Oregon Finally Wins a Pac-10 Game

It takes a lot of work, effort and luck to go winless for the year in a conference. It means dropping heated rivalry games. It means not being able to win at home. It means the team is beyond bad, but also unlucky. Oregon has been all of that this year. Finally, though, the Ducks broke through by beating Stanford 68-60.

This game was an immovable object meeting an irresistible force -- only not. Oregon had been winless in the Pac-10, while Stanford was winless on the road in the conference. Something had to give and in the end it was the Cardinal.

Neither team was particularly impressive -- which should not be surprising for the ninth and tenth place teams in the Pac-10. Oregon just did a little bit more than Stanford to get the win. They shot a hair better from the field. They made one more free throw than Stanford. They hit one more three. They grabbed one more offensive board. They turned the ball over just a little less. It added up to the win.

Oregon joins Georgia in getting free from the fear of being a winless team in a major conference. That leaves only DePaul in the Big East as the only team still capable of going winless this season in conference play. The other winless in conference teams this year include Air Force in the Mountain West and Southeast Missouri State in the Ohio Valley.