Much has been made of the Pac-12’s above average Ratings Percentage Index this season. The conference has seven teams inside the RPI Top 50, and its regular season conference champion, No. 8 Oregon, ranks fourth nationally in the statistic.

The metric, which rates teams based on wins and losses compared to its strength of schedule, has become a commonly used denominator to quantify success. And based on the Ducks’ resume, the team has formed a decent case for why it may be one of the better conference champions in the country.

They’re 6-2 in record in games against the RPI Top 50 and in a conference tied with the ACC for having the most teams in the RPI Top 100 (11). Not since 2005 has a conference entered Selection Sunday with 11 teams rated that high, according to the Pac-12. But, the RPI being this qualified and valid source on who are the best teams in the nation has certainly met opposition, which is why Oregon’s track record has provoked skepticism.

“It seems as though the love for the Pac-12 Conference is getting a little ahead of reality,” The Sporting News‘ Mike DeCourcy wrote in January. 

As DeCourcy points out, the Pac-12 went a combined 15-15 against teams in the other major conferences this year. The teams also went 12-19 against outside competition ranked inside the RPI Top 50, further emphasizing his point that the conference, despite what the RPI says, may not actually be better than conferences like the ACC.

The RPI is just one of the many resources the NCAA Tournament Committee uses to evaluate teams come Selection Sunday, though — or so it proclaims. The Wall Street Journal discovered in 2011 that the rating was extremely indicative of whether a team on the bubble would make the tournament or not.

In addition, Ken Pomery wrote on Slate in 2011 that, while plenty of RPI rankings appear sensible, many of them do not deliver a ranking a team deserves.

“The biggest problem with the metric is how it uses strength of schedule,” stated Pomeroy, whose own analytical system has become commonly cited in reference to college basketball. “Theoretically, the best team in the country could play the weakest possible slate of opponents. While playing bad opponents shouldn’t imply that you’re a bad team, three-quarters of the RPI is determined by a strength-of-schedule component. That means who you play is often more important than whether you win or lose.”

Pomeroy’s system is more predictive and uses point margin in wins and losses to deliver rankings. His ranking looks quite different than the RPI or Associated Press Top 25. Oregon is ranked No. 15 in it, and does not have the highest likelihood to win its conference tournament despite being the top seed.

It’s difficult to fully comprehend what all of this means. It is college basketball after all, and each season appears to offer more parity than the previous. By Jan. 22, 19 teams ranked inside the AP Poll’s top five had lost, according to ESPN. The consistent narrative this year is that there is no elite, cut-above-the-rest team, which could lend itself to a particularly crazy NCAA Tournament full of upsets.

Oregon figures to be a 2 or 3 seed in this year’s tournament, and wherever they are matched, dwelling on how they got that seeding doesn’t seem necessary.

“The only thing we can control is winning,” head coach Dana Altman said. “Three years ago, [when we had] our first appearance as a 12-seed, I told our guys we’re only a 12 if we think we’re a 12. No one goes into that tournament without extreme confidence.”

Altman also pointed to Iowa State’s season last year when asked about building momentum in the Pac-12 Tournament. The Cyclones won their conference tournament in 2015 and figured to be a Final Four contender. But their season ended just four days later in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

And it seems to drive home a point that a variety of rankings certainly have value — maybe one more so than the other — but that the NCAA Tournament will always be chaotic in spite of it.

Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise

Editor’s Note:Oregon men’s basketball enters the Pac-12 tournament as the conference regular season champion and No. 1 seed. Ezra Amacher, a sports editor at The Daily Wildcat, writes why Arizona’s reign is certainly not over.

After Oregon defeated Arizona in McKale Center in late January, Ducks head coach Dana Altman needed a moment to reflect on the significance of the win.

His team had just walked into McKale and done what no other program could do over the past two years – knock off the Wildcats on their home court.

Not only that, Oregon won the game in convincing fashion, sending the Arizona faithful to the exits well before the final buzzer rang.

For Altman, the victory was one he had been pursuing for years.

“Our program, we’ve been chasing Arizona,” Altman told reporters postgame.

Then he added, “And we still are.”

