Preseason Polls Paint a Pretty Picture for the Oregon Ducks' Men's and Women's Basketball Teams

Both Dana Altman and Kelly Graves will enter the 2019-20 season with high expectations as they are named the preseason favorites to win the Pac-12.

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You could say that things are going well in Oregon. 

While the football team is on top of the Pac-12 with a top-15 ranking, the hype surrounding both basketball teams is starting to build as the start of the season draws near. Earlier this week, both the men's and women's basketball teams were voted the preseason favorite to win the Pac-12, and the women's team is ranked No. 1 in the nation by many polls with seniors Sabrina Ionescu and Ruthy Hebard leading the charge. 

The men's team received 9 of the first-place votes ahead of the Pac-12 Media Day on Tuesday and finished with 291 points to sit atop the 2019-20 preseason poll. For the women, they totaled 11 first-place votes and 121 points. Because coaches cannot vote for their own team, Stanford landed one first-place vote and 111 points. Oregon State had 99 points as the third-place choice.

With promising additions to both rosters, the Oregon programs expect to be in the mix when the NCAA Tournament comes around in March. Kelly Graves added Minyon Moore to the roster, a guard from USC, and all five recruits come with a five-star ranking. If that weren't enough, Ionescu and Hebard are back for their senior seasons, and Graves recently said that Sabrina is "the face of all of college basketball."

As for the men's team, a reformed roster has left things fresh and exciting, but early expectations for this team are high as well. The team is returning starters Payton Pritchard, Francis Okoro, and Will Richardson, and a second-straight top-five recruiting class will round out the roster, headlined by five-star center N'Faly Dante and five-star forward CJ Walker. Senior graduate transfers Shakur Juiston, from UNLV, and Anthony Mathis from, New Mexico, will also help the experience factor, as the roster currently only has four seniors on the team. 

With media days wrapping up this week, it's time to start gearing up for the season to start. Both teams will kick things off with the Green-Yellow Scrimmage on October 30th, and then the first live-action will come days later in early November. Time to brush up on recent acquisitions and roster news, and maybe enter that schedule into your calendar. Basketball season is almost here.