So, Who is Oregon, Anyways?

The Alabama Crimson Tide are about six hours from tipoff for their first of three games in the Maui Invitational, where their first opponent is the Oregon Ducks.

Of course most of us are aware of Alabama's situation this season, but what about Alabama's first major conference foe of the season?

First off, the Ducks have six new members to their basketball team this season, good enough to have the No. 16 class in the country last year. The gem of the class is Michael Dunigan, a 6-9 center from Chicago.

Dunigan has started his first three games for the Ducks, averaging 13 points a game and eight rebounds. His real weakness, however, is the charity stripe, where he is only shooting 43% so far.

Both freshmen Matthew Humphrey and Garrett Sim have started at the guard position this season for Oregon and have seen substantial time on the floor, as well as Josh Crittle, however none of these three have proven to be a real scoring threat.

As for the returners for Oregon, there is a real dual threat from the Ducks' guards Tajuan Porter and LeKendric Longmire. Both players are averaging 15 points a game this season, but are extremely scary from behind the arc.

Longmire is 6-8 this season from downtown while Porter is shooting 43% from range so far. As a team, Oregon is shooting 42% from distance.

To pair with Dunigan in the frontcourt is sophomore Joevan Catron. Catron averages nine points and just over eight rebounds so far this year, as well as an impressive 80% from the free throw line this year. He is second on the team only to Porter (95%).

As a team, though, Oregon seems to be a fair match for the Crimson Tide. Aside from the impressive numbers from three point range, the Ducks shoot a decent 40% from the field as a team, but a sad 65% from the free throw line.

As for their season, Oregon is currently 2-1 with wins over Northern Colorado (66-64) and UC-Irvine (84-77) and an 82-79 loss to Oakland(MI) sandwiched in between.

Now, for match ups, look for Ron Steele to be assigned Porter whether Porter is at the one or two position. Senario Hillman will have the job of keeping Longmire away from the three point line. Green and Knox should alternate between guarding Dunigan and Catron, but the biggest goal for Alabama down low will be to get rebounds on either side of the floor. Alonzo Gee will be matched against either Humphrey or Sim, whoever gets the start, and should do his best to take advantage of their young age.

For a full breakdown of the entire tournament, Jay Bilas was kind enough to enlighten the masses with his knowledge.

Now time for everyone's favorite portion of the ITNOT blog during Iron Bowl week, its more Auburn "love."

Shout out two of three for the day will come to us from Tommy Tuberville's webcam. We all know Tubbs is such a lazy recruiter when compared to Saban, so you won't see his massive ears online. Instead, it will look something like this...