Autzen Zoo
Fansided

Oregon Misses Out on First Edition of College Football Playoff Rankings

By Alex Weber

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 08: General view of Mercedes-Benz Stadium during the College Football Playoff National Championship game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide on January 8, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 08: General view of Mercedes-Benz Stadium during the College Football Playoff National Championship game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide on January 8, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

After dropping two straight road games by double digits (Arizona and Wazzu), the Oregon Football team finds itself on the outside looking in at CFP party. However, the Pac-12 does indeed make a few appearances. Here’s the rundown of the new authority of college football rankings for the 2018 season:

  1. Alabama
  2. Clemson
  3. LSU
  4. Notre Dame
  5. Michigan
  6. Georgia
  7. Oklahoma
  8. Washington State
  9. Kentucky
  10. Ohio State
  11. Florida
  12. UCF
  13. West Virginia
  14. Penn State
  15. Utah
  16. Iowa
  17. Texas
  18. Mississippi State
  19. Syracuse
  20. Texas A&M
  21. NC State
  22. Boston College
  23. Fresno State
  24. Iowa State
  25. Virginia

Well, there they are: the inaugural 2018 Playoff Rankings. Oregon, obviously, is out of the Playoff picture after accumulating 3 losses. However, there is the possibility that, if they can string together some wins, Oregon can hop back into the rankings and sneak their way into a quality bowl game — which they would likely be a part of with a 9-3 record.

The Pac-12 is proudly represented by no. 8 Washington State, and no. 15 Utah — just like everyone expected at the beginning of the year, right? Well…not really. Oregon, Stanford and Washington were the Pac-12 teams whom the “experts” predicted would be the most likely to land in the payoff. Well, here we are on Halloween and all three of those teams have exactly three losses — not exactly a playoff-level number. Shoot, all three teams are out of contention of earning a bowl game that really matters. A crazy year in the Pac-12 just keeps getting crazier. And I’ll be damned if it isn’t Mike Leach who’s got his hand around the throat of the conference. Gotta love him.

As of Halloween, 2018, the four teams in the College Football Playoff will be Alabama, Clemson, LSU and Notre Dame — in that order. As of now, I approve of those choices, though I have my qualms about LSU as number 3, but we’ll see how they perform against Bama this weekend. My guess is not well. That will be an impactful one, and so well Georgia @ Kentucky. Whichever team earns a victory will be top 6 with complete control over their destiny. Those are the games to watch this weekend. Check back next week to see if the Ducks sneak in.

Home/Oregon Ducks Football