No. 14 Oregon volleyball defeated No. 25 USC in four sets on senior day at Matthew Knight Arena on Sunday afternoon 25-23, 23-25, 25-13, 25-22.

Five seniors played their final regular season match at Matthew Knight Arena, but it was Oregon’s underclassmen that stole the show in Oregon’s first Pac-12 weekend sweep since the Ducks (21-7, 11-7) defeated Oregon State and Colorado in the first weekend of Pac-12 play.

Junior Martenne Bettendorf continued her bounce-back and led Oregon’s attack with a career high 22 kills.

“We were struggling because we didn’t have Martenne at her best,” head coach Jim Moore said. “Everybody is going to have ebbs and flows throughout the season and now she’s back.”

Freshman setter Maggie Scott took control of the game with 27 assists and a career high 18 digs. Taylor Agost was also a welcome addition to the rotation as the freshman finished with a .360 attack percentage and 11 kills.

The team dug out 90 USC (14-14, 7-11) attacks, marking the second weekend in a row Oregon has had at least 90 digs.

Keeping up with its recent trend of hard-fought sets, Oregon battled back from an early deficit to win the first set 25-23, then dropped the second set 23-25.

It wasn’t until the third set that Oregon started to show a bit of separation from the Women of Troy. After a Taylor Whittingham ace, the Ducks outscored USC 9-1 with their lone point coming off of an Oregon attack error to win the third set 25-13. Oregon hit .394 in the third set and held USC to just a .182 attack percentage.

The Ducks carried that strong finish into the fourth set, but a tightened USC defense made the final set a bit more competitive. Oregon was held to a .220 hitting percentage, while holding USC to a .130 clip. Oregon sat at match point for three serves before a service error sealed the deal for Oregon in a 25-22 set win.

After three straight wins over top 25 opponents, Oregon is peaking at the right time as they head into the postseason.

“I think we’re playing great volleyball right now,” senior outside hitter Liz Brenner said. “We’re playing hard and we’re getting a lot of balls up that we weren’t a few weeks ago and I think this is perfect timing.”

With the win, Oregon has all but guaranteed itself a chance to host the opening round of the NCAA tournament, buying the seniors another chance at playing in front of their home crowd before their careers end.

“There’s no guarantees, but it would be difficult to have that not happen now,” Moore said.

Oregon faces Utah on the road on Tuesday before heading to Corvallis for the regular season finale against the Beavers on Friday.

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Ole Miss dropped out of the top 10, UCLA improved its case for a playoff bid and Florida State survived in the Week 14 AP top 25 poll.

A week after Brett Bielema earned his first SEC victory in a shutout of LSU, Arkansas kept then-No. 8 Ole Miss off the scoreboard in a 30-0 rout. The Rebels (8-3) dropped 10 spots to No. 18 in the biggest shakeup of the week.

The rest of the poll remained relatively static. Florida State stayed on top at No.1, with Alabama, Oregon and Mississippi State keeping their spots in the top four. The Seminoles’ close call against Boston College did change the mind of some pollsters, as Florida State lost a few No. 1 votes, down to 37 from 43.

UCLA’s dominant performance against its cross town rival Southern Cal was enough to push the Bruins up two spots and into the top 10 at No. 9. If UCLA beats Stanford next week, they’ll clinch the Pac-12 South, setting up a colossal rematch with Oregon in the Pac-12 championship that would have major playoff implications.

No. 22 Minnesota, No. 23 Clemson, No. 24 Louisville and No. 25 Boise State are the newest members of the Top 25, replacing USC, Notre Dame, Duke and Nebraska.

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Dana Altman called Oregon’s next three games the toughest stretch he’s had to face at Oregon.

The Ducks face Toledo at Matthew Knight Arena on Friday before heading to Brooklyn to face No. 24 Michigan, then No. 12 Villanova or No. 15 VCU to finish up the Progressive Legends Classic.

Each team will present a unique set of challenges for the young Duck basketball team (2-0) that will likely get a heavy dose of reality against Toledo (1-1).

