The Oregon Ducks have a surprisingly good history on the hardcourt when it comes to the Conference of (real NCAA) Champions and basketball. Our Pac-12 Friday entry today takes on the Nike-powered program to explore its best teams, and all of them are from the twenty-first century when that financial support has been strongest. The Ducks have been able to “leapfrog” other schools in the process with modern success.

Note: the 1939 national champions did not make this list.

5. 2021

This team posted a 21-7 record overall, including 14-4 in league play—good enough for first place and the regular-season crown. Oregon also finished No. 19 in the national SRS rankings overall. Despite the high sabermetric rating, the Ducks “earned” just a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost in the Round of 32 to No. 24-ranked USC, a conference rival that Oregon had lost to earlier in the year. Bad luck and timing.

4. 2016

A 14-4 conference record brought the Ducks another regular-season title, and Oregon backed it up with a league tournament championship, too, beating then-No. 12 Utah in the final. Overall, this team finished 31-7 after reaching the Elite 8 in March Madness, losing there to No. 7 Oklahoma. The Ducks finished 31-7 overall, No. 5 in the Associated Press poll, and No. 18 in the overall SRS rankings. That’s an amazing season.

3. 2020

With the NCAA Tournament and most league tourneys canceled due to the Covid pandemic, the season ended abruptly for the Ducks with a 24-7 record, which included a 13-5 finish in league play for another regular-season championship. Oregon also finished No. 13 in the AP poll, No. 11 in the SRS rankings overall, and 6-2 against ranked teams. It seems this could have been the school’s best team ever, if and only if …

2. 2002

With a No. 7 ranking in the SRS rankings overall, the Ducks achieved new heights on the back of a 26-9 record that included another league championship (14-4 in conference games). A No. 11 AP finish also augmented the Oregon achievements this season, as the team posted a 6-3 mark against ranked teams. Unfortunately, one of those losses came against No. 2 Kansas in the Elite 8 round of the NCAA tourney.

1. 2017

The best team in school history lost in the Final Four to cheatin’ North Carolina by 1 point, bringing an end to a 33-6 campaign overall. The Ducks went 16-2 in conference play to win the Pac-12 regular-season title, and they also posted 5-3 record against ranked teams along the way to finishing No. 11 in the overall SRS rankings and No. 9 in the AP poll. It’s tough when a team pays a price for the NCAA letting us all down.