NCAA Basketball: Reevaluating preseason top 25 power rankings of 2022-23 season
By Joey Loose
21. Oregon (21-14, NIT)
Last season was a struggle at Oregon and Dana Altman wasn’t shy to admit it. In the offseason, he added multiple pieces to strengthen this roster and put the Ducks back in a position to compete for Pac-12 titles. With the addition of transfers like Jermaine Couisnard and an elite freshman big man in Kel’el Ware, expectations were raised for the Ducks, but they’re another team that failed to live up to it.
The Ducks actually started the season just 2-4 and lose three home games in nonconference play, including to UC Irvine and Utah Valley. While Oregon got an impressive 19-point win over eventual conference champion Arizona in January, they struggled with some of the weaker teams in the league, dropping tough games against the likes of Colorado, Stanford, and Washington on the road. Their 12-8 mark in Pac-12 play was far less impressive than it seems and they were left out of the Big Dance after falling in the conference tournament.
Oregon’s season isn’t quite over, as they’ll play Wisconsin on Tuesday in the NIT quarterfinals, but it’s clear that Altman and company didn’t exactly achieve their goals this season. It didn’t help that Couisnard missed a lot of time with injury. A starting lineup full of seniors didn’t have the chemistry to accomplish their mission, while injuries and inconsistent play really bit them all year long.