The SEC and the Mountain West will be coming to the State of Oregon this season. Alabama, UNLV, Boise State and Fresno State highlight the Ducks’ 2016-17 home non-conference schedule, which was announced Monday by head coach Dana Altman. Oregon will also play at Baylor and travel to Hawaii for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. The Ducks will continue their tradition of honoring the military with a very special season-opener on Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11. Oregon will host Army and will salute America’s servicemen and women as both teams will wear unique military-themed uniforms and warmups designed by Nike. Oregon will then travel to Waco, Texas, to play Baylor on Nov. 15 in a game that will be part of ESPN’s College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. The Ducks return home to host Valparaiso on Nov. 17. It will be the second straight season that the NCAA Tournament Cinderella Crusaders play at Matthew Knight Arena. Following the Nov. 21-23 Maui Invitational, Oregon welcomes Boise State to Eugene on Nov. 28. Another one of the marquee games of the non-conference slate falls on Dec. 11 with Alabama coming to Matthew Knight Arena for the first time. Former Pacific Coast Conference rival Montana follows the Crimson Tide on Dec. 13. The Ducks will then host UNLV at the Moda Center in Portland on Dec. 17 before closing out the non-conference slate with Fresno State Dec. 20 in Eugene. Oregon will add another two games to the non-conference schedule, as well as an exhibition against Northwest Christian on a yet-to-be determined date. Including the potential opponents in the Maui Invitational, there are five 2016 NCAA Tournament teams on the non-conference schedule – Baylor, Connecticut, Fresno State, North Carolina and Wisconsin. The Tar Heels played Villanova for the 2016 national championship, while Wisconsin was a Sweet 16 team and UConn advanced to the second round. Three other 2016 postseason teams are on the schedule as well. Valparaiso advanced to the championship game of the NIT, while Army played in the CIT and Montana was in the CBI tournament. The dates of Pac-12 games, as well as all game times and television information, will be announced in September. The league announced the home and away pairings last week. The new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas will host the Pac-12 Tournament March 8-11. 2016-17 season tickets are currently on sale starting at $150, and can be purchased at goducks.com/tickets. The UNLV game at the Moda Center is included in the 2016-17 ticket package. Season ticket renewals from 2015-16 have already exceeded 90 percent.
