We have entered the golden era of the collegiate sports year, where the seasons of football and men’s and women’s basketball overlap. Sadly, nothing is immune to the catastrophic impact of 2020. A pandemic-sized wrench has been thrown into the gears of collegiate athletics, altering the ways we enjoy this special time of year. Fortunately, University of Oregon athletics provides us with a bright future action-packed with high-profile recruits and three premium head coaches that indicates never-before-seen collective athletic dominance.
UO faces the daunting task of filling the hole left by three of its iconic athletes ─ Sabrina Ionescu, Payton Pritchard and Justin Herbert. For most athletic programs around the country, this incredible level of talent comes once in a generation. For UO, there is rarely a lack of talent at the disposal of its respective athletic programs. From track and field to softball, the depth of UO’s athletic programs have positioned the Ducks as arguably the most prestigious athletic institution in the nation. 
Stars like Ionescu, Pritchard and Herbert are irreplaceable. But the unparalleled collective success of three of UO’s premier programs gives the next class of young athletes a clear path to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors. 
Oregon currently stands alone atop the combined football and men’s basketball recruiting class rankings. With both programs currently ranking in the top 10 in the 2021 cycle, there will be no foreseeable lack of talent preventing the Ducks from continuing their dominance over Pac-12 foes.  
Unfortunately, this statistic excludes women’s basketball. The inclusion of Kelly Graves’ program would only further solidify the Ducks’ position, with all three programs poised to be legitimate contenders in the coming years. Graves brought home the number one 2020 recruiting class in all of women’s basketball, featuring five top-20 All-Americans. The women of Oregon are poised to yet again dominate both the Pac-12 and national competition.
Mario Cristobal, Dana Altman and Graves have all proved their ability to translate recruiting success into wins. In their 2019-20 campaigns, all three squads claimed victory over the remainder of the Pac-12, bringing three conference championships to the lesser-known Emerald City. UO became just the second school in NCAA history to win a triple crown consisting of men’s and women’s basketball in addition to football. Better yet, all three programs went undefeated at home, amazingly never dropping a contest in Eugene. In 2020-21, Cristobal has followed up UO’s collectively historic campaign with yet another title.
It is certainly strange for UO’s athletic future to lie in the hands of current elementary and middle schoolers. However, the grown-ups guiding Oregon athletics are building a bright future for the most dominant modern collegiate sports institution in the nation.