“I’m not sure we’re ready for this,” Altman said. “We’re going to have to play very, very well to put ourselves in position to stay with these guys.”

Toledo’s size and physicality will be Oregon’s first real test of the Legends Classic. The Rockets returned seven players from their 27-7 team a year ago and have four upperclassmen playing over 29 minutes per game.

Junior center Nathan Boothe leads the team in scoring with 18.5 points per game, while forward J.D. Weatherspoon leads the team in rebounds at 8.0 per game. Toledo’s backcourt is rounded out by seniors Julius Brown (13.5 ppg, 4.0 apg) and Justin Drummond (12.0 ppg).

The Rockets hung tough with VCU’s chaotic full-court press on Tuesday before a handful of turnovers doomed Toledo to a 87-78 loss.

For the Ducks to have a chance at stealing a win, they’ll need a much better shooting night from Young, who’ll have to forget about a seven for 23 night from the field against Detroit on Monday.

“It’s over with,” Young said. “It’s not about just shots, I wasn’t knocking down shots, but I did other things. I got my team amped up, I played better defense than I’ve ever played. The shots are going to fall, I’m very confident in my shot play and coach is too.”

Tipoff for the Oregon-Toledo game is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday and can be viewed on the Pac-12 Network.

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Oregon men’s basketball received its second commit of the season as four-star power forward Trevor Manuel submitted his National Letter of Intent on Tuesday.

At 6-foot-9, 215-lbs., Manuel’s long frame, emphasis on defense and a dependable mid-range jump shot will be a welcome addition to Oregon’s athletic group of forwards next season.

247 Sports rated Manuel a 93 overall, making him the No. 90 player nationally and the No. 25 power forward in his class. ESPN gave Manuel an 80 overall grade.

Manuel, a Lansing, Michigan native, spent his junior season at Oak Hill Academy, but returned to his hometown for his senior year. In his sophomore season in Lansing, Manuel averaged 12.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

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Oregon men’s basketball got its first taste of adversity in game one of the Progressive Legends Classic as the Ducks topped Detroit 83-66 on Monday night at Matthew Knight Arena.

After ending the first half at a 35-35 tie, the Ducks (2-0) used an 11-0 advantage in second chance points to separate from the Titans (1-1) in the second half to coast to the win.

Senior guard Joseph Young found a way to lead the team with 22 points, but Young shot just 30.4 percent from the field (7-23), eight percent from three (1-12) and committed a team high five turnovers.

In the first half, Young didn’t even have a field goal, going 0-7 from the field, but turned it around with some volume shooting, going 7-16 in the second half.

Lucky for him, Young was bailed out by Jalil Abdul-Bassit’s best performance as a Duck, who set new career highs in points (17) and rebounds (6) on 6-8 shooting.

“I just had to see the first one go in,” Abdul-Bassit said. “It was mainly my teammates, though. They kept me up, kept telling me to be aggressive.”

As a team, Oregon shot 44.8 percent, including a 27.3 clip from three point range, but saw almost 50 percent of its shots come from deep (33 of 67). Several Oregon possessions were cut short by quick pull-up threes, but head coach Dana Altman said he didn’t mind the longer shots, as long as they were open shots.

“We’ve got a lot to work through to make sure we get the best shot available,” head coach Dana Altman said. “We’re in a little bit of a hurry offensively…but I think our guys will learn. I like them having confidence and I want them to be aggressive, but there’s a fine line between being aggressive and taking bad shots.”

Young’s off-night was a good chance to learn more about the freshmen Oregon will rely on consistently this season. Dillon Brooks chipped in 14 points, going 6-12 from the field, while Jordan Bell adjusted shots all night from down low and picked up a team high of nine rebounds.

Casey Benson’s and Ahmad Rorie’s performances didn’t show up in the box score, but both freshmen played plenty of meaningful minutes in a close game.

“We’re asking them to do a lot,” Altman said. “They’re not going to have great games every time, it just doesn’t happen that way…We just have to keep hoping that they keep making steps because they’re four solid, good players.”

