Prospects for incoming class — While departed Ducks are proving their worth at the 2013 NFL Combine, college football recruiting websites are still trying to sift through the settling dust of National Signing Day. Braden Gall at Athlon Sports took a look at Oregon’s incoming draft class Monday, which the website considers the fourth best in the Pac-12.

As usual, Thomas Tyner was given the lion’s share of the praise, but Gall also pointed out Oregon’s apparent desire to strengthen wide receiver, an otherwise sleepy position on the team last season.

Of course, much of that is contingent on which position the class’s “athletes” end up playing. San Diego twins Tyree and Tyrell Robinson could play either side of the ball, as could Juwaan Williams.

Oregon softball dominates in California — With excellent pitching and solid defense, the Ducks (14-3) upped its win streak to six during the final day of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. Oregon dropped UNLV 4-2 and San Diego State 3-1 on the tournament’s final day. Here’s a closer look by the numbers:

10 — Strikeouts for Oregon senior pitcher Jessica Moore (7-2) in the team’s win over SDS. It was her second complete game of the season.

145 — Career appearances for Moore, a program-record. The All-American also became the first Duck to reach 80 career wins and moved into second all-time in innings (750.1).

2 — Ducks who hit over .400 with 6-for-15 weekends: Senior Kaylan Howard and junior Courtney Ceo. The two combined for one home run, seven RBI, three walks and three stolen bases.

0.00 — Tournament ERA for freshman pitcher Cheridan Hawkins. The lefty racked up 15 strikeouts while posting a 2-0 record.

5 — Days until Oregon hits the field again. The Ducks travel to Orlando, Fla., to play LSU, Long Island, Boston College, Temple, Michigan and Pittsburgh in the Citrus Classic starting March 1.

Things are getting worse, not better, for Oregon women’s basketball.

The Ducks dropped their 24th game of the year Sunday, losing to No. 4 Stanford 74-50 at Maples Pavilion. For the Cardinal, it was the 17th straight win in what has been one of the most lopsided rivalries in Pac-12 women’s basketball.

“There’s a history here,” Oregon head coach Paul Westhead said. “I only know the history of us against Stanford. I don’t know how Stanford deals with others. But they get off to the best starts. So if that’s their pattern, we sure let them set that pattern.”

Stanford is 47-8 all-time against Oregon. This most recent win came courtesy a big effort from Chiney Ogwumike, Stanford’s 6-foot-4 junior forward who dropped 27 points and tallied a program-record 24 boards. The double-double was her 52nd of her career, another school record. The Cardinal continues to pummel the Pac-12, too, maintaining their tie with Cal atop the conference standings.

For Oregon (4-24, 2-14 Pac-12), it was just another loss in a season full of them. Since a two-point win over Washington State on Jan. 25, the Ducks have lost eight games by an average 22.6 points.

Freshman Jillian Alleyne continued shining as the team’s brightest star, posting a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Her 12.3 rebounds per game are sixth best in country. Freshman guard Devyn Galland added 10, and junior Liz Brenner chipped in with eight.

“In the first half, Chiney had really good defense, and my shots were getting deflected a lot,” Alleyne said. “I just knew I had to come out and try to do something different because I’d been in that position before. So I just came out, I did my quick moves and did what I had to do to help my team the best way I can. It was probably more a mental thing.”

Turning point. Oregon’s chances dried up almost from the opening tip. Stanford scored the first seven points and extended its lead to 23-6 before the first half was halfway over.

On the horizon. Just two games left for Oregon — a home stand against No. 20 Colorado on March 1 and Utah on the third.

Despite their recent tough sledding, the Ducks were given a No. 6 spot in ESPN’s most recent Bracketology prediction for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. It’s the same spot Oregon held last week. Although much basketball has yet to be played, Joe Lunardi pitted Oregon against No. 11 Iowa State in the mock-up.

The four projected No. 1 seeds are Indiana, Duke, Florida and Miami (Fla.).

TeamRankings.com has a much clearer, less subjective explanation of Oregon’s postseason chances. They’ve got Oregon at No. 7 against No. 10 Belmont in the South region. But more importantly, they’ve broken down projected March Madness bids by conference.

The Pac-12 is slated to warrant just under five bids. As it stands, Arizona is a shoe-in for the Big Dance, according to the website. The Ducks have the second highest chance to clinch a spot, at 96 percent, with a projected win-loss record of 24-7. Of the conference’s 12 teams, only Utah has been mathematically eliminated.

Via TeamRankings.com

Speaking of Final Fours… Former Oregon running back Kenjon Barner made the cut as one of four final contenders for the cover athlete of EA Sports’ NCAA Football.

Michigan’s Denard Robinson, Texas A&M’s Ryan Swope and Alabama’s Eddie Lacy join Barner. If the last round of votes is to be believed, however, Barner will need a serious push from Oregon voters to make the final two. The Riverside, Calif., native finished fourth in quarterfinals voting.

Via a press release from EA Sports, makers of the popular video game:

Voting for the semi-final round has begun on the NCAA Football Facebook page, and will continue through Feb. 24. Fans are reminded that vote totals have reset, so the ultimate prize is still up for grabs. Fans can continue to support their favorite schools and players on Facebook by voting in polls posted on the page as well as “liking” posts featuring their favored school or athlete.

