Oregon Ducks Climb to No. 16 in CFP After Beating Ohio State
The Ducks jumped seven spots in Tuesday's rankings, but still need help from Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin to reach the Big Ten title game.
By Marco Ortega ·
The Oregon Ducks moved from No. 23 to No. 16 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday night on ESPN.
The jump in the standings followed a 41-28 comeback victory over Ohio State this past weekend. The result also dropped the Buckeyes from No. 12 to No. 20.
Oregon, which stands at 6-3 overall and 4-2 in Big Ten play, retains a path to the 12-team playoff bracket. However, the Ducks likely need to win the Big Ten Championship Game to secure an automatic berth.
History shows teams with three losses can still qualify. Clemson earned an automatic spot as ACC champion in 2024, while Alabama received an at-large bid after losing the SEC title game to Georgia.
Reaching the conference championship game requires results outside of Oregon's control. The Ducks must win their final three regular season games. Additionally, No. 9 Indiana and Illinois must lose at least one of their remaining three contests.
A loss for Wisconsin would also help Oregon by removing a potential tiebreaker scenario where the Badgers could edge out the Ducks despite not playing them this season. No. 4 UCLA remains the only undefeated Big Ten team at 9-0.
The Ducks host Michigan at Autzen Stadium this Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The Big Ten will also see structural changes next season, as the CFP expands to 24 teams and conference championship games are eliminated for the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, and ACC.
Regular season champions in those conferences will determine the automatic berths for the expanded field.
