Oregon Ducks stay at No. 8 AP Top 25 poll; Oregon State Beavers earn 1st ranking since 2013
It appears we’ve reached the point in the season where Oregon will need some help if it wants to climb any higher in the national rankings.
For the second straight week, the Ducks are No. 8 in both the Associated Press and USA TODAY AFCA Coaches polls released Sunday morning.
It is essentially the same top eight in both polls as last week, with the one exception being Tennessee moving from No. 3 into a tie for No. 2 with Ohio State in the AP poll.
Ahead of Oregon (7-1, 5-0 Pac-12), which cruised past California 42-24 in Berkeley Saturday for its seventh straight win, are the remaining six undefeated teams and one-loss Alabama. Until one of them loses — and assuming Oregon keeps winning — the Ducks might be stuck where they are.
Leading in both polls is No. 1 Georgia (8-0), which walloped Oregon 49-3 in the season opener.
Also in the top eight of the AP/USA TODAY polls are No. 2/2 Ohio State (8-0), No. 2/3 Tennessee (8-0), No. 4/4 Michigan (8-0), No. 5/5 Clemson (8-0). No. 6/6 Alabama (7-1) and No. 7/7 TCU (8-0).
The loss for the Crimson Tide came against the Volunteers on a field goal as time expired two weeks ago.
The conference-leading Ducks are the top-ranked team from the Pac-12, just ahead of No. 9/9 Southern California (7-1, 5-1), No. 10/11 UCLA (7-1, 4-1) and No. 12/12 Utah (6-2, 4-1).
Oregon State is also in the AP top 25 for the first time in nine years.
The Beavers (6-2, 3-2), who were idle on Saturday, landed at No. 24, one spot better than their last appearance when they were No. 25 in the 2013 preseason poll.
The Beavers were also just outside the USA TODAY top 25 as they received the most votes of any team not ranked.
Oregon beat the Bruins 45-30 two weeks ago, hosts the Utes Nov. 19 and plays in Corvallis Nov. 26.
The Ducks don’t play the Trojans during the regular season but could face them in the Dec. 2 Pac-12 Championship game in Las Vegas.
The first College Football Playoff rankings of the season come out Tuesday evening and Oregon should be in the top 10, though the six remaining undefeated teams and Alabama are expected to be higher in those rankings as well.
The 13-person CFP selection committee will release updated rankings over the next six weeks, with the last one on Dec. 4 establishing which four teams will vie for the national title.
Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter @chansen_RG or email at chansen@registerguard.com.
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No. 8 Oregon at Colorado
12:30 p.m. Saturday at Folsom Field, Boulder, Colo. TV: ESPN. Radio: KUJZ-FM (95.3), Sirius (133), XM (197)
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks No. 8, Oregon State No. 24 in AP Top 25 poll
