Autzen Zoo
Fansided

Despite Heartbreaking Loss, Oregon Football Rises in AP Poll

By Alex Weber

EUGENE, OR - SEPTEMBER 22: Quarterback Justin Herbert #10 of the Oregon Ducks runs with the ball as linebacker Jordan Fox (10) of the Stanford Cardinal gives chase during the first quarter of the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Autzen Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
EUGENE, OR - SEPTEMBER 22: Quarterback Justin Herbert #10 of the Oregon Ducks runs with the ball as linebacker Jordan Fox (10) of the Stanford Cardinal gives chase during the first quarter of the game against the Stanford Cardinal at Autzen Stadium on September 22, 2018 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Oregon Football suffered a brutal defeat Saturday night, but the Associated Press took some pity on the Fumbling Ducks in this week’s Top 25

Whew. Last night was rough for Oregon Football. Real rough. In fact, let’s just agree not to talk about it. Okay, fine, just one comment: HOLD ON TO THE BALL! That’s all I have to say.

The New AP Poll dropped a few minutes ago and despite Oregon’s defeat at the hands of the disgusting Stanford Cardinal, the Ducks moved up in this week’s rendition of the AP Top 25. Generally when teams lose, they take an expected fall. Not this time. Oregon was the better team for 60 minutes against a top 10 team last night. The voters took that into consideration, and were clearly impressed with Oregon’s overall performance, as they didn’t punish them for the loss. Somewhat surprisingly, they moved OU up a spot, from 20 to 19.

Here’s the entire AP rankings heading into week 5:

Rankings via the Associated Press

  1. Alabama
  2. Georgia
  3. Clemson
  4. Ohio State
  5. LSU
  6. Oklahoma
  7. Stanford
  8. Notre Dame
  9. Penn State
  10. Auburn
  11. Washington
  12. West Virginia
  13. UCF
  14. Michigan
  15. Wisconsin
  16. Miami (FL)
  17. Kentucky
  18. Texas
  19. Oregon
  20. BYU
  21. Michigan State
  22. Duke
  23. Mississippi State
  24. California
  25. Texas Tech

Others receiving votes: Colorado 83, Boise St. 58, Virginia Tech 55, South Florida 50, Oklahoma St. 44, Texas A&M 41, Iowa 31, South Carolina 31, Florida 29, NC State 28, Syracuse 25, TCU 24, North Texas 10, Cincinnati 10, Utah 9, Mississippi 7, Missouri 7, Buffalo 6, Maryland 6, San Diego St. 5, Arizona St. 4.

Wow. After a chaotic slate of games this weekend, the rankings have been shaken up quite a bit. There are five new teams, including my school Kentucky at number 17. It’s awesome to finally see the Cats matter in football again. They are one of the hottest teams in the nation right now, and already have victories over two ranked teams, the latest of which coming yesterday against Mississippi State, 28-7.

The most surprising new team is Texas. I don’t get it. I don’t get how Texas comes in ahead of Oregon. THEY LOST TO MARYLAND. And guess what? MARYLAND LOST BY 21 TO TEMPLE. Texas just isn’t one of the best 25 teams in the country, and they certainly aren’t as good as Oregon. Give me a break. They beat a crappy TCU team and an even crappier USC team. What am I missing? Good god, the media will do anything for a good narrative, and overrating Texas is an annual one.

More from Autzen Zoo

As for the rest of the Pac-12, we’ve got four ranked this week because of California’s season debut (the others: Stanford, Washington and Oregon). However, the Pac-12 simply can’t keep up with the behemoth SEC and their 6 teams, which leads all conferences — duh. They have four of the top ten as well. And the top two. So they’re a pretty good league.

I can’t stand last night. It kills me. But hey, I’ll se you all tomorrow with the weekly post about how great Justin Herbert is. So that’s at least some positivity.

Oregon has their first road game of the season Saturday visiting Cal (7:35pm, Fox Sports 1)

Home/Oregon Ducks Football