Oregon will be back on the road this week, and all things considered I’d assume that’s just how they’d like it to be.
Coming off a disappointing 76-71 loss to rival Oregon State on Sunday, the Ducks have another opportunity to get back on track away from home. As has been the case throughout the 2011-12 season, Oregon will face the better of the two teams on the backend when they play Colorado in Boulder Saturday.
Meanwhile, Utah has dropped six of its last seven and currently ranks 11th in the Pac-12 standings, one game above USC. @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/MBasketball/2011-12-stats/HTML/UTAH.HTM@@
The Ducks have shown flashes of being a better team on the road than at home this season. See the two-point win over Arizona in Tucson earlier this month or their 3-1 road record in conference play as proof of that much. These Ducks are seeing success away from Eugene, certainly a good thing as the Pac-12 tournament slowly but surely approaches. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205335431@@
Oregon and Colorado sat in a tie for third at 6-3 in Pac-12 play when the week began, though you figure the Buffs will have the upper hand at home where they’re 11-1 this season with an undefeated streak in conference competition. @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/MBasketball/2011-12-stats/HTML/COLO.HTM@@
But like Oregon and so many teams in the Pac-12, they’ve lacked consistency for long stretches. There was the 18-point win over first-place Washington in early January, followed by two losses in the Bay Area and a 17-point defeat to UCLA last weekend.  @@http://www.pac-12.org/portals/7/images/MBasketball/2011-12-stats/HTML/COLO.HTM@@
Consistency may honestly be too much to ask from any single team in the Pac-12, as embarrassing as it is to admit. Everyone knows the conference is extremely weak on the national scale of men’s collegiate basketball; it’s been that way the entire time we underclassmen have been at this University.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t an NCAA Tournament berth to be had. If the Pac-12 tournament ended today, heck, the league might even get two NCAA bids for Washington and Cal, if based simply on their names alone.
Oregon won’t have that luxury, but a top-4 seed in the Pac-12 tournament grants them a first-round bye, and as we saw in last year’s upset over UCLA, just about anything is possible in the postseason.
Throughout this banter, somewhere there’s a point I’m trying to make. Oregon enters this crucial final month of the season better off than it has the last three seasons — as a legitimate Pac-12 contender.
Consider for a second that over the last three years, Oregon has scrapped together a combined overall record of 45-57 with a 16-38 mark in conference play. Yeah, it’s been that bad.
Yet, Oregon has a chance to well surpass its highest total number of overall wins (21, last year), and the Ducks remain just one Pac-12 victory away from matching the last two years’ total when the Ducks finished with back-to-back 7-11 seasons. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205031056@@
It’s rarefied air we’re breathing here, folks. @@http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rarefied@@
Oregon has nine games remaining on the league slate — four at home and five on the road. Say the Ducks win all four at home, drop the rest on the road — that still gives them a winning record at 10-8 in the inaugural Pac-12 season. More importantly, it would be the Ducks’ first winning record in conference play since Aaron Brooks and Co. accomplished that feat at 11-7 back in 2006-07. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=691745@@
Personally, I see Oregon taking more than just the four home contests. If they came away with a two wins this weekend I’d be pleasantly surprised, and a win at Colorado is as close as anyone in the Pac-12 will get to a resume-booster out West.
The Washington series is always tricky, and a trip to the Bay looks less welcoming by the day.
That’s why this weekend remains pivotal. Two wins and the momentum is back Oregon’s favor. A split, and, well, maybe this team just isn’t quite over the hump yet.
So, what’s it going to be?