Oregon Football Debuts at No. 8 in First College Football Playoff Rankings
The first College Football Playoff rankings were released Wednesday night with some new movement within the top 10.
The Oregon Ducks debuted at No. 8 with the USC Trojans right behind them at No. 9, followed by UCLA at No. 12, Utah at No. 14 and Oregon State squeaking in at No. 23.
Here is the complete list of the CFP rankings.
1. Tennessee
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Clemson
5. Michigan
6. Alabama
7. TCU
8. Oregon
9. USC
10. LSU
11. Ole Miss
12. UCLA
13. Kansas State
14. Utah
15. Penn State
16. Illinois
17. North Carolina
18. Oklahoma State
19. Tulane
20. Syracuse
21. Wake Forest
22. NC State
23. Oregon State
24. Texas
25. UCF
With only a few games left in the regular season that will feature ranked matchups, these initial rankings are sure to be shaken up in the coming weeks. The Ducks are the leading competitors to represent the Pac-12 in a potential playoff bid down the road, but that does depend on how these next few games play out.
The Ducks are leaning on their offense more than they have in past years as they've been averaging 42.4 points per game and over 526 yards of offense, which has helped them establish early leads in a majority of games.
READ MORE: How to watch, stream and listen to No. 8 Oregon vs. Colorado
The defense has been slowly building, fixing past mistakes such as missed tackles, missed assignments and lapses in coverage but seems to struggle late in the game by giving up points in garbage time seemingly every week.
Regardless, the Ducks have been solid all year since their only loss against No. 3 Georgia. The biggest what ifs for Oregon range from who they could potentially be playing in a Pac-12 title game, whether it be the USC Trojans, a rematch with the Bruins of UCLA, or another team that works their way up in these next four weeks such as Utah.
There are multiple strong front runners for the playoffs that will play each other before the final rankings are released and there's still time for plenty of chaos.
Matchups to watch
No. 3 Georgia vs No.1 Tennessee Nov. 5
No.2 Ohio State vs No.5 Michigan Nov. 26
Potential No. 6 Alabama vs either Georgia or Tennessee in a SEC Championship
Oregon, USC, UCLA, Utah in possible Pac-12 championship
No. 7 TCU remaining games vs. Texas Tech, @ Texas, @ Baylor, vs. Iowa State
No. 4 Clemson vs. Notre Dame Nov. 5, vs. South Carolina Nov. 26
The Ducks will begin a long three week stretch of top conference opponents after this weekend’s matchup against the Colorado Buffaloes. Every game matters and will have a direct impact on Oregon's ability to make its fourth straight Pac-12 championship game and first college football playoff since 2014.
READ MORE: Oregon vs. Colorado betting odds
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