In the weeks since that win, Oregon held control of the Pac-12 standings and clinched the regular season title this past weekend. Altman was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

The Ducks enter Las Vegas as the Pac-12’s best hope at a top seed. National pundits label Oregon a potential Final Four team.

Arizona, meanwhile, lumbered to a 12-6 league record. Most bracketologists put Arizona in the five or six range heading into the conference tournament.

That’s not a bad position, but it certainly doesn’t meet the expectations of head coach Sean Miller, who has led Arizona to back-to-back Elite Eight appearances.

With Oregon coming off a strong regular season in a year that featured a less-than-stellar Arizona team, it may be easy for some to argue that the Ducks have caught up to the Wildcats or are at least right on their tail.

This, however, would ignore the established culture Miller has in place at Arizona, a type of culture that Oregon still lacks.

Let’s take each program’s 2015-16 attendance numbers as an example.

In a year that featured the Ducks’ highest regular-season win total in modern Oregon basketball, the program managed to fill just 60 percent of Matthew Knight Arena’s seating across the course of the season.

The gym, which rivals Arizona’s McKale Center with its state-of-the-art facilities, rarely puts opponents on edge.

McKale, on the other hand, was filled to or near capacity all season long, even the Saturday after Arizona fell to the Ducks.

By the time Oregon State arrived to close out the home stand, Wildcats fans were ready to bear witness to another record-breaking home winning streak.

Attendance and fan support don’t necessarily correlate directly with on-court success, but they do reflect the attitude of the current and future state of a program.

At Arizona, 30-win seasons have become the norm. Oregon has not won 30 games in a season in 71 years.

And what’s the best way to ensure future success? Recruiting, of course.

On Monday night, Arizona guaranteed itself another top-10 recruiting class when five-star shooting guard Rawle Alkins committed to the Wildcats on ESPNU.

Alkins, ironically, took his first unofficial visit to Arizona on the night of the loss to Oregon.

As the Ducks celebrated the win in the opposing locker room as if they’d just won a championship, Alkins witnessed the hardship one single loss places on the Arizona program.

“One thing when I took that visit that really stuck with me is that winning is the only option to them,” Alkins said.

Only at Arizona is winning everything.

Early in the 2014 season, senior Joseph Young installed a chalkboard session for the rather large group of inexperienced rookies on the Oregon men’s basketball team. The sessions were meant to go over aspects of the game players needed to work on without a coach present.

Young said he was trying to create a family, and these meetings grew into something the entire team took part in.

It’s clear they had an impact. The 2014 Ducks, despite returning one starter and being predicted to finish eighth in the Pac-12, surprised many by winning nine of their last 10 regular season games and reaching the Pac-12 Tournament Final and second round of the NCAA Tournament. After the year concluded, Young told reporters that he hoped the group would take the experiences they gained and “learn off of it.” He also could sense the potential the group of returners had.

“I knew they were going to make a big run,” Young said over the phone Tuesday.

It was hard to tell just how good they could be, though. As a senior, Young had carried the load on offense all season and averaged 28 points per game in the team’s final four games.

Yet it proved to be a manageable problem to solve. One year removed from Young’s tenure at Oregon, the No. 8 Ducks enter postseason play as the 2016 Pac-12 regular season champions. From his vantage, he thinks the Ducks, with the firepower they’re displaying, can make a run at the “Final Four and beyond.”

The Ducks, unlike last year, have several players that can take over a game at any moment. It’s been on display all year, and was exemplified when they clinched the Pac-12 regular season title last Saturday in a 76-66 win over USC. Brooks, the team’s leading scorer, scored just three points, yet four other players scored in double figures.

“[We have] so many people that can do so many different things,” Benjamin said at practice Monday. “A lot of people stepped up at a lot of different times this year.”

The added experience from last year has certainly helped the team understand the type of toughness they’ll need in March, according to Benjamin.

“We know a little bit of what to expect,” he added.

It is obvious that the type of team Oregon is is one that can match Young’s expectations, and it’s why he’s excited about the coming weeks. Young’s even hoping that he can watch the team play in the later rounds of the NCAA Tournament in person.

