One of the major questions that we had going into the first release of the College Football Playoff rankings was where the committee would view the Oregon Ducks.
There has arguably been no hotter team in the nation than Oregon ever since their Week 1 loss to the defending-champion Georgia Bulldogs. Oregon has scored more than 40-points in every game, winning 7 straight. Quarterback Bo Nix is playing the best football of his career, and is a fringe Heisman Trophy candidate.
Would that 49-3 loss to Georgia drag the Ducks down in the rankings, or would they be able to overcome it, showing that they’re much improved since then?
It appears that the committee is willing to look past it if Oregon continues to play well, putting the Ducks at No. 8 in the rankings, the second-highest one-loss team behind the Alabama Crimson Tide, and ahead of the USC Trojans. Here’s the explanation from CFP selection committee chair and NC State athletic director Boo Corrigan:
“I think the win over UCLA has gone a long way,” Corrigan said. “They’ve scored at least 41 points since that (Georgia) game. They really, Bo Nix has had a great season so far, along with so many other quarterbacks as the season has gone on. As we looked at it obviously that initial game, but what they’ve been able to do since that time I think has really turned the committee’s heads.”
As long as Oregon continues to stay hot and can secure wins over Colorado, Washington, No. 14 Utah, and No. 23 Oregon State, then it will secure a spot in the Pac-12 Championship game, where a win over whomever that opponent maybe would go a long way in putting the Ducks in the playoff.
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