Saturday Afternoon was pretty for the Ducks as the day started with Oregon listed as 24.5 point favorites against Boise State, and almost instantly it felt like the team was in for a long game. The Ducks in the end found a way to escape with a victory, but it appeared like the two teams were on equal footing, which isn't what you expected from a team ranked No. 2 in the Country.
Boise State being unranked is different than other unranked teams, as the Ducks played the best Non-Power 4 team in the Country while others played cupcake opponents, winning by 50+ points. Polls and rankings don't truly matter until the College Football Playoff top 25 starts getting revealed, but early on the Ducks won't be moving up in the AP Poll.
Will Oregon fall or stand pat in the AP Poll?
When the initial AP Poll was released, Oregon ranked No. 2 behind Ohio State with 1,597 points and 14 first-place votes. While many voters may keep the Ducks at No. 2, and there may not be a significant number of teams making major jumps, the gap between teams ranked No. 2 through No. 7 is relatively small. That means it could take just one or two teams receiving some extra love from voters for Oregon to slide down the rankings.
Ohio State will certainly stay at No. 1, but the conversation starts with the Ducks, and who may end up jumping them. Georgia ranked 3rd, just 84 points behind the Ducks, making it very likely that the Bulldogs will pass Oregon when the new AP Poll is released.
Notre Dame is the other team that can jump Oregon pretty easily, as they are ranked just 87 points behind the Ducks. If the Fighting Irish blow out Wisconsin on Sunday night, they can make that jump with just a few votes.
Surprisingly, the 5th ranked Texas Longhorns likely can't make that jump given that they were 114 points behind Oregon. Blowing out a cupcake opponent likely won't have that big of an impact on the voters, and they'll likely stand pat and wait to see this team face Ohio State next weekend.
The 4 teams that have a chance to shake up the polls the most are No. 6 Indiana, No. 7 Miami, No. 9 Ole Miss, and No. 11 LSU. Indiana looked like a team that reloaded after a National Championship, and should erase any questions voters had. Miami looks like they may have the most explosive offense in the Country. Ole Miss faces No. 24 Louisville with a chance to send a statement.
Lane Kiffin's debut certainly showed everyone that he's building a contender in Baton Rouge as the Tigers blew out Clemson. Voters may give LSU the biggest bump of any team, and they could slide right into the top 5.
The most likely outcome for Oregon is sliding from No. 2 to No. 4 with Georgia and Notre Dame making the small jumps ahead of the Ducks. Even while the Ducks underwhelmed, they still beat a potential CFP team in Boise State, and it's hard to punish a team for leaving with a win.
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