For now, though, the contingent of players that Young led during the 2014-15 season will fulfill the role as the favorite in the 2016 Pac-12 Tournament — a position they might not have been in if it wasn’t for the experience gained with Young just a year prior.

Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise

Oregon’s coaches and players were certainly aware of it, even if they didn’t say it, last Sunday after the team’s win over Washington.

The ninth-ranked Ducks were an undefeated road trip away from winning their first outright Pac-12 regular season title since 2002. But, given their last road trip, which resulted in consecutive losses to California and Stanford, it was clear that the two games versus UCLA and USC would provide a test.

Oregon passed that test gracefully Saturday, as the Ducks defeated USC, 76-66, three days after dispatching UCLA, 76-68. The wins give Oregon  its second outright regular season conference championship title since 1939 and extends the Ducks’ winning streak to five heading into postseason play.

“I’m really happy for the guys,” Oregon head coach Dana Altman said on Oregon IMG networks.

Tyler Dorsey led all scorers with 19, Elgin Cook added 17 points and 12 rebounds and Dwayne Benjamin scored 14 more in the clinching win over USC.

But it wasn’t the smoothest of showings for Oregon. Dillon Brooks and Chris Boucher combined for just eight points and the Ducks began the game shooting 3-of-10 from the field. They trailed by as much as seven just four minutes in, but went on a 24-8 run to establish control of the game heading into the latter part of the first half.

Then, things got weird. The lights shut off at the Galen Center, causing a 20-minute delay with about five minutes remaining in the first half.

“It was an awkward game, that’s for sure,” Altman said.

Oregon pushed its lead to as much as 14 after play resumed, before taking a 44-37 lead into the half.

USC caught the Ducks playing flat footed to begin the second half, though, and went on a 21-9 run to take a 50-48 lead. However, it was lead they wouldn’t cling to for long, and after Dorsey made a pair of free throws to put the Ducks up 54-52, Oregon wouldn’t trail again.

The Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas begins next Wednesday, March 9 and Oregon will enter as the No. 1 seed with a first round bye.

Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise

— The Oregon women’s basketball season came crashing to an end Thursday. After losing Jillian Alleyne to an ACL injury just over a week earlier, the Ducks lost their third consecutive game — this time in a 74-68 loss to Arizona in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament. 

Oregon may receive a WNIT bid, which is a tournament that invites the most qualified teams not in the NCAA Tournament. And the prospect is  appealing to coaches and players.

“Speaking for myself, I would love to continue to play (in the WNIT),” Lexi Petersen said. “I’ve had such a good time and long run at Oregon. I just want to finish on a good note.”

— On the other hand, Oregon men’s basketball clinched at least a share of the Pac-12 regular season title for the first time since 2002 Wednesday. The Ducks clinched it following a 76-68 win at UCLA. Oregon will play USC Saturday, and a win there would give them the conference title outright.

— Oregon baseball’s pitchers are living up to their potential through the first two weekends of the 2016 season. The weekend rotation of Cole Irvin, Matt Krook and David Petersen has a collective 1.42 ERA in 38 innings pitched. They’ll square up against a UC Santa Barbara offense with a batting average of .341 this weekend, though. 

“I think it’s a small sample of what offensive team they’re going to be,” Oregon head coach George Horton said. “But they’re sure scoring a lot of runs.”

First pitch in the three-game series is Friday at 3 p.m.

— Oregon softball is on the road again and will be competing in its fourth tournament of the season this weekend in Las Vegas. Ducks are 12-4 this season.

— Aaron Wise was named the Pac-12 men’s golfer of the month Wednesday. Wise shot an average round score of 69.67 for Oregon in Febraury, which included a first place individual finish at the Amer Ari Invitational on Feb. 6.

—Former Oregon defensive end Deforest Buckner continues to see his draft stock soar. After the NFL Combine this past weekend, Buckner has been projected to go as high as No. 3 in the upcoming 2016 draft. 

— Oregon men’s basketball clinched at least a share of the Pac-12 regular season title Wednesday. The Oregonian looked back at the Ducks’ previous conference winners, going back as far as the 1918-19 team, which won the Pacific Coast Conference Title.

Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise

It seemed as if it might be Elgin Cook’s show Sunday.

Playing in his final home game, the senior followed up his game-high 24 points Wednesday against Washington State and scored 13 points in the first half to help the Ducks take control of its game with Washington early. And his driving one-handed slam over the reach of a Huskies defender set the tone for a night in which the energy was as high as it had been all season at Matthew Knight Arena.

ELGIN COOK WHAT DID THEY DO TO DESERVE THIS

Watch #Pac12Hoops: https://t.co/YfMNDWLu5w https://t.co/hKaDGFjYFS

— Pac-12 Networks (@Pac12Networks) February 29, 2016

As the game wore on, though, it became clear that it wasn’t just Cook’s show. It was everyone’s, and behind a concerted effort from the Ducks’ eight-man rotation – five players scored 10 points or more — No. 13 Oregon pushed past Washington, 86-73, to remain atop the Pac-12 standings and finish the season undefeated at home.

“It was surreal,” Cook said of his Senior Night performance. “It was amazing.”

Despite committing 14 turnovers and shooting just 2-of-10 from the 3-point line, Oregon shot 53.7 percent from the field and used a myriad of quick runs to jump on a Washington team in desperate pursuit of a resume boosting win.

Cook finished his night with 26 points and seven rebounds. Dillon Brooks added 19, and Jordan Bell and Casey Benson each scored 12. In addition, the Ducks dominated Washington on the glass, winning the rebounding battle, 40-26, and limited Washington to just 39.7 percent shooting.

“Those are the two stats that are really important to us,” head coach Dana Altman said. “Points off turnovers, points in the paint, second chance points, we won all three of those categories, so those great stats for it.”

But, the Huskies didn’t lie down easily, and each time the Ducks seemed to be on the verge of breaking away, they responded. It first came after Cook’s emphatic dunk that gave Oregon a 20-15 lead. Washington guard Matisse Thybulle hit a 3-pointer on the following possession to cut the lead to two.

It happened again after the Ducks stretched their lead to six. Dejounte Murray hit a three from the corner. And after Chris Boucher tipped in a missed 3-pointer from Dwayne Benjamin to push Oregon’s lead to eight, David Crisp hit a three to cut the deficit to five.

And even after the Ducks scored seven straight points to open the second half and take a 47-32 lead, the deficit was cut to nine by the 15:22 mark after a couple of Washington 3-pointers.

Known for their 3-point shooting prowess, the Huskies made nine of its 25 attempts, and Murray and Thybulle combined for seven of them.

“We messed up on a couple switches and they got a couple open shots,” Benjamin said. “That’s just something that we’ll have to work on.”

But, consistently staying with the pace the Ducks were running at proved to be too much of a challenge. It didn’t help that the sellout crowd seemed to only get louder as the game moved along, especially after Dillon Brooks punctuated an 8-0 run by making a lay up and drawing a foul to extend Oregon’s lead back to 15 with 12:39 remaining.

Behind Andrew Andrews’ 21 points, the Huskies would cut that lead to as little as six. But, that would be the closest the score got, and the Ducks closed out the the game on a 19-12 run.

The win helped the Ducks secure an undefeated record at home in a season for just the fifth time their history. Now, Cook is just hoping that the Ducks can translate that energy on the road.

“We just want to finish out strong and take our home mentality on the road,” Cook said. 

There was an obvious contrast in the way the Ducks played their last three home games  compared to their back-to-back losses at Cal and Stanford in early February. It’s why Altman’s voice raised a notch when asked about the group’s focus looking ahead.

“UCLA,” Altman said. “That’s all we need to think about.” 

It’s no secret that Oregon is two wins away from clinching its first Pac-12 regular season championship since 2002. One win would clinch the Ducks at least a share of it. But, based on the Ducks’ last road trip, it’s obvious that it won’t be an easy task.

“It’s going to be difficult,” Altman said. “It’s our last road trip and our focus has to be one thing, UCLA.” 

Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise

Before he even threw a single pitch this year, Cole Irvin grabbed all of the attention during Oregon baseball’s media day. Guaranteeing that the Ducks would reach the College World Series for the first time in their history, it was clear the senior wasn’t lacking any confidence.

