Usually I defend teams with impressive records and not as impressive opponents. But Utah (11-1), who plays #10 Oregon (12-0) tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST might be the exception. Their third game of the season, they played Grand Canyon University (5-8), an institution I didn't even know existed but would have surely applied to senior year of high school. (In case you're wondering, it's a Christian university with a pretty campus not built within Arizona's national landmark).

Utah's schedule, which so far has avoided any team in a major conference, makes some sense given they're now in the Pac-12 (from the Mountain West) and don't have to worry about beefing up their non-conference pedigree, but nonetheless begs the annual question: should a program schedule tough, early season games or simply pad their record and work out any kinks until conference play? I actually tend towards the latter, but not to the extreme nature achieved by Utah. Only two of the middling teams they played currently have a winning record (BYU, to whom they lost, and Fresno State, at 8-7). Two of the teams they've played aren't even in Division I.

Undefeated Oregon hasn't played any ranked opponents yet, but faced some decent competition in wins over Georgetown (9-3), Ole Miss (9-3), BYU (10-3), and Illinois (12-2) -- all close games, by the way.

Just because the Ducks are a new face in college basketball's top ten doesn't mean they've rose from nowhere. After missing the NCAA tournament for the previous four seasons, they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen last year after winning the PAC-12 tournament and beating Oklahoma State and Saint Louis as a twelve seed.

I haven't yet watched either team this year (nor probably have most east coasters), so hopefully I'll be able to live stream this one for the chance to watch Oregon's 20 ppg scorer Joseph Young, a 6'2 transfer from Houston shooting an astounding 55 percent. If the Ducks look good, they'll fuel their growing reputation, damper Utah's record, and decrease Arizona's chances for an undefeated season.