8. Stanford (4-3, 0-1)
Last week: Lost to Colorado 76-80
This week: Oregon
The Cardinal garnered some optimism in the preseason after having another decent recruiting class and the return of most improved Jaiden Delaire, but Jerod Haase’s team looks as lost as ever. The defense is giving up a ghastly 54% in terms of effective field goal shooting and Stanford appears incapable of creating turnovers. The season appears to be another year of wondering which team will show up. Their highest quality win on the season is the opener against Tarleton State.
7. Oregon (5-4, 0-1)
Last week: Defeated Montana 87-47, Defeated UC Riverside 71-65, Lost to Arizona State 67-69 in overtime
This week: at Stanford
Every season there is one ranked team in the country that grossly underperforms compared to their expectations. This year, it appears the Oregon Ducks are that team. The season wasn’t supposed to go smoothly out of the gate, with Dana Altman needing to replace Chris Duarte, Eugene Omoruyi, and LJ Figueroa through the portal rather than returning players.
But the Ducks have looked utterly lost on offense and the addition of interior defender Quincy Guerrier has shockingly been a nonfactor on defense. Opponents are able to get whatever they want inside against Oregon, who rank in the bottom 50 in both opponent two-point shooting percentage and effective field goal percentage. It’s a recipe that unravels their approach to slow-tempo gameplay.
Worse, the Ducks offense has looked lackluster at best, which limits any real optimism for the team moving forward. Worst, they just lost to the dumpster fire that is the Arizona State Sun Devils. For Altman to save the season, the Ducks need to regroup fast.