SI.COM Way To Early Poll has Ducks # 10

[Merganzer]

https://www.si.com/college-football/201 ... on-alabama


10. Oregon

The Ducks’ 2019 hype train got rolling in earnest when quarterback Justin Herbert, who had a shot at being the first QB off the board in this spring's draft, announced he was coming back for his senior season. Now the question is who he will throw to. Jaylon Redd, the team’s only returning wideout with more than 30 catches, is well-positioned to become Herbert’s favorite target, and left tackle Penei Sewell should be safely removed from the ankle injury that cut short his sterling freshman season. The top-five recruiting class secured by the coveted commitment of Kayvon Thibodeaux has the future looking bright in Eugene, and with quarterback turnover elsewhere in the division, Oregon should be the Pac-12 favorite.

12. Washington
15. Utah
19. Auburn

[UOducksTK1]

Weird being in the top 10. Doesn't really matter anyway, because Auburn game will really determine our ranking. If we lose, we'll be in the 20s or worse. Win, and we are top 10.

[karlhungis]

No way. It feels like a set up. Rank us high so they can justify bumping Auburn way up after the beat us on a "neutral" field.

[Tray Dub]

On paper we look that good. On the field we're nowhere close.

[TualatinDuck]

No way. It feels like a set up. Rank us high so they can justify bumping Auburn way up after the beat us on a "neutral" field.

Seconded........

[dphi]

No way. It feels like a set up. Rank us high so they can justify bumping Auburn way up after the beat us on a "neutral" field.

Would make sense with ESPN, maybe a little with SI, but lots of publications are putting Oregon in the top 15 surprisingly - so I don't think it's all to hype that first game for Auburn's benefit. This recruiting class and Herbert's return seem to have made believers of a lot of people.

[maxduck]

Pat Forde at Yahoo lists Oregon with an outside chance to make the playoffs.

https://sports.yahoo.com/teams-break-an ... 40712.html

[OregonFan4Life]

I just have a hard time believing it with Herbert's inconsistencies, the youth at WR, and the offensive woes. I guess there is expected growth from the RB's and for Patrick Herbert and the new WR's to be far more reliable than the butterfingers WR's and TE's we've had this year. However I do expect the defense to be top 10 worthy.

[Greenblood]

I guess there's more than one way to think of any kind of preseason hype. What I like about it is that, if the Ducks play like we hope, they are already more likely to be in a position to be highly ranked in the eyes of the CFP committee and can, say, potentially afford an untimely loss and still make the final four, or two losses and make the New Year's Six, etc., than if we enter the season near the bottom of the top 25. On the other hand, if they don't come near to meeting expectations, it can look pretty silly. I guess I'm of the mind on the whole that there's more to be gained from the possibility of coming near such expectations than lost if we don't.

[greenyellow]

CBS Sports has Oregon at #7:
https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... n-at-no-1/

Jon Wilner has Oregon at #9:

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Joel Klatt has Oregon at #7:

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[GrantDuck]

We can be a top 10 team next year if we get the offense figured out. With 10 returning starters including QB, absolutely no excuses not to.

[Greenblood]

I guess it goes without saying that many, as it would follow, have us winning the Pac-12 next year. But with road games at UW, Stanford and USC, that's going to be hard even if we're a pretty good team.

Maybe it's a bit much, and maybe as we enter next season the Ducks will settle closer to #15 than #10 in the major polls (though I especially find Wilner's notable). But another thing I really like about this is the thought of how infuriating it must be to many rabid Husky fans who simply don't want to acknowledge that the Ducks are "anything," and here they are regarded ahead of UW even after UW won the conference for the second time in three years. To me, it also speaks of the reality of the Ducks' "brand" that they can vault up into national relevance so quickly after the horror that began with part of 2015 and went through 2016, followed then by the coaching changes.

[GrantDuck]

I guess it goes without saying that many, as it would follow, have us winning the Pac-12 next year. But with road games at UW, Stanford and USC, that's going to be hard even if we're a pretty good team.

Maybe it's a bit much, and maybe as we enter next season the Ducks will settle closer to #15 than #10 in the major polls (though I especially find Wilner's notable). But another thing I really like about this is the thought of how infuriating it must be to many rabid Husky fans who simply don't want to acknowledge that the Ducks are "anything," and here they are regarded ahead of UW even after UW won the conference for the second time in three years. To me, it also speaks of the reality of the Ducks "brand" that they can vault up into national relevance so quickly after the horror than began with part of 2015 and went through 2016, followed then by the coaching changes.

Oregon has absolutely become one of those schools, which is pretty cool.

The schedule is certainly tough. We'll see how good Stanford and USC end up next season; they were just OK this year. We OWE Furd and Wazzu.

[lukeyrid13]

I guess it goes without saying that many, as it would follow, have us winning the Pac-12 next year. But with road games at UW, Stanford and USC, that's going to be hard even if we're a pretty good team.

Maybe it's a bit much, and maybe as we enter next season the Ducks will settle closer to #15 than #10 in the major polls (though I especially find Wilner's notable). But another thing I really like about this is the thought of how infuriating it must be to many rabid Husky fans who simply don't want to acknowledge that the Ducks are "anything," and here they are regarded ahead of UW even after UW won the conference for the second time in three years. To me, it also speaks of the reality of the Ducks "brand" that they can vault up into national relevance so quickly after the horror that began with part of 2015 and went through 2016, followed then by the coaching changes.

The thing is though, we beat UW and finished 9-4, they finished 10-4. Considering where both teams were two years ago(we didn't play in 2016 right ) I don't think it's far fetched to say that Oregon is on the rise. Even the most insane Husky fan would have to feel that way.

[Everythingsducky]

It is nothing more than an indictment of the quality (lack of) they see in the Pac12. They see very little. For them to predict UO in the top 10, with the upcoming schedule that would normally be considered ridiculously brutal, is unheard of. Even with Herbert returning.