If Oregon can avoid upset in Seattle, their playoff matchup is juicy

In a year of parity and chaos Oregon has met every challenge outside a tough game against a well-coached Indiana squad, and now they are one game away from earning a dream matchup in the College Football Playoff.

The playoff committee released its Week 14 rankings update Tuesday night and the Ducks slipped past idle Ole Miss after beating No. 15 USC 42-27 Saturday. That means if the playoff were held today, they'd host Mario Cristobal and Miami in a home playoff game at Autzen Stadium, No. 11 at No. 6.

One gigantic obstacle stands in their way, though. Saturday they travel to Seattle to take on Washington and dual threat wonder Demond Williams and a Husky squad whose one shining moment would be to knock Oregon out of a home game and maybe out of the playoffs altogether.

Ducks remain in a good spot, but still vulnerable

There's a glut of two-loss teams waiting to move the Ducks out of the sixth seed, and a late loss is costly in the perception/strength of record calculus that determines the bracket. The Ducks are a 6.5-point favorite over the Dawgs, but they've suffered horrible injury luck this season, a run on the offensive line and at receiver.

Charlie Pickard, Fox Crader and Kawika Rogers stepped up on the offensive line, while Kenyon Sadiq, Malik Benson and Jeremiah McClellan made big plays as receivers in their win over the Trojans, but fans can't help but wonder how long the team can keep performing miracles of resilience.

A bit of good news in the pregame injury report would be timely.

If the Ducks can hold off an upset-minded Husky squad on the road, they have a shot at moving up. No. 3 Texas A&M travels to No. 16 Texas Saturday. No. 4 Georgia faces Haynes King and No. 23 Georgia Tech in Atlanta. No. 5 Texas Tech is at unranked West Virginia.

Undefeated, No. 1 Ohio State travels to the Big House for their rivalry game at 9-2, No. 15 Michigan. The Wolverines have won the last four in a row in that heated rivalry, though they are 9.5-point underdogs to a Buckeye squad that has been nearly perfect in all phases in search of a repeat national championship.

Should Oregon heal up in time for a playoff run, they'd face A&M in the quarterfinals, unless there are some bracket-busting upsets. The Hurricanes are 9-2 this season with losses to unranked Louisville and SMU. They travel to No. 22 Pitt Saturday at 9 a.m. on ABC.