AP Top 25 Week 5: Oregon Ducks Unranked, Utah Utes Rewarded
AP Top 25 voters punished the Oregon Ducks for an ugly loss to the Utah Utes. The Week 5 AP Top 25 leaves Oregon unranked for the first time since the 2009 college football season. A report from ESPN.com also states that this is the first time the school has had two losses in September since the 2004 season. It’s a rough wake-up call for the school and an indication that the rest of the conference has caught up.
The No. 13 Ducks lost 62-20 to the No. 18 Utes on Saturday, September 26, with the loss coming at home as well. It was an ugly game on all fronts, as the Ducks even got embarrassed on special teams. Injuries and a new starting quarterback have contributed to put the team in a bad position, but the season isn’t lost just yet. Losing to No. 5 Michigan State and now No. 10 Utah isn’t the end of the world.
There are still eight Pac-12 games left on the Oregon Ducks’ regular season schedule, with plenty of time to create national attention and re-enter the 2015 AP Top 25. The school has a road game against Colorado on October 3, a home game against the Washington State Cougars on October 10, and then a road game against the Washington Huskies on October 17. All three games should find the Ducks favored to win, giving the school a chance to bounce back into bowl contention very quickly.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Oregon Ducks are currently projected to play in the Royal Purple Bowl on December 19. The predicted opponent would be the Brigham Young Cougars, but it’s a pretty low bowl game for the Pac-12 Conference. Winning several games over the next few weeks would get the team back into contention for one of the better bowl games the conference has an automatic bid for this season.
Pac-12 teams that the Associated Press voters rewarded this week include UCLA at No. 7, Utah at No. 10, USC at No. 17, Stanford at No. 18, and California at No. 24 now. The Utah Utes also received a first-place vote in the poll, showing that there is a writer who feels the school has a ticket to the 2016 College Football Playoff. Oregon has games against California, Stanford, and USC in successive weeks later this season that could help out in future rankings from the AP Top 25. For now, the school is looking up at California, Stanford, and WSU in the Pac-12 North standings.
[Image Source: Steve Dykes/Getty Images]
