The Oregon Ducks remain perfect after the stunning No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide

The Oregon Ducks are victorious. It’s that simple. The Oregon men’s basketball team stormed into Las Vegas, survived the Players Era Festival and defeated the No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide to win the tournament’s championship game.

The Ducks were underrated and underrated heading into the eight-team tournament, simple as that. Despite boasting a perfect record and some dominant wins under its belt, Oregon was unranked when the Players Era Festival began.

However, after impressive No. 20 Texas A&M and No. 9 Alabama, the Ducks landed at No. 15 nationally in the NCAA’s net rankings.

Against Alabama, senior guard Keeshawn Barthelemy shined after coming off the bench. The veteran Duck scored a whopping 22 points as well as 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Center Nate Bittle scored 19 of his points and 9 rebounds and transfer Supreme Cook scored an impressive 11 points off the bench.

To put it simply, this newly assembled team puts in the work and gets the results. Head coach Dana Altman is known as a man who “aligns Rubik’s cubes,” and that trend is clearly continuing as the 2024-25 season begins.

Oregon begins Big Ten play in early December against some familiar faces. On December 4th, the Ducks visit the USC Trojans and just four days later, on December 8th, Oregon hosts the UCLA Bruins – both former Pac-12 teams that moved to the new conference alongside the Ducks.

So far this year, the Ducks are 9-0 overall. In order, Oregon defeated UC Riverside, Montana, Portland, Troy, Oregon State, No. 20 Texas A&M, San Diego State and No. 9 Alabama to maintain its perfect start to the season.