Oregon Basketball: Pac-12 releases 2016-17 schedule

The offseason can feel long for lovers of the game, but Oregon fans can rejoice now that the Pac-12 has unveiled the 2016-17 men’s basketball schedule. The release is a reminder of big games to come and even bigger rivalries to revisit. March seems like a distant memory, but take comfort knowing that the season starts in the not-so-distant future.

Oregon’s 2016-17 schedule can be viewed in its entirety here.

Non-Conference

Baylor (Nov. 15, ESPN2), Alabama (Dec. 11, ESPNU), UNLV (Dec. 17, ESPN2) and Fresno State (Dec. 20) highlight the Ducks’ 2016-17 non-conference schedule. As far as tournaments go, Baylor was out-rebounded by Yale and lost in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, UNLV fell to Fresno State in the Mountain West quarterfinals and Fresno State won the Mountain West before falling to Utah in the First Round of the NCAAs.

For the second time in school history, the Ducks will travel to Hawaii for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, where they will face the Georgetown Hoyas in the first round on Nov. 21. The winner of Oregon-Georgetown will play the winner of Wisconsin-Tennessee on Nov. 22 before the championship game is held on No. 23. On the other side of the bracket, the opening-round games are between Connecticut-Oklahoma State and North Carolina-Chaminade. All Maui Invitational games will air on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.

Pac-12

Conference play begins at Matthew Knight Arena, as Oregon hosts UCLA (Dec. 28, ESPN2) and USC (Dec. 30) before jumpstarting the New Year on the road at Washington (Jan. 4, ESPN2). The Ducks will stay in the state for a meeting with Washington State (Jan. 7) before returning home for the Civil War (Jan. 14). Part Two of the battle will be held at Oregon State (Mar. 4, ESPN or ESPN2) for the regular-season finale.

The schedule features additional home-and-homes with Cal (Jan. 19-home, ESPN or ESPN2; Feb. 22-away, ESPN2), Utah (Jan. 26-away; Feb. 16-home, ESPN2) and Colorado (Jan. 28-away, Feb. 19-home). Oregon will travel to So-Cal for games against UCLA (Feb. 9, ESPN) and USC (Feb. 11) before playing at Stanford (Feb. 25). The Ducks meet Arizona State (Feb. 2) and Arizona (Feb. 4, ESPN or ESPN2) once during the regular season, with both games being held at MKA.

The Pac-12 sent seven teams to the 2016 NCAA Tournament, but five of them fell in the First Round (all via upsets): No. 4 Cal lost to No. 13 Hawaii, No. 6 Arizona to No. 11 Wichita State, No. 7 Oregon State to No. 10 VCA and No. 8 Colorado to No. 9 UConn. Perhaps the most riveting upset came when No. 9 Providence stunned No. 8 USC on this Rodney Bullock game-winner.

Meanwhile, No. 3 Utah beat No. 14 Fresno State before falling to No. 11 Gonzaga in the Round of 32. Saving the best for last, No. 1 Oregon, your Pac-12 regular season and tournament champs, trumped No. 16 Holy Cross, No. 8 Saint Joseph’s and No. 4 Duke, the defending national champions, after earning the top seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. Why not revisit the magical moment?

Oh joy!

The Ducks made it all the way to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2007, falling to No. 2 Oklahoma in the national quarterfinals.

Quack Hits

• Fans might have to get used to the idea of junior forward Dillon Brooks (foot) missing at least a portion of the season. The all-Pac-12 player led the Ducks in scoring last season with 16.7 points per game, while also averaging 5.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists.
• During their 11-day road trip in Spain, the Ducks went 4-0, beating the Madrid All-Stars twice, the Valencia All-Stars and Tarragona.