And two starts into the 2016 season, Irvin is showing why.  The senior yielded just two runs and struck out a career-high 12 batters in seven innings of work Friday, guiding the Ducks (5-0) to a comfortable 4-2 win over Illinois State.

The performance is Irvin’s second consecutive outing in which he’s lasted seven innings and aside from a third inning, in which the Red Birds tagged him for two runs, was virtually unstoppable all night.

“He was really special,” head coach George Horton said. “He got better as it went. Two run inning, tip your cap to them. After that it was his show.”

Horton added that the performance reminded him of Irvin’s ability as a freshman, when he ended the year with a 2.48 ERA. But, according to Irvin, it may’ve been better.

“I felt as locked in as I’ve ever felt in a Duck uniform,” Irvin said. 

Which certainly made Oregon’s batters’ job easier. The Ducks needed just one breakout inning, which occurred in the bottom of the second due to a little bit of luck.

Matt Kroon drew a walk with two outs, but was eventually forced into a pickle after Illinois State pitcher Jacob Hendren caught him biting on his leadoff. However, Kroon found his way back to first base safely. Travis Moniot drew a walk thereafter, and Daniel Patzlaff secured Oregon’s first hit and RBI of the game with a liner to center field. Austin Grebeck then added to the damage with a base clearing triple to score two more and give Oregon an early 3-0 lead. Grebeck finished the night 2-for-3 with two RBI’s and one run.

Illinois State erased a five-run deficit Thursday, but against Irvin, three runs would prove to be too difficult of a task. The left-hander retired the side with ease in every inning except the third. And for most of the night, the Red Birds were caught swinging and missing. An example of how “locked in” Irvin was: The senior struck out six consecutive batters in the fifth and sixth inning.

“I think it was the first time that I remember striking out the side and then I did it two innings in a row,” Irvin said. “I was like, ‘this is a dream, I don’t do this in my sleep.”

The Duck added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth after Jakob Goldfarb singled to the left side to score Grebeck. Goldfarb, who entered Friday with just two hits on 17 at-bats this season, went 3-for-4 with one RBI.

“I was struggling at the plate a little bit,” Goldfarb said. “Maybe a little bit of mental stuff, just got up in the cage and figured it out, working back to just settling in my swing.”

As Goldfarb added too, it’s “easier to play when you got a pitcher throwing like that.”

In addition, Goldfarb halted a last ditch effort from Illinois State to get back into the game in the top of the eighth. With Stephen Nogosek pitching in relief of Irvin and a man at first and two outs, the Red Birds’ Daniel Dwyer hit a rocket to deep right field. Goldfarb tracked it down, though, and Nogosek struck out the side in the ninth for a save.

The night certainly showed just how manageable the game can become when Irvin’s pitching the way he did. Now, it’ll just be a matter of making sure both of his starts continue to stay consistent.

“We’ve gotten off to a pretty good start, it’s our job to keep him finely tuned,” Horton said. “Any good baseball player will tell you, it can go away in a hurry. Our obligation is to get better.”

Matt Krook will start tomorrow for the Ducks. Start time is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise

Staff reporter Andrew Bantly and associate sports editor Kenny Jacoby offer analysis, insights and predictions about the Ducks’ upcoming series with Illinois State this weekend.

Were you surprised by the Ducks’ offensive production to begin the season? Do you think it’s sustainable?

Bantly – A little bit. You can never really expect an offense to begin any which way. But, this team knocked 13 extra-base hits with 18 RBIs in three games. That’s really impressive. I think this lineup showed that it can be successful at any spot in the batting order. So no, I don’t think 13 extra base hits is sustainable, but I think this offense can deliver in any situation.

Jacoby — Yes. Last year, Oregon’s offense rested largely on the shoulders of one player: Mitchell Tolman. The fact a few different players stepped up is encouraging. A.J. Balta’s three hits were a double and two home runs. Tim Susnara knocked a couple of doubles. Three players tripled, including Daniel Patzlaff, who had five hits in 11 at-bats. The Ducks will need to keep sharing the wealth to keep up this level of production.

