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Oregon vs. Virginia: Key storylines for 2019 Sweet Sixteen matchup

By Bryan Manning

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 22: Kyle Guy #5 and De'Andre Hunter #12 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrate after a play in the second half against the Gardner Webb Runnin Bulldogs during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 22: Kyle Guy #5 and De'Andre Hunter #12 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrate after a play in the second half against the Gardner Webb Runnin Bulldogs during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 24: Mamadi Diakite #25 of the Virginia Cavaliers huddles up with his teammates against the Oklahoma Sooners during the first half in the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 24: Mamadi Diakite #25 of the Virginia Cavaliers huddles up with his teammates against the Oklahoma Sooners during the first half in the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Can the red-hot Oregon Ducks take down the No. 1-seeded Virginia Cavaliers? Or will the Wahoos get one step closer to an elusive Final Four appearance?

A look at this week’s Sweet 16 and you’ll see the NCAA Tournament has gone almost as planned. The top three seeds from all four regions have advanced and only one remaining team is a double-digit seed and that is the No. 12 seed in the South Region; the Oregon Ducks.

Oregon just happens to be one of the hottest teams in the country, winners of its last 10 games after breezing through the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in wins over Wisconsin and UC-Irvine. Eight of those 10 wins were by double digits, including Oregon’s dominating run through the Pac-12 Tournament.

And this is all without super freshman Bol Bol, who went down with a knee injury earlier in the season. The Ducks struggled a bit after Bol went down, but when the calendar turned to March this team took off.

While the Ducks are red hot, advancing into the Elite Eight won’t be easy with No. 1 seed Virginia standing in their way.

The Cavaliers breezed through the rugged ACC with a 16-2 conference record, however, struggled a bit in the opening-round win over Gardner-Webb. Some of those struggles were mental as Virginia was still trying to get past last season’s shocking loss to UMBC and once head coach Tony Bennett got his team into the locker room and settled them down, the Wahoos raced past the overmatched Gardner-Webb Bulldogs in the second half.

Both of these teams win with defense. Virginia, of course, is always among the nation’s top defensive teams and Oregon is among the top defensive teams in the country this year, too. Virginia’s defensive success stems from its Pack-Line defense. Oregon is built on length and athleticism.

Here are three storylines for Thursday night’s clash between Virginia and Oregon.

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