In the early stages of the 2016-17 Oregon basketball season, one loss seemed to be massive for the Ducks and a following win seemed inconsequential.

A few months later, things have changed.

In the Maui Invitational, a tournament that was hyped around Oregon as an opportunity to face the likes of Wisconsin and North Carolina, the Ducks opened with a thud.

Instead of facing some of the top teams in college basketball, the Ducks dropped their opening-round game to Georgetown, a team that was 1-2 at the time and coming off a fresh loss to Arkansas State -- Not exactly an ideal way to start the season for an Oregon team that opened the season ranked No. 5. A day later, the Ducks struggled again but were able to pull out a win in overtime over Tennessee.

The loss followed by an uneasy win deflated much of the initial hype for Oregon's season, as both teams were viewed as subpar. Georgetown was a bad loss and Tennessee was a pointless win.

But since Maui, both teams have climbed the ranks.

The bad loss to Georgetown? It's still not a good loss for Oregon, but it's one that now doesn't stand out like a sore thumb on the Ducks' resume. The Hoyas are 12-10 on the season and own an RPI of 54. Not only is that a respectable RPI, but the Hoyas have shown they weren't just a one-and-done team when it comes to upsets. Georgetown has also defeated top 25 teams in Creighton and Butler.

And that worthless Tennessee win? Not so worthless anymore. The Vols (12-9 overall) have an RPI ranking of 41 and are currently on a three-game winning streak that includes wins over Kentucky and Kansas State.

Now neither team will likely end up in the NCAA Tournament in March, but it goes to show that a "big" loss and a small "win" in November can end up looking a lot different later in the season.

-- Tyson Alger

talger@Oregonian.com

@tysonalger