Even though Oregon swept its opening series, it didn’t play perfect baseball for 27 innings. What’s your biggest question heading into the second week of the season? (lineup, defense, pitching etc.)

Bantly – For me, it’s the defense. It’s early, yes. But four errors between Oregon’s two middle infielders is too many for a weekend series, neither is six for a team. Travis Moniot, Oregon’s freshman shortstop, seems to have some leash to spare, but how long? With Mark Karaviotis moved over to third and Matt Eureste on the bench, it’s hard to tell.

Jacoby — Defense is not a huge concern for me in the second week. It’s normal for players to get the kinks out in the season’s early games, while they figure out where they fit into the defensive equation. Rather, I’m interested in whether they can continue to score six or seven runs per game against nonconference opponents, as well as the quality of Matt Krook’s starts. Krook’s performance this season will be crucial to the Ducks’ success.

Series prediction:

Bantly – Oregon sweeps, 4-0. It’s an audacious prediction, but I think going to freshman pitcher Isaiah Carranza on Thursday to begin the series really sets up the three-headed southpaw monster in Cole Irvin, Matt Krook and David Peterson to finish the weekend. That first game, I think, is the most likely to be lost. And I don’t think the Ducks will lose in their home opener.

Jacoby — 3-1 Oregon. It’s early in the season and the Ducks are human; no team is playing its best baseball yet. They made two defensive errors in each game against San Diego State, and those mistakes almost cost them games one and three. But Oregon’s pitching staff has the potential to take over each game of the upcoming series.

A.J. Balta hit his second home run of the season and helped No. 14 Oregon baseball complete the series sweep of San Diego State with a 4-3 win Sunday.

With two runners on and two outs in the top of the eighth inning, Balta’s shot over the right field fence broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Ducks what turned out to be an insurmountable three-run lead. The Aztecs pushed Oregon’s bullpen in the bottom half of the inning, scoring two runs after a home run of their own. But, the threat died down after  Stephen Nogosek came to the mound.

Nogosek recorded a five-out save and preserved a perfect weekend for the Ducks.

David Peterson pitched five innings, allowing just one run on four hits, in his first start of the season. Jacob Bennett was awarded his first win of his career after his short stint of relief in parts of the seventh and eighth inning.

Oregon’s production offensively was limited to the deep ball Sunday. Tim Susnara hit his first collegiate home run in the second inning to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead. Oregon would wait six innings to get someone across home plate again. Balta’s home run in the eighth scored both Travis Moniot and Daniel Patzlaff. The two combined to go 8-for-20 with seven runs scored in the team’s first three games.

Oregon will play its home opener at PK Park this Thursday against Illinois State.

Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise

Oregon came into its contest at the Haas Pavillon Thursday night riding a six-game winning streak and atop the Pac-12 standings. The team even was listed by ESPN’s Seth Greenberg as a sleeper to make the Final Four due to its consistent play as of late.

But, all of that came crashing down quickly against Cal. The Golden Bears jumped out to a 12-2 lead and never looked back, dominating the Ducks in the paint throughout, en route to a 83-63 win.

Cal’s Jabari Bird led all scorers with 24, and nothing Oregon tried on defense could stop him. But, it oftentimes didn’t matter if the Bears couldn’t convert on their first shot of each possession. The team out-rebounded the Ducks 39-26 and scored an unprecedented 27 second chance points.

Oregon never challenged in this one and was down by as many as 25 in the second half. Dillon Brooks scored 17 points on 50 percent shooting and Chris Boucher added 11. However, starters Tyler Dorsey, Casey Benson and Elgin Cook combined for just 13 points.

In addition, Cook had just two rebounds and Benjamin had just one. Head coach Dana Altman said has consistently pointed to the rebounds stat category after both wins and losses, and once again, it proved to be the most indicative reason why Thursday night’s tilt turned heavily in Cal’s favor.

In addition to Bird’s production, Cal’s dynamic freshman — Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb — combined for 29 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. Rabb missed just one of his seven shots.

Oregon remains atop the Pac-12 standings despite the loss but its AP ranking may take a hit. The Ducks will play Stanford this Saturday.

Follow Justin Wise on Twitter @JustinFWise