Preseason polls are here and that means Oregon football is going to get a ton of respect as the second-best team from the Big Ten ahead of the 2024 season.
Everyone seems to be in agreement that the Ducks are the second-best team in their new conference behind only Ohio State.
And the coaches made that official on Monday afternoon.
In fact, the preseason Coaches Poll was released on Monday and Oregon came in at No. 3 in the nation behind only Georgia (No. 1) and new conference foe Ohio State (No. 2).
Preseason coaches poll: Georgia is No. 1 pic.twitter.com/zfwPBM4P3w
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) August 5, 2024
Somehow, though, the Ducks didn't receive a single first-place vote despite being ranked third in the country, just ahead of Texas and Alabama.
Only four teams in college football received first-place votes: Georgia (46), Ohio State (7), Texas (1), and Michigan (1). Both Texas and Michigan are a bit surprising given the fact that neither are the preseason top teams in their respective conferences, but Oregon at least has a case to be the No. 1 team in the Big Ten so it's surprising to see the Ducks get no love atop the poll.
Dan Lanning and the Ducks don't need No. 1 votes to feel like national title contenders, however. Everyone knows that this team has what it takes to compete at the highest level and we've seen it for the past two seasons under the former Georgia assistant.
Oregon was one win over Washington away from potentially representing the Pac-12 one last time in the College Football Playoff, but the Huskies got the better of the Ducks in the regular season as well as the conference championship. Oregon was that close.
And heading into this year, Oregon brings in two elite transfer quarterbacks to replace Bo Nix along with one of the best recruiting classes in the nation.
The Ducks don't need your No. 1 votes.