Oregon’s recruiting efforts see benefit as Ducks remain among nation’s most-watched teams

Oregon was again part of the most-watched game in Week 7, and the exposure has had an impact on recruiting.

We’re starting to see a trend, and it’s benefiting both the Oregon Ducks and the national television partners that are choosing to air their games.

Once again, the Ducks were part of the most-watched game of the week in the world of college football, garnering 7.04 million viewers on the ABC telecast in Oregon’s game against the Washington Huskies, an instant classic that ended in a 36-33 loss.

This is the second time this year that the Ducks have been the most-watched game of the day, with the other coming in Week 4 against the Colorado Buffaloes, a game that garnered 10.03 million viewers.

Whether it’s the marquee time slot — 12:30 p.m. — or the national broadcast, it’s clear that people are tuning into see the Ducks. That isn’t likely to change any time soon, either, with both of Oreogn’s next two games coming at 12:30 p.m., aired on ABC and FOX, respectively.

On Monday night, head coach Dan Lanning was asked how this national exposure has helped the recruiting world for the Ducks.

“I think we’re able to recruit at a high level because people see the direction we’re headed and what this program is really all about when they get to see us on center stage,” Lanning said. “We certainly appreciate that. But part of the reason we’re on center stage is because of who we are and what we’ve been able to do, so we’re going to continue to go recruit the best talent. I think our staff’s done a good job of identifying that talent. And there’s some great players out there that we want to be a part of our program.”

With the current trajectory of the program, this feels like something that Oregon fans can get used to, especially with the move to the Big Ten in a year’s time.

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