11. Oregon (9-0)
If the first few weeks have been any indication, this could be a really special year for Oregon in their first season as members of the Big Ten. The Ducks haven’t been perfect but their record remains unblemished and they’ve sidestepped any early miscues to put themselves in this position. They won the Players Era Festival with a trio of awesome performances and kept on winning this past week.
The Ducks faced off against a former Pac-12 rival on the road for a second time and the result was the same. Oregon headed to USC back on Wednesday to officially open Big Ten play and left Los Angeles with a 68-60 win over the Trojans. Oregon’s defense played very solid ball while Jackson Shelstad had 24 points in their ninth win of the season.
After an uninteresting start to the season, the Ducks have now won five straight games away from home against prominent competition. They won games with efficient offense in Las Vegas and have shown that the defense can deliver wins just as easily. There’s plenty of talent in a veteran-filled roster that can absolutely make noise right off the bat in the Big Ten. An unorthodox beginning to Big Ten play continues Sunday against UCLA.