Coming into the weekend, Dana Altman and Oregon looked like most people’s favorite for the Pac-12 title, holding a 9-2 record and a one loss advantage over USC and Arizona. All that stood in their way, road games against Cal and Stanford.
Coming out of the weekend, the Ducks are now tied with Arizona atop the standings and have lost two games in a row, including a head-scratching defeat at the hands of Stanford, who were just 4-7 in conference play.
Perhaps it was a case of a team reading their press clippings too much, as many around the country–including right here–started talking about the Ducks as a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a Final Four sleeper pick. Perhaps it was a team regressing to their collective mean. Whatever it was, we’re now no closer to determining a conference favorite than we were just weeks ago. Not to mention, that talk of a one-seed is now gone and we’re wondering if Oregon might fall further.
They still sit inside of the RPI top five with a chance to finish in the top 10, but an end of season road trip to USC and UCLA now looks even more important than ever. With the Trojans being one of the best stories in college basketball and the Bruins being as talented as they are, it wouldn’t be outside of reason for them to drop at least one game in Los Angeles. Before that stretch, they also have a home game against rival Oregon State, who beat the Ducks 70-57 in Corvallis.
The weekend’s results didn’t eliminate Oregon from contention for a Pac-12 title, but their margin of error is quite a bit smaller now than it was.
