Mar 2, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA;            Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Wednesday night was another good example of why they play the games in College Basketball. Five of the Top 25 teams went down, including 6^th Ranked Miami, 7^th Ranked Georgetown and 24^th ranked UCLA. Oregon also had a gift from both Washington State, who beat Cal in Pullman 73-61 and Stanford tool out Cal 83-70.

So, what does this mean for the Ducks heading into the weekend? Oregon now has a half game lead over UCLA and a one game lead over Cal.

Winning tonight at Colorado will get Oregon the Pac 12 Title, and the #1 Seed in the Pac 12 Tournament(6pn, ESPN2). If they lose, they have to win on Saturday at Utah. From there things get a little muddled as far as who gets what. The Ducks could still get part of the title, but it would be shared.

We are also at the point of the year where a win can make or break the bubble for teams. The Ducks are not at risk in this area. Their body of work on the year speaks for itself and winning will keep things on the positive – plus teams on a winning streak tend to look better than a team on a five game losing streak to the Committee making the ultimate decision.

March Madness looks like it may have started a little early, but I doubt that any college basketball fans are complaining.

Oregon Ducks This Week:

Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

The 6’0″, 200 pound Hermitage High power back rescheduled his official visit until after the season, so he will not be watching Oregon take on Stanford this weekend. The other schools in Green’s top six are Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Michigan. The top 50 2013 prospect has his official visit to Ole Miss scheduled in two weeks. It is unclear if he will reschedule that trip as well, because it was his final official visit. Green will also be taking an official to Miami.

Derrick Green likes schools that have a good fan atmosphere, and that was a sentiment he echoed after his trip to Auburn. Green should love the atmosphere at Autzen, so that will be a key selling point for Chip Kelly and the Ducks staff (assumingGreen is able to visit during a game). If you remember, Green took his official visit to Ann Arbor when the Wolverines topped the Michigan State Spartans, and he enjoyed the atmosphere over there as well.

The visit will be crucial for Oregon in gaining momentum in his recruitment, because it looks like Auburn and Michigan are the two most likely landing spots for the elite power back who can also run a sub-4.6 forty. Green is one of the top three running backs in the country and one of the top two recruits in the state of Virginia, and he would be a different kind of elite catch at the running back position for the Oregon Ducks.

The US Army All-American Bowl selection ran for nearly 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns last season for Hermitage, and everything is wide open for the elite back. However, most recruiting analysts have Michigan as their pick. Things can change quickly, and the rescheduled visit after the season is going to be key for the Ducks.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

Steven Bisig-US PRESSWIRE

Oregon has showed some interest in Jaylin Hayward, and he has actually camped in Eugene before. He has also taken camp visits to Florida State and Alabama. FSU, Miami, Florida International, Kentucky, and Tennessee have all offered him. Hayward also has interest in two other in-state schools in Florida and USF.

The 5’9″, 170 pound recruit also has interest from Auburn and Alabama and could play cornerback at the collegiate level. A track star, Hayward has extreme speed and has been lighting it up in Godby with some insane numbers and had a terrific Fisher camp showing.

Shaqquan Aaron is a five-star shooting guard from Rainier Beach and is one of the top 25 recruits in the 2014 class. The top prospect in the state of Washington, Aaron will be taking an unofficial visit to the Washington Huskies and is a Seattle-area prospect himself. He already has several major offers, including one from the Oregon Ducks.

Oregon State, Cal, UConn, Colorado, UCLA, Georgetown, Arizona, USC, UNLV, St. John’s, Louisville, San Diego State, Kansas, Arizona State, Stanford, Utah, Washington, Washington State, and Syracuse have all offered Aaron.

That’s an incredibly impressive list of offers, and the 6’8″, 175 pound swingman is well-regarded for his passing and handles. An excellent scorer, Shaqquan Aaron possesses a solid outside shot but does need to work on his strength so that he can play the 3 more effectively to match his height. At this point, the lanky prospect is actually a little bit better at shooting guard. He’s terrific at that position and is one of the top ten prospects in the class at the 2.

Aaron is one of the truly elite prospects in the 2014 class, so this is an excellent opportunity for Lorenzo Romar and the Huskies to make a big impression on the in-area recruit early on.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.