Oregon Basketball History: 75 Years Ago Today Ducks Won National Title

Mar 28, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; A detail view of the 1939 NCAA championship trophy awarded to the Oregon Ducks as seen in the media center after practice the day before the semifinals of the Midwest regional of the 2013 NCAA tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Oregon Head Coach Harold Hobson was in his fourth season as the Ducks…er Webfeet Head Coach. The majority of the team from the previous season returned. Things were smaller back then. There was no social media. No Phil Knight, but the staples of the Oregon campus were there. Hayward Field was eighteen years old and was the home for Oregon Football and Oregon Track. MacArthur Court was thirteen years old having broken ground in 1926. Of course members of the then Pacific Coast Conference were similar to the Pac-12 Conference we all know today with a few differences. Idaho and Montana left in the 50’s to make way for the Arizona schools at the Conference we know today.

The team was dubbed the ‘Tall Firs’ because of their height. In 1939 Oregon went 14-2 in the Pacific Coast Conference North Division and finished the regular season 14-5 overall. The Webfeet then earned the right to host the winner of the South Division Cal in a best of three series. Oregon won and advanced to the NCAA West Regional in San Francisco. The Webfeet would beat Texas and Oklahoma for the right to play in the Championship game. Northwestern University was the host school for the Title game in 1939. Patten Gymnasium saw Oregon topple Ohio State for the title 46-33.

Many of the players on the National Championship team were from the region – all were from Oregon or Washington including 5 foot 8 guard Bobby Anet who broke the top off the Championship Trophy during the game while attempting to gain possession on the sideline against the Buckeyes.

The current team has taken the trophy with them to the NCAA Tournament for ‘luck’ in recent years. 2014 was the 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament for Oregon, but it all started out 75 years ago. We honor that team today.

At one point Oregon released a video from the game, but it has since been removed.

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