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The sheer fact that the College Football Playoff selection committee announced that the Oregon Ducks were ranked No. 4 in their playoff rankings a week ago came as a surprise to much of the nation. With it came the notion that the Ducks have a real shot at making it to the playoff at the end of the year.
Since those initial rankings came out, one of the top teams — Michigan State — lost, and the Ducks will likely move up after a solid win against rival Washington Huskies.
With the victory, FiveThirtyEight updated their playoff predictions, giving the Ducks an increased chance to get into the final four.
Oregon now sits with a 37% chance to make the playoff, according to FiveThirtyEight, which is up for just 23% a week ago. That percent chance is the fifth highest in the nation, behind Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Ohio State.
While all four of those teams have tough, top-10 rated games left on the schedule, the Ducks should reasonably be able to get out of the regular season without another mark on their record, with remaining games against Washington State, Utah, and Oregon State. Of course, all three of those games have the potential to bring trouble for Oregon, but they will enter each contest with a better roster, and a reasonable expectation for victory.
We will see if the playoff committee moves the Ducks up on Tuesday night when the official rankings are released for the second time.
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