The Oregon Ducks did everything they needed to do in the first week of the season, with dominant wins over Texas Southern and SMU in a matter of days.
The competition wasn’t as pristine as you’d hope to see before having to make a decision on whether or not this team is the real deal, but Oregon’s execution surely gave fans confidence that this will be an incredibly fun team to watch this season, and the ability to play as a cohesive unit on the floor despite bringing in a litany of new pieces together was supremely impressive.
After their 2-0 start to the season, the Ducks moved up one spot in the Associated Press Top-25, where they now sit at No. 12 in the polls. Here is how the top-15 shakes out:
- Gonzaga (2-0)
- UCLA (2-0)
- Kansas (2-0)
- Michigan (2-0)
- Villanova (1-1)
- Purdue (2-0)
- Duke (3-0)
- Texas (1-1)
- Baylor (1-0)
- Illinois (2-0)
- Memphis (2-0)
- Oregon (2-0)
- Kentucky (1-1)
- Alabama (2-0)
- Houston (2-0)
The Ducks also moved up a spot to No. 11 in ESPN’s Power Rankings, which made note of Oregon’s transfer portal prowess and high ceiling after the start of the season:
Once Oregon added Syracuse transfer Quincy Guerrier last summer, I was intrigued to see if Dana Altman would go with a small-ball lineup featuring the 6-foot-8 forward and 6-foot-7 Eric Williams Jr. as the lone frontcourt players. Through two games, Altman did just that, and it helped the Ducks to one of the more under-the-radar week one wins: a 23-point drilling of potential NCAA tournament team SMU. Will Richardson has taken a massive step forward in the backcourt, following the departures of Chris Duarte and LJ Figueroa. Richardson averaged 19.0 points, hitting eight of his 13 3-point attempts. It’s also worth noting that Altman has kept a pretty tight seven-man rotation, even in two blowouts; given that six of the players are between 6-foot-2 and 6-foot-8, the versatility and interchangeability of the roster enables Altman to mix and match for different lineups. It’s the perfect roster for him.
Coming up, Oregon has a big game against BYU on Tuesday up in the PK85, which is being held at the Moda Center. After that, all eyes will turn down the road towards their massive home game on December 18th against the Baylor Bears, who currently rank No. 9 in the nation.
[listicle id=12508]