NCAA Basketball: 5 most watchable defenses for 2019-20 season

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 06: Head coach Bruce Pearl of the Auburn Tigers reacts in the first half during the 2019 NCAA Final Four semifinal against the Virginia Cavaliers at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 6, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 16: Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott presents Payton Pritchard #3 of the Oregon Ducks with the Most Outstanding Player award after the Ducks’ 68-48 victory over the Washington Huskies to win the championship game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 16, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

No. 5 – Oregon

It’s absolutely incredible what head coach Dana Altman has accomplished in such a short time leading the Oregon basketball program. In just nine years, Altman has transformed what was an average Power 6 team into what some experts are referring to as a “Blue Blood” program heading into this season.

Altman has used his success with the program, which includes six tournament appearances and the program’s first trip to the Final Four since 1939, to land the biggest recruiting haul the school has ever seen. Ranked #4 nationally, Oregon’s 2019 freshman class includes uber-athletic 5-star bigs N’fauly Dante and CJ Walker not mention another two lengthy big men in 4-star recruits Isaac Johnson and Chandler Lawson.

These four forwards should form a dominant frontcourt rotation as the base of Dana Altman’s signature matchup zone and should more than replace the talent Oregon lost in the offseason to the NBA in Kenny Wooten and Louis King. Oregon’s defense has never looked more intimidating, and they should dominate their Pac-12 competition this season.

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