There are just two weeks left in the college football season and the College Football Playoff picture is starting to take shape. On Tuesday night, the CFP committee revealed the latest rankings heading into Week 13.
After Alabama's loss to Oklahoma, the top six in the rankings was essentially set in stone and will remain that way unless one of those six teams loses. However, there was plenty of discussion about the order of the rest of the top 10 between Oregon, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Alabama.
The Ducks ended up getting that coveted No. 7 spot with a 9-1 record heading into Week 13, putting them in position to potentially host a first-round game if they are able to win out. After the rankings were revealed, committee chair Hunter Yurachek revealed that despite Oregon's weaker strength of schedule, an early-season win over Penn State is still boosting it up.
“[Oregon] had a really big win at Iowa two weeks ago. Iowa was ranked in our top 25 previously,” Yurachek said. “They won at Penn State. I know Penn State is not the same Penn State we expected them to be this year. Still it's a very challenging place to play, as evidenced by Indiana having to have a last second touchdown to win there a couple weeks ago.”
Yurachek also cited some of Oregon's efficiency numbers, which have it ranked in the top 10 in the country, as a reason for having the Ducks at No. 7. Oregon also has the advantage of only having one loss, which the three teams below it cannot say.
However, that doesn't mean Dan Lanning and company have any margin for error moving forward. The fact that Oregon is being grouped with the two-loss teams below it and not the one-loss teams in front of it, such as Georgia, Texas Tech and Ole Miss, is representative of a fairly weak resume on paper. At this point, it feels likely that the Ducks will have to win their final two games to get into the 12-team field.
Oregon has a big game coming up on Saturday against No. 15 USC at home in what is likely a playoff elimination game. If it can get through that one, a trip to Seattle for a rivalry game against Washington awaits on the final day of the regular season.