Oregon will face Toledo in game two of the Progressive Legends Classic on Friday at Matthew Knight Arena. The Rockets were picked as a No. 13 seed in ESPN’s initial Bracketology spread.

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If going undefeated wasn’t good enough, breaking an NCAA record pushed the Oregon men’s golf team over the top.

Oregon’s dominant performance at the blustery Ka’anapali Golf Course proved that the men’s golf team was ready to make the jump to No. 1 in the Golf Coaches Association of America Coaches poll, marking the highest ranking in program history.

Oregon shot a ridiculous 30-under in the opening, setting a new NCAA record, as confirmed by Golfweek and Golfstat, for the lowest single round score.

Freshman Aaron Wise shot 5-under-par 66 in the opening round, a score that would normally put him at the top of the leaderboard, but was dropped from the record round.

“In the team meeting after the round, I kind of jokingly called him out,” head coach Casey Martin said. “’Look Aaron, you’re not helping the team, it’s a real disappointment.’”

Joke or not, Wise challenged himself to make the cut.

In the third round, Wise shot a team best 6-under-par 65, putting him in prime position to win the event outright. With one hole to go, North Florida’s M.J. Maguire sank a birdie putt to tie the score with Wise and force a playoff.

It took just one hole to decide it as Wise nailed a birdie putt to win his first collegiate event, marking the second time this season a freshman has come through in the clutch for the Ducks.

“A lot of that comes from the way we practice with the team,” Wise said. “We have a lot of competitions and the rounds we play always come down to the last few holes, we have to make a few putts and we feel like when we’re in those situations in tournaments, we’re used to it. We’re able to draw on the experience we get from our practices and perform the shot properly.”

Oregon is 4-0 for the first time in program history, owns the best record in all of college golf and now holds the NCAA record for the best round in history. However, those accomplishments won’t mean much if Oregon can’t perform well in the postseason. But right now, Martin isn’t worried about things so far down the line.

“We don’t talk about that,” Martin said. “They know where they’re ranked and what that means, but for these guys, if all five of them can just keep chipping away and get better, then look out.”

If Oregon does find itself making the cut at the NCAAs later this season, it will be because of a strong mixture of experienced upperclassmen and talented freshmen carrying their own weight the whole way.

“There’s no one guy on our team that sticks out as someone who is overly cocky or arrogant or anything like that,” junior Brandon McIver said. “Everyone comes to practice with a mentality to get better. Be humble, take what you get and if you work hard we know everything else will take care of itself.”

The Ducks will take a month off before heading back into the tournament circuit in February. When they do tee off, it will be into uncharted territory as the nation’s top team.

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The Pac-12 conference got back on track in 2014, putting six teams in the NCAA Tournament, but faces another rebuilding season this year.

UCLA, Stanford, Arizona State and Oregon each lost huge chunks of their production from a year ago. The Bruins are faced with replacing three first round NBA draft picks, Stanford saw two of its three best players drafted, Arizona State lost star point guard Jahii Carson, while the Ducks were decimated by off-the-court issues.

However, the Pac-12’s best national contender, Arizona, lost Aaron Gordon, the No. 4 overall pick in the NBA draft and reigning Pac-12 player Nick Johnson, but still reloaded to produce a potential No. 1 seed for the Pac-12.

The Wildcats return center Kaleb Tarczewski (9.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1 bpg), point guard T.J. McConnell (8.4 ppg, 5.3 apg) as well as forwards Brandon Ashley (11.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (9.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg). True freshman Stanley Johnson, ESPN’s No.7 overall recruit, 

will look to replace Nick Johnson and round out the dominant defensive team with his offensive prowess.

Behind Arizona, Colorado, Stanford and Utah represent the next-tier of contenders for the conference title.

The Buffs already have worked toward replacing their leading scorer and NBA draft pick Spencer Dinwiddie after he went down with an ACL injury in the beginning of Pac-12 play. Guard Askia Booker (13.7 ppg, 3.3 apg), forward Josh Scott (14.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and swing-man Xavier Johnson (12 ppg, 5.9 rpg) lead the way for Colorado, who should be a serious contender for a NCAA tournament bid.

