon, 10:10 p.m. Friday

Liberty, Liberty, Liberty! When looking for a double-digit seed that can win a game, the first thing to check out is if it can shoot. Well, Liberty was second in college basketball in effective field-goal percentage, fueled by being fifth in 3-point percentage via KenPom.com. Oregon is a good team that won eight in a row before losing to Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament. The Ducks also have a huge travel edge, as this game will be in Seattle. That's an important factor. Still, Liberty's shooting makes it a good pick and a perfectly reasonable 5 vs. 12 upset selection for your bracket.

https://sports.yahoo.com/college-basket ... 09467.html

Not sure who Frank Schwab is, but I could get better advice about my bracket from Les Schwab. What makes him single out Oregon as a good pick to lose? Must be all those times Coach Altman has lost in the first round before this. Or maybe he knows how well Oregon fans attend basketball games.

[Merganzer]

Article picking against the Ducks vs Liberty:

Not sure who Frank Schwab is, but I could get better advice about my bracket from Les Schwab.

On the other hand, this guy picks the Ducks over Duke, for a second time in the Sweet 16.


This is a calculated risk to have anyone but Duke emerging from the East. I get that. Duke won the ACC Tournament basically without Cooper Flagg, and the future No. 1 overall pick is expected to be “full steam ahead,” according to Duke coach Jon Scheyer. But if Flagg is anything less than 100%, I wonder how Duke would handle that pressure knowing that it’s win-or-go home and not an ACC Tournament that didn’t matter for NCAA seeding. Against a well-coached, vastly underrated Dana Altman, that proves costly. A streaky Oregon team with top-10 upside stuns Duke in the Sweet 16.

It’s not lost on me that Liberty could spoil that possibility of an Oregon Elite Eight run in the ever-scary 12-5 matchup. The Ducks are only 6.5-point favorites against a Liberty squad that won 14 of its last 16 games and ranks No. 284 in adjusted tempo. That could prove challenging, but Altman has yet to lose a Round of 64 game in his 15 years at Oregon. In front of what should be an Oregon-heavy crowd during the first 2 rounds in Seattle, I’ll take the Ducks to avoid disaster and go into the Sweet 16 with nothing to lose.