When the first set of College Football Playoff rankings were revealed and the Oregon Ducks debuted at No. 23, it was hard to get too excited given what was ahead. Going on the road to Columbus and beating Ohio State, coming off a loss, was a tall task, and a loss would've killed any hopes of going on an incredible run to the Playoff.
Dan Lanning and the Ducks proved to be up to the challenge, emptying out The Shoe in a statement win. Beating the Buckeyes gave Oregon another strong resume point, and the potential to leap up the rankings, and on Tuesday Night, the meaning of that win was revealed by the committee.
Oregon climbs to 16th post Ohio State giving the Ducks a clear Playoff path
On Tuesday Night, the second set of College Football Playoff rankings were revealed, and the Oregon Ducks climbed from 23rd up to 16th.
BREAKING: College Football Playoff Ranking🚨https://t.co/lbDyQ9zryz pic.twitter.com/3wzikg7MfL
— On3 (@On3) November 11, 2026
It was hard to project just how much the committee would value a win over a Buckeyes' team without Julian Sayin, but the massive leap shows that they understand the difficulty of beating Ryan Day's team in the fashion the Ducks did. Even with the third loss, Ohio State remained in the committee's Top 25 at 20, giving the Ducks another ranked win.
Helping Oregon climb in the rankings was a ton of movement around the Ducks with some of their opponents. The win over USC has aged even better as the Trojans rose to 18th in the rankings with a big game against Indiana this weekend. Oklahoma State rejoined the field at No. 25, making the loss look far better than having a pair of unranked losses. Boise State also is slowly climbing as they moved up 1 place to 24th in the rankings. UCLA leaped to No. 4 in the rankings, and that loss is far from as bad as it felt in the moment.
The path for Oregon is much clearer, if the Ducks can't find their way into the Big Ten Championship Game, there's still a path to an at-large bid. If 5 teams ranked ahead of the Ducks can take a second or 3rd loss, it could go a long way, and with some of the big games still coming up on the schedule, Oregon is very much still alive in the hunt for an at-large bid if they can enter the Top 11.
This weekend is going to be key for Oregon, starting with handling business against a reeling Michigan Wolverines team. If Oregon can handle business, everyone will be rooting for USC to beat Indiana and for Illinois to fall to UCLA, as both games have massive impacts on the Ducks' path to the Big Ten Championship Game.
This season has been far from perfect for Dan Lanning's team, and with all the injuries and issues this team has dealt with, having a chance to have some fun down the stretch is all you can ask for. Every goal is still possible for the Ducks despite the 3 losses this season, and the goal now is stacking 3 more wins to build a solid resume. Oregon can only take things week by week, but with the way this season has gone, anything is possible with chaos unfolding.
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