Stanford made some noise in the 2014 NCAA tournament after upsetting No. 2 seed Kansas to reach the Sweet Sixteen, but head coach Johnny Dawkins is faced with replacing Josh Huestis (11.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and Dwight Powell (14 ppg, 6.9 rpg) in 2015. He’ll have to look to senior guard Chasson Randle (18.8 ppg) and versatile swing-man Anthony Brown (12.3 ppg, 5 rpg) for scoring in the backcourt, while forward Stefan Nastic (7.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg) holds down the frontcourt for the Cardinal.

Wooden Award candidate Delon Wright leads Utah(15.5 ppg, 5.3 apg, 2.5 spg, 1.3 bpg). Wright really did it all for the Utes a year ago. He will look for help from forward Jordan Loveridge (14.7 ppg, 7 rpg, 2.3 apg), but Wright will be the Utes’ entire team in 2015.

The rest of the conference is entirely up for grabs, meaning that there are a lot of questions still lingering about the rest of the field.

UCLA’s Kyle Anderson, Jordan Adams and Zach LaVine are all gone, meaning Norman Powell (11.4 ppg) will be the Bruins’ top scorer. Freshman forward Kevon Looney will have to step up big alongside returners Bryce Alford (8 ppg) and Tony Parker (6.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg) if UCLA wants to contend for an NCAA tournament bid.

Cal returns Tyrone Wallace (11.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg) and Jabari Bird (8.3 ppg), but first-year head coach Cuonzo Martin has big shoes to fill after Mike Montgomery retired at the end of last season.

At the bottom half of the conference, Washington has to fill C.J. Wilcox’s 18.3 ppg, Arizona State needs to replace not only Carson, but shot-blocker Jordan Bachynski, and former Oregon head coach Ernie Kent will make his debut as the new Washington State head coach.

USC’s head coach Andy Enfield will have to improve on his 2-16 Pac-12 record from 2014, while new Oregon State head coach Wayne Tinkle is faced with rebuilding the depleted program.

After a handful of competent teams at the top end of the league, the Pac-12 is faced with another down-year as a middle-of-the-pack conference.

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Oregon emerged from its two exhibitions unscathed, but there are still plenty of questions surrounding the team that can only be answered by increased competition.

The Ducks beat Northwest Christian 101-69 to open the year, then beat Western Oregon 104-55 on Sunday night and were really never challenged in either of the match ups.

Oregon led NCU 32-6 at one point in the first game, but against Western Oregon – which was coming off an upset win over Oregon State – the Ducks trailed 18-7 before waking up to blow out the undermanned Wolves.

So what have we learned from the first two games?

Newcomers need to mesh quickly

JUCO transfer Dwayne Benjamin and freshman Ahmaad Rorie, Dillon Brooks and Jordan Bell are going to be thrust into the fire in the Pac-12. Brooks (16.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Bell (9.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg) are versatile forwards with loads of athleticism, but are vastly undersized compared to the high-end big men in the Pac-12.

Brooks is more polished offensively with a handful of moves to lean on with his back to the basket and serviceable jump shot. Bell is more of a shot blocker and scrappy rebounder. When the two are on the court together, they’re dangerous in transition and should pose mismatches for most centers and power-forwards.

Benjamin is Oregon’s best scorer outside of Joe Young. He’s averaged 15.5 points per game on a .778 shooting percentage from a stretch-forward position and is noticeably further along offensively than any of the freshmen. Benjamin can knock down open threes and is explosive enough off the dribble to make defenses at least key on him.

Rorie, on the other hand, hasn’t really shown much despite earning a spot in the starting lineup. He’s averaged just 6.5 points, two rebounds and three assists through the first two games in 23.5 minutes per game. As the No. 2 guard in the lineup, he’ll have to find his stride offensively to keep Oregon’s offense balanced.