Oregon lacrosse kicks off its season Saturday afternoon at Papé Field. The Ducks will welcome perennial Ivy League contenders and No. 12 Dartmouth for the first game played between the two teams since March 23, 2011. The Big Green beat the Ducks 12-10 that day in Hanover, N.H.

According to the athletic department’s pregame notes, Oregon is 3-1 all-time against the Ivy League in lacrosse, a sport far more popular on the Eastern Seaboard than out West.

Nine players remain on the roster since the last time the teams met, but only junior Nikki Puszcz made a dent in the stat line the last time around, tallying one goal in the match. The Towson, Md., native is expected to have a junior year after leading the team in goals last season with 39. She’s 11th in program history in goals (55) and should crack the Top 10 or even the Top 5 at some point this season.

More from the notes:

The Ducks play 10 home games at Papé Field during the 2013 regular season, including seven straight to open up the year.  It is the first time that Oregon has opened its season at home since the 2011 campaign, when it lost to No. 20 Hofstra in overtime.  Six of Oregon’s first seven home games are non-conference games … Oregon’s first conference match is slated for March 22 against San Diego State in Eugene.

Ducks cling to Top 25 status. Well, they’ve hung in there. Despite undergoing a stretch of three straight losses to unranked opponents and enduring the loss of freshman point guard Dominic Artis, Oregon men’s basketball stayed at No. 23 in both the AP Poll and the USA Today poll, released Monday.

Since the losing streak ended with a win over Utah, the Ducks (21-5) have topped Washington and, most recently, Washington State (in overtime, no less).

No. 1 Indiana held the top spot for the third consecutive week.

Ahead on the schedule for the Ducks are tangles with California and Stanford at home later this week. Oregon will want vengeance for the Bay Area disaster that put an end to the team’s nine-game win streak.

It has been a brutal season for Oregon women’s basketball.

The Ducks (4-22 overall, 2-12 Pac-12) are currently in the middle of a six-game losing streak, losing each game by an average of 22.5 points. With just five games left — and three of those against ranked opponents — Oregon fans are hoping for any kind of highlight before the season ends.

In this golden year of Oregon sports, the mounting losses beg the question: Is head coach Paul Westhead accountable?

Yes, by Matt Walks — Simply put, Oregon is unlikely to fire Westhead. Under the 70-year-old coach’s contract, the University would be required to pay whatever remains on his $3.2 million price tag if it makes the decision to terminate Westhead before March 2014.

But this hasn’t simply been a poor season — it’s going to be the worst in the history of the program. That was precisely the negative distinction that got previous coach Bev Smith canned after a 9-21 campaign in 2008.

At some point you have to overlook the injuries and point to the bench.

“We need more leadership,” freshman Jillian Alleyne said following Friday’s loss to Washington. Alleyne has been a rare bright spot for the team this season, and her 12.3 rebounds per game are seventh-best in the country, but that may have something to do with the Ducks’ abysmal 34 percent shooting from the field, which ranks 325th in the nation.

No, by Aubrey Wieber — The list of problems with Oregon’s women’s basketball team is long. They turn the ball over 21 times per game but only average 11 assists. They shoot 34 percent. They have attempted 579 three pointers, a shot they only make 27 percent of the time.

At times this can be confusing for Duck fans. Westhead is supposedly an offensive guru, so why is his team so incompetent on that side of the ball?

The most obvious answer is the team has been swallowed up by injuries. Their starting point guard and projected leading scorer are both out for the season, and nearly every other player has spent some part of the season unavailable. During the worst stretch of the season the Ducks only had seven scholarship players able to suit up.

This has forced players out of their natural positi0ns, as well as giving inexperienced players an unfair responsibility to be productive on the court. The outcome has been catastrophic.

Placing all the blame on Westhead seems easy. He has openly said many times he will never discourage his shooters, even when they take head-scratchingly deep three pointers early in the shot clock. His quick system has led to turnovers rather than buckets, and over a relatively large sample size — nearly an entire season — the Ducks have failed to learn from their mistakes.

That said, Westhead simply doesn’t have much to work with. He doesn’t have a pure point guard, which is crucial to his style of play. He lacks a go-to scorer which kills the Ducks in the rare moments they find themselves in crunch time.

He certainly hasn’t been brilliant from the bench, but with all the instability surrounding the program throughout the season, a coach as accomplished as Westhead is deserves a pass on a horrific season. However, if he wants to re-sign with Oregon after next season, the final year on his current contract, he better find a way to win games in the 2013-14 season.

It was one of the biggest sports weekends of the year for the Ducks, with teams playing across the country — from baseball in Hawaii to track in New York City. If you’ve been busy this weekend with your nose in a textbook (or in a bottle) have no fear. Here are the top four Oregon sports stories you missed from this past weekend:

Softball sends Wolverines home early — Under the eight-run mercy rule, Oregon softball crushed Utah Valley 9-1 to cruise through the first day of the Easton Desert Classic in Las Vegas. It was the third time this season the Ducks didn’t have to play a full match. The win was credited to Ducks pitcher Karissa Hovinga (2-0), who struck out seven and gave up four hits in her first complete game of the year. Oregon would go on to lose to Hawaii 6-5 and beat Cal State Fullerton 6-0 to finish the tournament 4-1. Over the course of the three-day tourney, Oregon also beat Louisiana-Monroe 4-0 and Long Beach State 10-1, but it was the game against Utah Valley that showcased how well-rounded the Ducks can play on their best days.

Men’s basketball survives scare from Cougars — It took an extra period of play, but Oregon edged Washington State 79-77 on Saturday night. The Ducks got a boost from E.J. Singler’s two overtime free throws to ice the game, and the senior guard became the winningest player in program history. The Medford native’s 82nd win as a Duck came with 25 points, a season-high. The Cougars led the Ducks by 11 at the half but still needed to hit a game-tying three as regulation expired to force OT. The win moves Oregon to 21-5 on the year.

English Gardner wows at Millrose Games — Who needs gold medals? Oregon junior sprinter English Gardner ran the women’s 60 meters in a blistering 7.19, edging Jeneba Tarmoh and Lauryn Williams, who both contributed to Team USA’s gold-winning 4×100 relay at the London Games this summer. It was the second-fastest time in the NCAA this year. Afterwards, Gardner took to Twitter: “Thank you everything for the love and support … race done and analyzed back to work on Monday.”

Women’s tennis racks up honors — The Ducks take to the road for the first time this year, trekking to Akron, Ohio, to battle East Tennessee State and Akron. Junior Lana Buttner played hero in Saturday’s first matchup, clinching the team’s overall 4-3 win and her No. 5 singles match with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 win over ETS’s Jessica Brumit. The Ducks followed up the win with a 3-4 loss to the Akron Zips, snapping the team’s overall eight-game win streak. Still, Oregon has drawn attention from across the country. Senior Patricia Skowronski was ranked No. 101 in the most recent iteration of the ITA singles rankings, and the team is ranked No. 69 overall. Meanwhile, sophomore Nicole Long won both of her games in Ohio to extend her conference-leading winning streak to 13 games. The Irving, Texas, native is 16-2 on the year.

My Twitter feed was hit by a bolt of lightning on Tuesday, as hundreds of tweets and retweets rolled in about a new leaked photo of Oregon’s Spring Game helmets. The snowy, digital camouflage lids looked sexy, I had to admit, and according to Trendmap, it garnered social media reaction in every state in the country.

Even after the photo was debunked and the tomfoolery died down, I was left wondering.

Has there been a better year to be an Oregon sports fan? I don’t think so.

The weight of the country’s attention to a potential helmet the Ducks would wear in a glorified scrimmage is proof the NCAA spotlight has never shone brighter on Eugene. But barely halfway into the school year, Oregon football hasn’t been the Ducks’ most successful sport. In fact, many could argue it’s not even the second-best program in the athletic department this year.

When Rob Mullens was hired as Oregon’s athletic director in July of 2010, he made his priorities clear.

“One of the things that attracts me to the University of Oregon is folks are not afraid to say ‘we want to win championships,’” Mullens said.

Since his hiring, Oregon’s football and volleyball programs have both appeared in national championship games. Its women’s track and field and cross country teams have won national titles. Acrobatics and tumbling has won two. Its softball program has qualified for the College World Series, and its baseball program came a handful of outs away from doing the same.

It’s safe to say the athletic department is well-rounded.

So, not only is 2012-13 the athletic department’s best ever, it’s one of the overall best in the country.

But what happens the rest of this winter and spring? Can Oregon keep up this unprecedented Year of the Duck?

With the exception of women’s basketball, which is turn-your-head bad this season due to injuries and lack of veterans, each program should make a meaningful run at its respective postseasons: Men’s basketball will — barring an apocalyptic collapse — earn a spot in the Big Dance; softball returned its core veterans and added an ESPN Top 100-laden recruiting class for a run back to the WCWS; acrobatics and tumbling will gun for a threepeat.

None of that even says anything about an undefeated men’s tennis team and last year’s No. 14 golf team.

And come spring, Eugene will be TrackTown USA again, as track and field enjoys its perennial shot to add to its 10 national championships.

Soon, the athletic department may not need to rely on its fleet feet and a 1939 basketball team for the totality of its titles.

Ultimately, the surge of talent across the board stems from football. In 2010, the year Oregon football played Auburn in the Natty, Oregon’s athletic department revenue more than doubled, from $59 million to $122 million.

The result? The athletic department’s budget was $76 million in 2011 — $28 million higher than it was in 2006. The majority of the uptick went to scholarships and swelling coaching contracts. Money begets winning.

If that wasn’t enough, the Ducks are above average in the classroom of late, as well. Only Stanford, UCLA and Washington have higher graduation rates among athletes, according to the NCAA.

If the University’s programs tank down the stretch, blame me for jinxing it. I’ll be more than happy to be the scapegoat for a March Madness letdown or another busted baseball season.

But I’m calling it right now — this year is, and will be, the best year in the history of Ducks athletics.