Postseason Rankings: Oregon Finishes 2nd in AP, Coaches Poll
By Brian Spaen
After Alabama’s dismantling of Notre Dame in the national championship on Monday, Oregon boosted up to the number two in both of the major polls’ postseason release.
Jan. 3, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA: Kansas State Wildcats running back De
The Ducks pulled away from Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl, eventually winning 35-17, to impress enough voters to reach second place in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls. Notre Dame finishes at third in the Coaches poll and fourth in the AP poll due to Ohio State still being eligible for that one.
Georgia, Texas A&M, Stanford, and South Carolina all finish in the same order in both polls, then both have significant shakeups afterwards. Oregon State is the only other Pac-12 team outside of the top two teams from the North division to finish in the top 25. The Beavers finish 19th in the Coaches poll and 20th in the AP poll.
Unsurprisingly, no teams from the South division made either poll. UCLA won it but lost in the Pac-12 championship game and then to a red-hot Baylor team in the Holiday Bowl.
After all the postseason events, there’s little debate that Oregon should finish as a runner-up in the polls. Stanford has an argument to finish higher after the way they dominated most of the Pac-12 with their strong defensive line causing havoc for all the conference opponents including the Ducks.
The Pac-12 finished at 4-4 overall with their eight eligible bowl teams. Despite the former number one ranked team losing to a 6-7 Georgia Tech squad, the conference won both of their BCS bowl games taking down their annual Big Ten opponent in the Rose Bowl and defeating the Big 12 champions in the Fiesta Bowl.
Brian Spaen is the lead editor of Autzen Zoo and Clones Confidential. Follow more Oregon Ducks coverage with the zoo on Twitter.