Bracketology 2024: Seton Hall, UNC, Utah State and Oregon among week's big winners

Oregon Ducks

No power conference program has had to deal with as many individual injuries as Oregon, including not having last season’s leading scorer and rebounder, N’Faly Dante. The good news is that Mookie Cook, a five-star prospect, is back to add to the depth.

After beating USC and UCLA at home to open Pac-12 play, the Ducks went on the road to take on the Washington schools. The Huskies were up first, a game that was a nail-biter. Oregon held on for the 76-74 victory, thanks to 17 points from Jackson Shelstad, along with 15 points and eight rebounds from Kwame Evans Jr.

The game on Saturday at Washington State ended up being just as close, with both teams making lots of shots down the stretch. Once again, Oregon held on for the 89-84 win, with Brennan Rigsby scoring 18 points on 4/5 shooting from deep. Both of these wins are currently in the Quad 1 range, the lone ones for them on the season.

The Ducks are now 4-0 in league play and have real optimism that they can get in the thick of the NCAA Tournament at-large picture. They have just one game and it’s at home against a Cal team currently under .500. They’ll need to avoid that bad loss at all costs.