Jan, 10, 2013; Eugene, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks guard Damyean Dotson (21) shoots the ball against the Arizona Wildcats at Matthew Knight Arena. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

Nick Johnson, who aided Mark Lyons in the furious comeback attempt by the Wildcats (14-1, 2-1), turned the ball over when down just three points. Jonathan Loyd made the last of two free throws to extend the lead to 70-66 and keep the Ducks (13-2, 2-0) ahead for good.

Johnson finished with 12 points, six rebounds, and three steals. Along with Mark Lyons, who finished with 21 points and four assists, Arizona’s guards played well enough to win but unfortunately turned the ball over eight times combined. With the teams’ 14 total turnovers, 10 of them were caused by Oregon steals.

It was a completely balanced scoring attack by Oregon. E.J. Singler led all scoring with 14 points, but four Ducks reached double-digit points. That doesn’t include Damyean Dotson who finished with nine points. Once again, Arsalan Kazemi led the team with eight rebounds, and came off the bench tonight.

Despite starting in an 11-0 hole, Oregon was able to get an 11-point lead at half. The Ducks were cruising to an upset victory before Arizona was just about to pull the carpet from under them. It wasn’t meant to be, and Oregon grabs the first big upset in Pac-12 play.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor of Autzen Zoo and Clones Confidential. Follow more Oregon Ducks coverage with the zoo on Twitter.

Jan. 3, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA; Detail view of the Oregon Ducks helmet during the second half against the Kansas State Wildcats during the Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Ducks beats the Wildcats 35-17. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Here’s the conference slate for football:

• Saturday, September 28th – vs California
• Saturday, October 5th – at Colorado
• Saturday, October 12th – at Washington
• Saturday, October 19th – vs Washington State
• Saturday, October 26th – vs UCLA
• Thursday, November 7th – at Stanford
• Saturday, November 16th – vs Utah
• Saturday, November 23rd – at Arizona
• Friday, November 29th – vs Oregon State

Oregon will not play USC or Arizona State, but having to face UCLA instead might be even tougher with the Bruins winning the South division a season ago. Luckily, bye weeks will come before conference play begins and the week before that Thursday night game in Stanford, separating what could be the toughest stretch of the schedule. The Ducks will still have to play two road games in the month of November, obviously a tough one against the Cardinal and Arizona will obviously be no small task.

No times and TV schedules are announced as of yet, but it’s expected that the Thursday night game against Stanford and the rivalry game against Oregon State will be on national TV, likely an ESPN network. The Pac-12 Championship game will be on Saturday, December 7th, and will be broadcast on either ESPN or ABC.

The Ducks will play Nicholls State and Tennessee at home, with a game at Nevada sandwiched in-between, for their non-conference slate. This schedule breaks down into having seven home games, five away games, and zero neutral site games in the regular season.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor of Autzen Zoo and Clones Confidential. Follow more Oregon Ducks coverage with the zoo on Twitter.

Jan. 3, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA: Kansas State Wildcats running back De

The Ducks pulled away from Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl, eventually winning 35-17, to impress enough voters to reach second place in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls. Notre Dame finishes at third in the Coaches poll and fourth in the AP poll due to Ohio State still being eligible for that one.

Georgia, Texas A&M, Stanford, and South Carolina all finish in the same order in both polls, then both have significant shakeups afterwards. Oregon State is the only other Pac-12 team outside of the top two teams from the North division to finish in the top 25. The Beavers finish 19th in the Coaches poll and 20th in the AP poll.

Unsurprisingly, no teams from the South division made either poll. UCLA won it but lost in the Pac-12 championship game and then to a red-hot Baylor team in the Holiday Bowl.

After all the postseason events, there’s little debate that Oregon should finish as a runner-up in the polls. Stanford has an argument to finish higher after the way they dominated most of the Pac-12 with their strong defensive line causing havoc for all the conference opponents including the Ducks.

The Pac-12 finished at 4-4 overall with their eight eligible bowl teams. Despite the former number one ranked team losing to a 6-7 Georgia Tech squad, the conference won both of their BCS bowl games taking down their annual Big Ten opponent in the Rose Bowl and defeating the Big 12 champions in the Fiesta Bowl.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor of Autzen Zoo and Clones Confidential. Follow more Oregon Ducks coverage with the zoo on Twitter.