Oregon football back in top 10 of CFP rankings, but playoff a long shot
Dan Lanning’s Oregon football team is back in the top ten of the College Football Playoff rankings, but the Ducks need a lot of help if they have any hope of making the final four.
Oregon’s win over Utah moved the Ducks back into the top ten rankings for the College Football Playoff while the USC Trojans moved a step closer to a possible playoff appearance.
There is one weekend remaining in the regular season and there is a lot at stake for the Pac-12 Conference. USC had a big win over UCLA in the Rose Bowl last weekend, and they rode that momentum in the rankings this week. The Trojans moved up to 6th in the latest rankings and are in a good position with wins over Notre Dame this week and a win in the Pac-12 Championship game to make the top four.
This week saw Oregon move back into the top ten at 9. The Pac-12 was again well represented in the CFP rankings with Washington (13), Utah (14), UCLA (18), and Oregon State (21) .
Oregon has another opportunity against a top twenty-five opponent this week visiting Oregon State. While a win will not get them into the Playoff with two losses on the season, the more quality wins the better.
A win for Oregon also puts them into the Pac-12 Championship against USC. If the Ducks can beat the Trojans for the Pac-12 title it could make things interesting for the playoff committee and see Oregon as one of the first two teams out of contention this season.
At this point, I do not expect that the committee will have a two-loss team in the playoff. It has been another season of chaos, so you never know. Right now LSU stands the best chance of being the first two-loss team to make the field. Two of the top four teams face each other this weekend with Michigan facing Ohio State as a 2 vs 3 matchup.
We have seen in the past when the 2nd ranked team loses one game, they fall to 4th and remain in contention. I expect this may be the case again this year, but Ohio State has to take care of business.
Oregon and Oregon State meet in Corvallis on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 12:30 pm Pacific Time on ABC.
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