The Oregon football team is currently ranked #6 in the country and they have an 8-1 record through nine games. It's been an exciting season so far in Eugene, and the only blemish on the Ducks' campaign is their heartbreaking loss against Washington earlier in the season. Those two teams are the class of the Pac-12 this season, and it's unfortunate that one team had to lose that game and get punished in the rankings because of it. Oregon played the Huskies tight on the road and they had the lead late in the game, but some questionable coaching decisions from Dan Lanning might have helped Washington get the win. Because of that loss, the Ducks are currently on the outside looking in in terms of the top four.

Despite the Washington loss, Oregon football is still in a great position to make the College Football Playoff. The Ducks still have a great resume as they have a blowout win against #18 Utah, and they have also handily taken care of business in just about every game that wasn't against Washington.

Not only does Oregon have a good resume now, but they have a chance to improve it greatly in the coming weeks. The Ducks host USC this weekend, and while the Trojans are now unranked, it would still be a good win. They will have a chance to pick up another huge win in the final week of the season when #12 Oregon State comes to town. If Oregon finishes 11-1, they will have a resume that will be hard to ignore, but the work will be far from over.

Another thing that will help Oregon down the stretch of the season is the difficult schedules of teams ahead of them, specifically with Michigan, Georgia and Ohio State. The Wolverines still have to play at Penn State and then they will host Ohio State, so that guarantees a loss to a team ahead of Oregon. Georgia plays #9 Ole Miss this weekend as well, so there are some tricky matchups ahead for the top contenders.

What Oregon needs to make the College Football Playoff

The end goal for Oregon football is to make the College Football Playoff, and those hopes are still very much alive. Oregon is going to be favored in all of their remaining games, and first thing's first, they have to take care of business in those remaining three games. If they do, they will be going to the Pac-12 championship. At this point, everyone is under the assumption that both Oregon and Washington will win out, and they will have a rematch in Las Vegas in early December. That's exactly what Oregon wants.

On top of winning out, Oregon football could also use some help from other teams. It seems like whoever comes out of the Pac-12 will make the playoff as long as they don't have more than one loss, but you never know. Last season, Michigan and Ohio State were both undefeated when they played, and even though the Buckeyes lost and didn't go to the Big Ten title game, they still made the playoff with Michigan. It's unlikely that the committee would leave out Oregon if they finish 12-1 for the loser of that game, but crazy things happen in college football.

Georgia will also have another tough game after this week's contest with Ole Miss as they will likely to have to take on Alabama in the SEC title game. The Crimson Tide winning that one could help Oregon, but if there's a 12-1 Georgia and 12-1 Alabama, what will the committee do there?

At the end of the day, all Oregon football needs to focus on is winning out. There are an endless amount of what ifs in the college football world, and there's a lot of chaos that could happen in the next three weeks of the college football season. However, as long as Oregon wins out and finishes 12-1 with a Pac-12 title, they will more than likely make the College Football Playoff.