Oregon basketball: ESPN preseason poll slots Ducks inside top 20
The Oregon basketball season is quickly approaching, and the preseason polls are already causing some discussion.
The 2022-23 college basketball season is about a month away and some of the preseason polls are already being released. The AP poll should be out within the next ten days, but according to ESPN, the Oregon basketball team looks to contend and be in a good position to start the season.
The ESPN poll has Oregon basketball starting the season at 19 with two Pac-12 schools ahead of them — Arizona (17) and UCLA (10). It seems almost every year, these three teams are the ones that compete for the conference and the opportunity to play in March. Arizona has not been the typical powerhouse we are used to seeing in the last few seasons, but they are capable of returning to form.
In looking at Oregon, head coach Dana Altman always finds a way to put together a competitive team for a season. He has done it through recruiting and transfers in recent years. This season, he is again leaning on outside talent with the commitment of Jermain Couisnard and Keeshawn Barthelemy from South Carolina and Colorado respectively.
Oregon basketball played a week’s worth of games in Canada last month. It was an early opportunity to build some team chemistry heading into the upcoming season and saw some success as the team was undefeated in playing exhibition games. On several occasions, the Ducks hit better than 40 in scoring from the field and better than 30 percent from three-point range throughout the week.
The top three in the ESPN poll included North Carolina, Gonzaga, and Houston. The Ducks will have an early opportunity to make a move as they face Houston at Matthew Knight Arena on November 20th. The game is set for a national broadcast on ESPN. The Ducks will see UCLA twice on December 4th in LA and on February 11th in Eugene. The Ducks will host Arizona on December 14th and visit the Wildcats on February 2nd.
Oregon opens the 2022-23 season on Monday, November 7th against Florida A&M at Matthew Knight Arena.
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