INDIANAPOLIS — The wall partitions are thin in Lucas Oil Stadium. Upsettingly thin if you are the Oregon Ducks. Minutes after their season had ended at the hands of Louisville, the Oregon players sat on foldable chairs in their locker room with dazed looks on their faces. Through the skimpy walls, the victorious Cardinals could be heard yelling and chanting in celebration for their advancement to the Elite Eight.

Johnathan Loyd muttered to himself and paced the length of the locker room repeatedly. Dominic Artis covered his face with his hands to hide the tears. Ben Carter slowly unlaced his shoes, as if actually removing them from his feet would really mean the year was over.

While a loss is tough to take, especially one that caps a season for young men with so much invested, the Ducks have nothing to hang their head about. This was a team that was picked to finish seventh in its own conference and instead earned the Pac-12 championship along with some surprise March Madness wins.

Some people would say Louisville was plainly a better squad — myself being one of them. Others would argue that if not for a bad start, the Ducks could have realized victory on Friday. Well great teams like Louisville force terrible starts for other teams. Great teams like Louisville don’t relinquish the lead, no matter how hard their opponent charges. I’m not saying Oregon was not destined to lose this game, and, as reality proves, the Ducks were not destined to win it. The Ducks simply walked through the door with less than Louisville did. Oregon dug deep with grit beyond expectation but the harsh truth of being an inferior squad was apparent.

What the Ducks should be proud of is making it this far, no matter how uncomforting that is. Oregon should hold itself in high regard for proving people wrong and winning the Pac-12 and beating Oklahoma State and Saint Louis. Self-esteem should be tops for UO for covering the 10-point spread, for coming back from 18 down to bring the margin to just six.

This is a team that lost its vital starting point guard for a huge chunk of the year. A three-game losing streak in the wake of losing Dominic Artis in February could have sunk the season. Dropping two games to inferior squads to close the regular season could have ruined the conference tournament. Lack of a killer instinct against Washington two weeks ago could have been the last game of the year. But the Ducks said nay to all of the above and shrugged off difficulty to survive and advance. While tonight they hit the brick wall of Louisville, there is solace in knowing the Ducks have the tools and confidence in place to return to this position in the near future, and scale the pinnacle teams to compete at the highest level.

Damyean Dotson said it best when he answered my question of whether his team would return to the Sweet 16 next season. “Oh for sure,” he said.

And next March, Dotson and his teammates will look to be the ones making a ruckus that emanates through thin room-dividers.