Ducks ranked among top teams in early power rankings for Big Ten in 2024

Most people, and rightly so, are paying attention to college football and are interested to see how this will all play out with the expanded conferences.

But college basketball will be equally interesting, especially in the Big Ten. It was already an outstanding league before the four former Pac-12 teams entered. Oregon, Washington, and the two Los Angeles schools will just improve the conference, making it one of the best leagues in the nation.

In 2024-25, it will be one heck of a race and according to USA Today writer Andy Patton, UCLA might win the Big Ten in their first year in the Big Ten.

With the transfer portal creating a massive shift in multiple rosters within the conference, not to mention the departures of superstar players like Zach Edey, Terrence Shannon, Boo Buie, and Tyler Wahl, predicting how this upcoming season will shake out in the Big Ten is an extremely difficult endeavor. — Andy Patton

Although Patton has UCLA No. 6 and the Ducks No. 5 in his first Big Ten power rankings, it shows the conference isn’t top heavy and many teams have a legitimate shot at winning the league this upcoming season.