Rebounds will tell the tale

With an undersized roster, transition offense will be key for Oregon this season, making team-rebounding even more important for a group that noticeably struggled in that category a year ago.

“We’re small, so we’ve just got to be scrappy,” junior Elgin Cook said. “Carve out some room and some space down low, box out and be first to the ball.”

Against WOU, Oregon had a narrow 17-16 rebound advantage at halftime, then out-rebounded the Wolves 30-8 in the second half, leading to 18 fast break points compared to just two in the first half.

With forwards like Benjamin, Bell, Brooks and Cook itching to run out in transition, Oregon has to crash the boards all throughout the game if they want to compete against the more talented teams on their schedule.

Young will need some help in the backcourt

After leading the team with 55 minutes in the first two games, it’s obvious to see that head coach Dana Altman will be leaning on Young to carry the offense in long stretches this season.

The senior guard averaged 27.5 points and five assists in the two exhibitions, proving that he hasn’t lost his scoring touch, but hasn’t looked completely comfortable as the primary ball-handler as he makes the transition from shooting guard to point guard.

Freshman Casey Benson has played meaningful minutes off the bench and looks more like a true point guard, but is limited offensively. Benson averaged seven points, 1.5 assists and 23.5 minutes. He and Rorie will need to step up to relieve some of the pressure off of Young.

“It’s obvious we’re going to have a work in progress for quite a while here,” Altman said. “I think we’re making some progress, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

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The No. 2 ranked Oregon men’s golf team shot 254, 291 and 274 (33-under) to win the Ka’anapali Collegiate Classic in Lahaina, Hawaii, marking the first time in program history that the team has won four consecutive events to start the season.

After breaking the program record for lowest single round team score (30-under) Friday, the Ducks faced inclement weather in the second round and shot 291 (7-over), however bounced back with a 274 scorecard (10-under) to win the event by 24 strokes.

Oregon had three of the four best individual scorecards over the weekend. Freshman Aaron Wise edged out North Florida’s MJ Maguire in a playoff to win the individual title at 10-under. Wise shot 66, 72 and 65 (6-under) over the three rounds.

Brandon McIver had the field’s best individual round of 62 (9-under), and finished 8-under on the weekend in second place. Jonathan Woo shot 63, 72, and 71 to finish 7-under in a tie for fourth. Hurly Long was not far behind at 2-under and tied for eleventh place.

After retaining the No. 2 overall ranking in the latest Golfstat rankings, Oregon will boast the only four win resume in college golf, putting them in prime position to take the No. 1 ranking from Illinois this week.

The Ducks will get a month off before returning to Hawaii for the Amer Ari Invitational Feb. 5-7. Oregon finished in a tie for third at 29-under in their appearance at the event last year.

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Week 12 saw multiple playoff contenders face off, upsets and tough road escapes for the nation’s best teams.

Then-No. 3 Auburn lost to unranked Texas A&M, then-No. 4 Alabama needed overtime to escape from then-No. 16 LSU in Death Valley, then-No. 6 TCU passed its final big test in its victory over then-No. 7 Kansas State and then-No.4 Oregon escaped then-No. 17 Utah in Salt Lake City.

Auburn dropped six spots to No. 9, Oregon jumped Alabama as the two teams moved up to No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, while TCU moved up to No. 5.

Baylor’s blowout win against Oklahoma in Norman brought the Bears up four spots to No. 6 and Arizona State’s victory over Notre Dame pushed the Sun Devils up four spots as well. No. 7. Ohio State also moved into the top 10 at No. 8 after defeating Michigan State on the road.

For the fifth straight week, No. 1 Mississippi State and No. 2 Florida State retained the two top spots in the poll.

Click here for the full rankings.

When the dust settled, we received another piece of the playoff puzzle; the SEC West picture narrowed to the Alabama-Mississippi State game next week, TCU put itself in prime position to earn the fourth playoff spot, while ASU became a team that ‘controls its own destiny’ as they emerged as the favorite in the Pac-12 south, potentially making the Pac-12 championship game a quarter-final matchup for the College Football Playoff.

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