Oregon Basketball: 3 bold predictions for Sweet 16 battle vs. USC

1. Oregon pulls off the “upset” to advance to Elite Eight

Oregon and USC tied atop the Pac-12 standings to end the regular season and the Trojans, like the Ducks, lost in the conference tournament semifinals. Both teams have had similar seasons and they can each be matchup nightmares for opponents. They’re the perfect representations of the Pac-12 and they’ll be battling it out to be the second — or maybe third — team from the conference in the Elite Eight.

This is going to be a classic.

The last time Oregon met up with USC, the Ducks were out-matched and lost by 14. The game wasn’t even close from the get-go as the Trojans were down by 15-plus before the Ducks could even blink. It was total domination.

And for that reason, Vegas has tabbed the Trojans as favorites for this one but Oregon fans know that the last matchup was probably the Ducks’ worst game of the year. No way that happens again.

Oregon gets off to a quick start and the two teams battle back-and-forth for the remainder of the game with the Ducks getting the last laugh.

Chris Duarte has himself a heck of a game and Franck Kepnang’s defense on Evan Mobley help carry the Ducks to the Elite Eight.