While the chaos of college football is still holding everyone's attention, college basketball season is quietly creeping up. Oregon Basketball is already in the midst of their exhibition game portion of the preseason, and with just over two weeks from the season opener, it's almost go time. The month of October has already turned the season into potentially being exciting to a massive mystery.
Dana Altman was coming off his worst season at Oregon, and the excitement for what he could do with a new-look roster vanished with his sudden decision to retire. Tony Stubblefield takes over as interim head coach, and the team showed it's flaws by losing the first exhibition game to Seattle.
Initial AP Poll lays out the daunting road ahead for Oregon Basketball
On Monday, the Associated Press unveiled the Preseason College Basketball AP Poll, setting the table for the upcoming season. It shouldn't come as a surprise that Oregon ranked outside the Top 25, and that the Ducks weren't even in the "Others Receiving Votes" section.
BREAKING: Preseason College Basketball AP Poll🏀https://t.co/g4z17LVdWP pic.twitter.com/dYJufsSTG0
— On3 (@On3) October 19, 2026
Oregon's entirely new roster makes it almost impossible to place the Ducks in the Top 25, and given the fact that the team has a new head coach the two are massive unknowns. Tony Stubblefield was an assistant on the staff, but he wasn't the one who built the roster to fit what he likes as most new coaches would have the chance to do.
While Oregon fans don't have the excitement of looking at the AP Top 25 Poll and seeing the Ducks, the first AP Poll allows everyone to fully look at the schedule ahead. For the Ducks, the season has a chance to be a rough one when you look at the teams that Oregon is going to have to battle.
Out of conference, the matchups with 13th ranked St John's and 15th ranked Gonzaga are the headliners, but even some of the Mid-Major opponents like Pepperdine could push the Ducks. Add in whoever else the Ducks face in the Players Era Festival Tournament, and early on you may be able to see the trajectory of this team.
Big Ten play is where the season will truly be made or lost as the conference has been incredibly tough in this new era of college sports. Oregon faces a pair of Top 25 teams twice with home and away games against No. 21 USC and No. 22 UCLA. The rest of the way, Oregon also faces No. 3 Illinois, No. 6 Michigan State, and No. 16 Michigan with a total of 9 ranked games on the season.
Tony Stubblefield is already facing the daunting task of taking over as head coach of a team with less than a month to prepare for the season. Add in how tough the Big Ten has become, and if Stubblefield is able to navigate this year, and make the expanded NCAA Tournament, he may be deserving of the Ducks dropping the interim tag, and hiring him full time to replace Dana Altman.
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