Oregon comes to Boulder in Week 10 with College Football Playoff hopes
Oregon will head into Folsom Field this weekend coming off a road win over Cal.
And while Colorado does have an opportunity to play spoiler against Oregon, the chances of that aren’t high, considering the Buffs sit at 1-7 on the year and are coming off a loss in which they allowed 42 points to Arizona State.
As it stands, big things are ahead for Oregon and its high-flying offense. The Ducks sit at No. 8 in both the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and the Associated Press poll, with the first set of College Football Playoff rankings being revealed on Tuesday at 5 p.m. MT on ESPN.
Oregon looks like a vastly different team than the one that was thoroughly dismantled 49-3 by current No. 1 Georgia. The Ducks have since rattled off seven consecutive wins and are currently looking like the Pac-12’s best chance at a College Football Playoff berth.
It remains to be seen where the committee will slot the Ducks on Tuesday evening, but No. 8 looks like the likely landing spot for Oregon as I don’t see the committee putting one-loss Oregon ahead of a surprisingly undefeated TCU team.
Oregon has this weekend’s road game at Colorado, back-to-back home games against Washington and No. 12 Utah and a road contest against No. 24 Oregon State remaining on the schedule. Given how Oregon looks, it should be able to win against Colorado, Washington and Oregon State, even though the Beavers have had a great season this year.
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Utah looks to be the most challenging opponent left on the Ducks’ regular season schedule, but it also depends on the status of Utes quarterback Cam Rising, who was sidelined with an injury during Thursday’s win against Washington State. Even if Rising is back in the fold against Oregon, the Ducks’ offense will prove difficult for Utah to slow down given the significant improvement of Bo Nix and their run game. That said, I’d be surprised if Oregon ends the regular season with a second loss on their resume — a setback that would firmly dash its playoff hopes.
If Oregon ends the regular season 11-1 and wins the Pac-12 Championship Game — likely against either USC or UCLA — in convincing fashion, the Ducks would have put together an impressive season that puts them in the thick of the race for the last playoff spot.
The Ducks will likely need some help to get up to that last spot, though — help that could come from No. 6 Alabama, No. 5 Clemson, or No. 4 Michigan. Out of those three, Michigan and Alabama look to be the most likely to slip up: Alabama is facing a resurgent No. 15 LSU this Saturday while Michigan has both No. 2 Ohio State and No. 16 Illinois. As impressive of a season Illinois has had, I don’t see the Illini beating Michigan. The Buckeyes look headed to the playoff barring multiple upsets, and they’re coming off an impressive win over Penn State thanks to a fourth-quarter barrage. As for Clemson, the Tigers have a fairly easy schedule to end the regular season, although their game this weekend on the road against Notre Dame will be tough. But, Clemson has looked far from dominant at times with close wins against Wake Forest, Syracuse and Florida State this season.
The Ducks will very likely need a loss from Clemson if they hope to make a move into the top four, even with potentially winning out through the Pac-12 title game.
It remains to be seen officially where Oregon will land in the first playoff rankings, but come Tuesday evening a clearer path to the CFP for the Ducks will be known. And their first obstacle following those rankings will be on a Saturday afternoon in Boulder.
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