Oregon football: Newest AP Poll has Ducks creeping toward top 10
Following an impressive win over Stanford over the weekend, Oregon football moved up one spot to12th in the AP poll this week. It took five weeks for the Ducks to return to roughly the same place where they started the season.
Last week, there were seven Pac-12 teams that were noted and either ranked or receiving votes. It is now the time of year that will see competition take over and likely several Pac-12 teams fall out of the poll completely. Teams that started the year well, like Oregon State were in the ‘receiving votes’ section. Now, with back-to-back losses, they are out altogether.
This week’s poll saw a shift at the top with Alabama leapfrogging Georgia for the top spot. The Bulldogs had a slight scare in a close game early at Missouri. Ohio State, Michigan, and Clemson round out the top five.
For fans hoping that the Washington and Oregon matchup next month could be one of the better games in the Pac-12 this season, it still will be, but with the Huskies falling to UCLA last Friday night on the road, it likely won’t be the top ten matchup we were hoping for. In the coming weeks, other teams will also fall out of contention, but likely not out completely.
One surprise this season so far is UCLA. The Bruins are 5-0 after beating Washington 40-32 last week. Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson has thrown 11 touchdowns to just one interception and the Bruins enter the AP poll this week at 18. It will be a top 20 matchup this week as UCLA hosts 11th-ranked Utah and Washington State visits 6th-ranked USC. Next week will see USC visit Utah in what will be a key game for the rest of the year.
Entering Week 5, the Ducks are among the most penalized teams this season with 141 flags. One surprise is Alabama is right in front of them with 143. The Ducks will look to clean things up while visiting Arizona on Saturday. Kickoff in the desert is set for 6 pm Pacific Time on Pac-12 Network.
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