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Unfortunately, it appears that the Oregon Ducks might have dug themselves into too deep of a hole to be considered one of the better teams in the nation after upset wins over a pair of top-5 teams. But they certainly turned some heads over the weekend.
After an underwhelming 9-6 start to the season, Dana Altman and his team went on what was expected to be a brutal road trip to the Southern California area, where games against No. 3 UCLA and No. 5 USC loomed.
That’s when the Ducks started playing their best basketball at the right time.
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On Thursday night, Oregon forced OT against the Bruins and held on in the extra period to hand UCLA just their second loss of the season, 84-81. Two days later, the Ducks built an 18-point lead over USC and held on to send the Trojans packing as well, 79-69. They became the first team in Pac-12 history to sweep a road series against AP Top-10 teams, and the first school in over 40 years to beat a pair of top-5 teams in a span of 5 days.
Those accomplishments are certainly good enough to get ESPN to name you the ‘Team of the Week,’ it appears. Here’s what ESPN’s Jeff Borzello had to say:
Oregon entered the season picked second in the Pac-12, even receiving a pair of first-place votes in the preseason poll. The Ducks were a consensus preseason top-25 team, mixing some key returnees with one of the better transfer classes in the country. A 23-point blowout of SMU in their second game of the season did nothing to quiet the hype. Then came a stunning 31-point loss to BYU in Portland, followed by an embarrassing effort at the Maui Invitational, where they lost to Saint Mary’s and got destroyed by Houston. Losses to Arizona State and Stanford in early December had Oregon’s season on life support.
…
Per ESPN Stats & Information research, Oregon is the first team since 1975-76 Clemson to beat two AP top-five teams on the road in a five-day span. The Ducks have now won five in a row, and have three straight home games coming up. There’s room for the Ducks to make a push toward the top of the Pac-12 standings and get into the NCAA tournament mix.
Coming up, Oregon has four-straight home games against Washington State, Washington, Colorado, and Oregon State. There should be some real confidence that Altman can keep this momentum going forward for the Ducks, and get them back into the conversation for being a team worth watching in the NCAA Tournament.
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