Oregon Ducks Must Lead With Talent, Experience Will Come In Pac-12 Play
Oregon Ducks Men’s Basketball enters a critical stretch of Pac-12 play where talent needs to shine.
The Oregon Ducks are among seven teams that enter the week with double-digit wins overall. As teams look to make their move in the Pac-12 Conference, the Ducks are not where they want to be following a loss to Oregon State and a 1-2 Conference mark. The team now enters a key stretch of the season with road games against Arizona State and Arizona before returning home for three games against USC, UCLA and Oregon State.
Oregon has not seen the Top 25 Rankings this season and according to Ken Pomeroy enter this week as the 65th best team. Arizona State and Arizona are just inside the Top 20. Beating one of them would give the Ducks an important win over a Top 20 team, which it currently lacks on their postseason resume.
Last season, the Oregon Ducks lost five games entering the NCAA Tournament. With a lot of youth and talent on the roster this season, Oregon is already at that same number of losses. While I don’t expect the Ducks to win out, a winning streak will go a long way in the decision of where this team will play in March and right now, the Pac-12 is Wide Open.
Oregon will have opportunities for wins that may land them closer to the Top 25 in coming weeks. The Ducks face a tough road test at Arizona State and Arizona before returning home to meet USC and UCLA. The games against the Bruins and Trojans are set for the ESPN Family of Networks and wins by Oregon could go a long way in deciding where this team ends up in the postseason.
Head Coach Dana Altman also has a good history of having his teams together by the time Pac-12 play comes around. While this season is different than we are used to in Eugene, the Ducks could go on a run and get a few upsets in the coming weeks.
Next: Oregon Women's Basketball: Ducks Move To 8th In AP Poll
The Oregon Ducks face Arizona State Thursday at 7 pm Pacific Time on Fox Sports 1.