Bracketology Winners: Penn snags big win, Houston stays undefeated

Oregon Ducks

Oregon entered this season as a preseason top-15 team in the nation behind the hype of their incoming recruiting class. Yet, the Ducks showed plenty of signs of vulnerability early in the year with losses to Iowa, Texas Southern, and Houston. And while many may have counted them out following those results, head coach Dana Altman seemingly got his team back on track during this past week with two underrated home wins over San Diego and Boise State.

Of course, these wins are not going to define Oregon’s potential NCAA Tournament resume at the end of the year but they hopefully helped the confidence of the team. Considering how young the Ducks are this season, it would be a mistake to write off the team this early in the year. This team is extremely talented on paper and has the potential to still be a future top-25 if they start to put it together.

Through the first month of the season, only Bol Bol (21.0 points, 9.6 rebounds) and Payton Pritchard (13.3 points, 4.7 assists) have been the only consistent performers for the team. As the others start to get more acclimated with the college game and their teammates, the Ducks could turn into the special team that many thought they could be in the preseason. On the same token, though, these victories might mean nothing in the long run if they do not improve significantly during the year.