College basketball icon Dick Vitale shared some excellent news this week: his throat is healed after a lengthy battle with cancer and he’s looking forward to returning to the broadcast booth this upcoming season.

Earlier this week, Vitale shared the six teams who missed last year’s NCAA Tournament he’s most excited to see this season. With coach Dana Altman still kicking it in Eugene and a recruiting class coming to town that featured 5-star center Kel’el Ware and a number of key transfer guards, Oregon was is among the teams Vitale can’t wait to watch.

Here’s what he wrote on the Ducks:

The Ducks don’t play a true nonconference road game, which can help. Will Richardson, N’Faly Dante and Quincy Guerrier provide veteran leadership. Dana Altman brought in transfers Keeshawn Barthelemy from Colorado and Jermaine Couisnard from South Carolina. I look for the Ducks to return to the NCAA tournament.

Oregon went 20-15 last season, including an 11-9 mark in the Pac-12.

It was a season of runs for the Ducks, who began 6-6. Following a mid-December loss to Baylor, though, the Ducks got as hot as any team in basketball. They ripped off wins in straight games and 10 of the next 11. That stretch included back-to-back ranked road wins over USC and UCLA. The regular season then closed out with six losses in eight games.

Just as quickly as Oregon surged into the NCAA Tournament picture, it fell out. The season ended with a 15-point loss to Texas A&M in the NIT, but not before Altman and the Ducks secured a 20-win campaign for the 12th consecutive season.

The 2022-23 campaign gets rolling on Nov. 7 against Florida A&M.