15. Oregon (15-3)
When November ended, Oregon was sitting in an incredible position after wins over Texas A&M, San Diego State, and Alabama in Las Vegas. Weeks later, the Ducks have taken a few bumps and bruises and aren’t in that same position but this team has still shown that they can win big games and hang with nearly anyone this season. Dana Altman’s squad is looking to make a good first impression on Big Ten play and it’s been a very solid start.
Back on Sunday, the Ducks got their fourth straight road win, hanging on for an 82-81 victory at Penn State. Six of Oregon’s eight players scoring double figures, led by a 17-point, 8-rebound effort from Jackson Shelstad in a great offensive performance. Things didn’t go quite as smoothly when the Ducks returned to Eugene, losing a tough one 65-58 at home against Purdue. Nate Bittle had 18 points and 6 blocks in a great performance, but Oregon just couldn’t get enough action against the Boilermakers.
They didn’t get the ideal result this week, but Oregon keeps fighting. They had won three straight games after that terrible game against Illinois to begin January and have typically got just enough at the end of these types of contests. We must remember that the Ducks are brand new to this league and these new league opponents and that’s not even making excuses: this team is good, but are they good enough to win the Big Ten? We’ll see them again facing Washington in just a few days.