Oregon Picked to Finish Second in Preseason Pac-12 Coaches Poll

The Ducks are ranked only behind reigning national champion Stanford as the 2021-22 season is just weeks away.

The Oregon Ducks women's basketball team opens the 2021-22 season second in the Pac-12 in the preseason coaches' poll. Only Stanford ranks ahead of them as the Cardinal look to repeat as Pac-12 regular season and tournament champions, as well as national champions.

It’s a start... 👀

We open the season second in the Pac-12 preseason coaches poll. #GoDucks

MORE ➡️ https://t.co/DiyGMhOYx3 pic.twitter.com/NpcCoIzkdO

— Oregon Women’s Basketball (@OregonWBB) October 12, 2021

Pac-12 Preseason Coaches' Poll

1. Stanford (11 first-place votes) - 121 points

2. Oregon (1 first-place vote) - 108 points

3. UCLA - 101 points

4. Oregon State - 86 points

5. Arizona - 83 points

6. Washington State - 70 points

7. Colorado - 65 points

8. Arizona State - 47 points

9. USC - 45 points

T-10. Utah - 25 points

T-10. Washington - 25 points

12. California - 16 points

The Cardinal's sweep of the conference titles a season ago put a halt to the Ducks' run of three straight regular season championships and two Pac-12 tournament championships in three years, but the Ducks are hungry and well-equipped to get back to Pac-12 glory once again.

Kelly Graves boasts three All-Pac-12 players, more than any other team in the conference, in Nyara Sabally, Te-Hina Paopao, and Endyia Rogers, who transferred from USC. The Ducks also look to have improved production from a variety of returning players, including Sedona Prince, Maddie Scherr, Sydney Parrish, and Kylee Watson.

Not only do the Ducks return several impact players from last year, but they also welcome a plethora of transfers and freshmen that could see the court early on, including Rogers, Missouri transfer Shannon Dufficy, JUCO All-American Chanaya Pinto, New Mexico State transfer Ahlise Hurst, and talented freshmen Taylor Bigby and Phillipina Kyei.

The Pac-12 will once again be one of the toughest conferences in the nation as the conference had six teams in the NCAA tournament last year, with a combined 15-5 record — the best win percentage of any conference in the tournament.

Reigning national champion Stanford returns most of its production from last year, including Final Four Most Outstanding Player Haley Jones, Lexie Hull, Cameron Brink, and Fran Belibi.

UCLA, despite losing eventual WNBA Rookie of the Year Michaela Onyenwere, still has a talented and experienced roster that includes Charisma Osborne, Natalie Chou, and Oregon transfer Angela Dugalic. 

Oregon State will have a younger roster than usual that consists of eight underclassmen, but Taylor Jones and 2020-21 breakout star Talia von Oelhoffen will keep the Beavers in contention for a Pac-12 title.

Arizona, the national runner-up from last season, still has major pieces from their historic run including Cate Reese, Sam Thomas and Bendu Yeaney. The Wildcats also added Oregon transfer Taylor Chavez during the offseason.

Plenty of other teams will be fun to watch and could make the Pac-12 standings interesting by the end of the year, including Colorado, Washington State, Arizona State, and Washington.

The Ducks begin their 2021-22 season with a pair of exhibition games at Matthew Knight Arena — Saint Martin's on Oct. 28 and Westmont on Nov. 6. The regular season kicks off on Nov. 9 against Idaho State.

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