Pac-12 Basketball: Have the Ducks Lost Their Hold on First Place

With their two-game lead and comfortable remaining schedule, how comfortable should Oregon feel as the regular season title favorites?

Norcalnick, California Golden Blogs: I think Oregon fans should feel relatively comfortable, but for their sake the actual players will have to stay focused. It’s clear both from two losses and from a few close calls that Arizona, while very good, isn’t head and shoulders above the majority of the conference. But despite their undefeated record, Oregon probably isn’t either. A two game lead and the tie-breaker is a pretty massive advantage, but not so massive that they can go on cruise control.

Daivd Piper, Addicted to Quack: Did you just watch that monstrosity in Palo Alto? Honestly, Ducks still have a defacto two-game lead on the conference, and should feel fine if they rebound to win at Cal on Saturday.

Adam Butler, PacHoops: I just got back from Palo Alto and boy is my offense tired. Wow was that a defensive clinic put on by the Cardinal. Sure, the Ducks were short Dominic Artis and committed 20+ turnovers for the second consecutive game but the Cardinal exposed Oregon as a vulnerable squad. Sure the Ducks have afforded themselves some comfort by way of padding in the wins column and head-to-head victories, but they’ve been outscored in Pac-12 play and - as I said - were exposed.

Jack Follman, Pacific Takes: I don’t know if anyone should ever feel comfortable about anything in sports, because that is always when you slip up, but I think the Ducks are in a pretty good spot, even considering last night’s embarrassment, they were long overdue for a let down game. They very much have all of the control right now with the tie-breaker and Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA gone from their schedule, but I think they will have to watch Arizona closely. If the Wildcats start playing to their potential, I have a hard time not seeing them catch the Ducks.