Why Oregon Ducks Are Ranked Ahead of Oklahoma Sooners in New Playoff Rankings

The Oregon Ducks remain squarely in the mix for a second straight trip to the College Football Playoff, though Dan Lanning's team still has some work to do to ensure their spot in the bracket.

That said, the Ducks are in a solid spot with two weeks left in the regular season if the latest CFP rankings released Tuesday are any indication.

Oregon slotted in at No. 7 in the rankings, moving one spot up from No. 8 after a dominant 42-13 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers. However, there's some debate about Oregon's placement above the newly-ranked No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners, who picked up a massive road win over the Alabama Crimson Tide over the weekend.

College Football Playoff Committee Explains Oregon vs. Oklahoma

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning instructs his team from the sideline against the Indiana Hoosiers during the third quarter at Autzen Stadium. | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

The Sooners currently sit at 8-2 on the season and have one more loss than the Ducks, but there's an argument to be made about Oklahoma's resume being better than Oregon's following the 23-21 road win in Tuscaloosa.

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CFP chair Hunter Yurachek said the committee had "signifiant discussion" regarding the team's ranked 7-10, but put that argument to rest for now until this weekend's results tell us more.

"We had significant discussion of the teams 7 through 10, quite candidly, all grouped there together, comparing Oregon, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and Alabama and the resumes of those teams," Yurachek said. "Oregon, while their strength of schedule metric may not be as strong as an Oklahoma, we felt like they're a very strong team on both sides of the ball offensively and defensively. They rank in the top 10 in most of the statistical categories that we use in comparison to other teams."

Oregon Ducks vs. Oklahoma Sooners CFP Resume

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables celebrates with his players after winning a NCAA football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Oklahoma Sooners at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on November 1, 2025. | Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Ducks and Sooners both control their own destiny to the CFP. If both teams win out, they will be in.

However, it still remains to be seen who will get a home playoff game in the first round. There could even be a possibility of Oregon and Oklahoma facing each other in the first round since the CFP could view the comparable resumes as reason enough to place either team at the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds.

So how do these resumes stack up?

For starters, Oklahoma has the edge when it comes to quality wins. The Sooners have road wins over No. 10 Alabama and No. 20 Tennessee along with a non-conference home victory over No. 18 Michigan. OU also has two quality losses to No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 17 Texas.

As for the Ducks, they have quality wins at Iowa and at Penn State, the latter of which is still seen as a quality victory by the committee despite the Nittany Lions' massive falloff this season. Oregon also has a quality loss to No. 2 Indiana.

Oregon will have a massive chance to add to this on Saturday at home against No. 15 USC before closing out the season on the road against the Washington Huskies.

There's still plenty of football left but the CFP picture is seriously beginning to take shape.

College Football Playoff Committee Explains Oregon vs. Oklahoma

Oregon Ducks vs. Oklahoma Sooners CFP Resume

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