Oregon head coach Kelly Graves watches his team in the fourth quarter as the Oregon Ducks host the Illinois Fighting Illini on Feb. 4, 2026, at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon. Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Live Score Updates: Oregon Ducks vs. Virginia Tech Hokies

Originally posted on Oregon Ducks on SI | By Lily Crane | Last updated Mar 20, 2026 1:00 PM ET

The Oregon Ducks’ hopes of making a deep NCAA Tournament start on Friday in Texas. The Ducks prepare to face the Virginia Tech Hokies in a No. 8 vs. No. 9 seeded first-round matchup.

Oregon coach Kelly Graves’ program comes off the Big Ten Tournament, where it made it to the third-round despite being a double-digit seed in the Big Ten. The Ducks are the higher seed in the NCAA Tournament first round, but have the chance to play upset later down the road in March.

This article will be updated live with notable score changes. Tip-off is set for 10:30 a.m. PT.

Pregame

Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oregon’s Path to the Postseason

The Ducks defeated the Purdue Boilermakers in the Big Ten Tournament first round and took down the Maryland Terrapins in the Big Ten Tournament second round. They ended up falling to the Michigan Wolverines during their third game in as many days. Oregon accomplished what it needed to with the victory over the Terrapins, which kept its March Madness goals intact.

The 2026 NCAA Tournament is the school’s 19th trip to the tournament. Graves coached the team to 13 of its 18 wins in the tournament entering the game, with eyes on his 14th win with the program.

Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Ducks and Hokies only met one other time, which was back in the 1999 regular season. This is a Virginia Tech team building for the future under second year head coach Megan Duffy, but it experienced a lot of postseason success in recent history under former coach Kenny Brooks.

Oregon finished the 2025-2025 regular season with three different ranked wins to give it the higher seed in the first-round matchup. The Ducks showcased their ability throughout the season to play top teams close, pull off big upsets and come back from daunting deficits. Those are the types of things that set up programs for success in March, but the Hokies are just as hungry entering the meeting.

Availability Report

Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Both teams just have one player on their injury reports. There weren’t any surprises, with both unavailable players being on the season-ending injury list.

Out (Oregon): Elisa Mevius (ACL)
Out (Virginia Tech): Kate Sears (Foot)

What Happens Next

Alex Martin/Greenville News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The winner of the first-round meeting will advance to the second round. That team will play the winner of No. 1 Texas vs. No. 16 Missouri State. The loser's season will be over.

The Longhorns are the host team for the Austin Regional in the first and second rounds. If they didn’t make it to the second round, that would be one of the biggest upsets the tournament ever saw. They would still have their home crowd behind in the second round.

The winner of the second-round books a trip to the Sweet 16. They won’t have to go far. This part of the bracket is in the Fort Worth Regional, so the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games are still in the state of Texas. The Ducks might be favored to win the first round, but whoever has to face the Longhorns will have to make headlines and bust brackets with an upset.

This article first appeared on Oregon Ducks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: