Andy Katz pours cold water on Oregon's NCAA Tournament hopes even with expansion

The biggest topic in college sports over the past several weeks has been about postseason expansion. When news first broke that the NCAA Tournament would likely expand to 76 teams, the internet exploded as fans and coaches agreed the move didn't feel right. On Thursday, despite all the outrage, the Division I Men's and Women's committees voted to expand the field to 76 teams.

Among the biggest changes is the fact that there's now 44 at-large bids up for grabs in the tournament, an increase compared to the previous mark of 37 bids. The brightside for fans in this unpopular move will be the fact that everyone's favorite team should have a much better chance at making the field.

Andy Katz pumps the breaks on Oregon hype with top 44 rankings

Now that there's 44 at-large bids up for grabs, it should be much easier for a team like Oregon who missed the NCAA Tournament last season to rebound. After the news of the expansion, Andy Katz released his Power 44 rankings, an expansion of his former Power 37 rankings with the Ducks missing from the group.

The decision by Andy Katz isn't shocking, but it's certainly disappointing to see that even NCAA Tournament expansion won't give the Ducks an easy path. The ranking may come as a surprise, but there's going to be projections for this Oregon team that are outlandish in both directions.

Dana Altman built a very boom or bust roster with several former top recruits who haven't lived up to the hype yet. The analysts who believe in the talent will rank Oregon highly while others like Katz will want to see the players take the leap before the projections start to favor the Ducks.

The task on hand for Dana Altman is clearly to rebound from this past season, and hopefully launch the Ducks back into the NCAA Tournament. The expansion should make the task easier than ever, but the Big Ten will once again give the Ducks tough games on a nightly basis.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow