Oregon Ducks news: Final AP poll released, MBB making most of off week, more

Following the conclusion of the CFP National Championship, the Associated Press released their final rankings of the year. 

Topping the chart were Michigan and Washington. Obviously. Followed by Texas, Georgia, and Alabama – in that order.

The Oregon Ducks landed themselves in 6th place on the last AP Poll of 2023, moving up two spots from their previous ranking.

Oregon, sadly, has to share the sweet taste of 6th place with ACC champs the Florida State Seminoles.

Looking forward to 2024, ESPN placed Oregon at 3rd in its 2024 Way-Too-Early rankings.

This is a massive improvement from the team’s spot at ninth in last season’s ranking. It is also the highest spot the Ducks have held in a way-too-early poll since 2011, following the team's loss to Auburn in the National Championship game.

Head coach Dan Lanning stole the National Championship pregame show when he talked about his team’s future and its place in the Big Ten moving forward.

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The Oregon men’s basketball team is currently enjoying a full 7-day break between games. Coming off an 89-84 win over the Washington State Cougars, Oregon is looking forward to their at-home match-up against Cal.

The off-week has been good to the Ducks. The Register-Guard moved Oregon from 5th to 2nd in its Pac-12 conference power rankings and there’s a general sense of optimism around the return of junior center Nate Bittle.

Bittle had his cast removed toward the end of December and head coach Dana Altman has turned his definitive 'no', in regards to the center making a return, into a more positive 'I hope.'

Meanwhile, the women’s basketball team continues to struggle. At 0-3 in the conference, the Ducks are near or at the bottom of almost all, if not all, power rankings.

There’s no sign of the tides changing as Oregon has a difficult schedule ahead of them. Playing #8 Stanford on the road before the month ends and then having to host #19 Utah as well as #5 Colorado, doesn’t bode well for the Ducks.

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The AP Top 25 Men’s Basketball Poll has Pac-12’s Arizona at #8 following their wins over Utah and Colorado. The Wildcats will face Washington State next. Arizona State and Oregon continue to fall short of a top-25 spot.

With her eighth selection as the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, USC’s JuJu Watkins tied the conference record (in the season’s first nine weeks). Watkins is currently averaging 27 PPG, 2 APG, and 11 RPG.