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

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

The Ducks were underrated and under-appreciated heading into the eight-team tournament, it's just that simple. Despite having a perfect record and a few dominant wins to its name, Oregon was unranked when the Players Era Festival tipped off.

However, after stunning No. 20 Texas A&M and No. 9 Alabama, the Ducks flew into the NCAA's net rankings at the No. 15 spot in the nation.

Against Alabama, senior guard Keeshawn Barthelemy shined brightly after coming in off the bench. The veteran Duck had a resounding 22 points alongside 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Center Nate Bittle put up 19 points of his alongside 9 rebounds and transfer Supreme Cook scored an impressive 11 points off the bench.

To put it simply, this re-pieced together team is putting in the work and getting the results. Head coach Dana Altman is known as a man who "aligns Rubik's Cubes" and that trend is clearly continuing during the start of the 2024-25 season.

Oregon kicks off Big Ten play against a few familiar faces at the beginning of December. On Dec. 4, the Ducks visit the USC Trojans, and just four days later, on Dec. 8, Oregon will host the UCLA Bruins – both former Pac-12 teams that moved to the new conference alongside the Ducks.

So far this year, the Ducks have gone 8-0 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.

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