The Oregon Ducks have lost three conference games in a row and exactly what they should have expected has happened: They were knocked out of the AP Top 25 Poll. Despite at one point being ranked as the No. 9 team in the nation, the Ducks' conference performances have tanked their overall standing.
After their losses to Minnesota, UCLA, and Nebraska, the Ducks dropped from No. 16 in the nation to No. 30 overall after receiving just 39 total points in the latest AP Poll.
BREAKING: College Basketball AP Poll🚨https://t.co/8QAcZdeMcz pic.twitter.com/UA8wzo9rTH
— On3 (@On3sports) February 3, 2025
With the three-game slide in conference matchups, the Ducks have fallen to 5-6 in their Big Ten games and are now standing in ninth place in the conference.
The only argument for Oregon to still receive votes for a place in the Top 25 is the team's early-season wins over ranked opponents. Before starting conference play, the Ducks defeated the then-No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide and the then-No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies to win the Players Era Festival.
Now, the Aggies are ranked No. 10 in the country and the Crimson Tide has moved up to No. 3, despite Alabama's loss to Oregon. However, after the losses to three consecutive conference opponents, the Ducks lost their threat as a program that could take down anyone.
"They drove it by us all night. They simply played harder than us," said Oregon head coach Dana Altman after the loss to Nebraska. "Really disappointed. The thing I'm most disappointed in was I thought they outworked us."
The Ducks don't have an easy road ahead of them as their Big Ten schedule continues to unfold. Up next, Oregon will face the No. 24 Michigan Wolverines and the No. 9 Michigan State Spartans on the road – neither East Lansing nor Ann Arbor are particularly easy arenas to visit.
If Oregon can figure out how to topple either (or both) of the Michigan-based programs, the Ducks might have an argument to return to the Top 25 with an 18-6 overall record and a 7-6 conference in Big Ten play.