Andrew Murray: Since their win over Arizona, Oregon has been staking a claim to the top spot in the Pac-12 conference, and holding it firmly. The Ducks have two more road tests against Colorado and Utah coming up. Colorado is still fighting for a spot in the NCAA tournament and will look to knock off the Ducks and could potentially get an upset victory. Utah should be no problem, on the other hand. The Ducks should prevail over both teams and claim the regular season crown.

Anthony Piganelli: It would be a tragedy if Oregon didn’t win at least a share of the Pac-12 regular season title, given the situation that they are currently in. With only two regular season games left, against Colorado and Utah, they should be able to take care of business on the road and clinch at least part of the title, if not the whole thing, depending what Cal does with the end of their season. Arizona and UCLA are the two next closest teams to the Ducks, however Oregon owns the tie breaker due to it’s victories against the two powerhouses early on in Pac-12 play.

Sarah Scrivens: It’s going to be close. The Ducks have definitely put up a fight this season and certainly deserve recognition. However, when it comes down to crucial games outside of Matt Knight, Oregon has not had consistent success.

Andrew Bantly: With the Pac-12 Championship coming down to 3 teams – The Cal Bears, UCLA Bruins, and the Oregon Ducks – the title has all but been proclaimed. The Oregon Ducks, who sit atop the Pac-12 standings, due to holding the tiebreaker with UCLA, control their own destiny with the Pac-12 title. With two games remaining against Colorado and Utah, both of which are road games. The big game will be on Thursday, when the Ducks face Colorado. The Buffs stunned the Ducks 48-47 back on February 7th. The Ducks have a strong opportunity to win the Pac-12 regular season crown, something which hasn’t been done since 2002. With the return of Dominic Artis in the starting lineup, the Ducks have no excuse not to.

2. Who has been the most valuable player for the Ducks this season? Why?

Murray: Senior forward Arsalan Kazemi has been the Ducks x-factor this season. He leads the team with 9.9 rebounds per game and has been a constant double-double threat each night. With Tony Woods struggling to snag rebounds, Kazemi has stepped up big time on the boards and given the Ducks extra possessions.

Piganelli: My pick for the MVP might come as a surprise, however if you watched all the games this year there was no player that was as solid and consistent as senior transfer Arsalan Kazemi. Averaging a solid 9 points and 9 rebounds a game, he lead the team in rebounds by a large margin and was a force to be reckoned with on defense. In addition to his tenacious defense and extremely valuable hustle play, Kazemi provided some of the most exciting plays of the season including a nasty poster dunk on two Colorado defenders at home. While he may not have blown up the stat sheet, Kazemi did a lot of the dirty work this year for the Ducks, and it is safe to say that he has been a big difference maker if not the biggest for Dana Altman’s club.

Scrivens: Arsalan Kazemi, without a doubt. From overall scoring to rebounding, the Ducks would have not had as much success on the court this season without Kazemi’s skill set.

Bantly: EJ Singler might be the most talked about player on the Ducks’ team, but is he the most valuable? I see him as a; great leader, dominant scorer, and fierce competitor, but not the most valuable. He is topped by freshman Dominic Artis for a simple reason: The Ducks win with Artis in the lineup and struggle when he isn’t. With Artis, the Ducks are 18-2, without him, they are 5-4. This makes the decision actually very easy because in sports, especially NCAA D I Basketball, it all comes down the W’s.

3. The Ducks baseball team is heading into a 3-game series against #2 ranked Vanderbilt at home over the weekend. What will be key for the 11th ranked Ducks to hang with one of the country’s best?

Murray: The Ducks had sup par offensive support during their trip down to Cal State Fullerton this past weekend. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get any easier with Vanderbilt coming in with a 2.00 overall staff ERA. Expect some very low scoring affairs at PK Park this weekend. If the Ducks want a shot at winning the series, they’ll have to get near perfect outings from the starting rotation and the offense will have to step up. Look for first basemen Ryon Healy and outfielder Brett Thomas to make the most noise for the Ducks this weekend.

Piganelli: This will without a doubt be one of the toughest series all year, if not the toughest, for the Ducks. In order for them to have a chance in these three contests against the Commodores, they have to own the mound right from the beginning and not let Vandy’s big hitters, Vince Conde and Connor Harrell knock in runs. On offense, While J.J. Altobelli and Ryon Healy have been productive thus far, players like Brett Thomas, Aaron Payne, and Ryan Hambright need to step up to the plate. This 3-game series at PK Park will be a serious test for the Ducks, and it will be interesting to see if they can steal a game or two from the # 2 team in the country.

Scrivens: Plain and simple: score some runs. Last weekend in the 3-game series at Cal State Fullerton, the Ducks struggled to make contact with the ball. Hopefully with a week of practice, the Ducks will be able to hold their own against a high-ranked Vanderbilt team with a mean pitching staff.

Bantly: This is without a doubt the most important non-conference game for the Ducks. Led offensively by junior Conrad Gregor, the Commodores have averaged 8.9 runs per game in 14 games. A clear key to the series will be slowing down the Commodores offense. Their only loss this season was to Long Beach State. In that game LBS came out swinging and scored 9 runs in the first three innings. This has to be the Ducks’ game plan in the series. They will need to establish their offense and score early and often. The Ducks’ pitching staff, which has been dominant at times, will need to continue their success against a tough Vanderbilt team.