Send in the usual suspects.
Despite being wildly inaccurate and inherently biased, the preseason polls from the AP and the Coaches matter. College football is a perception game, and the playoff participants are chosen by a committee.
Where you start matters. A team ranked 11th (as the Ducks currently are in 2022's inaugural ballot) can lose a game in September and not drop out of the Top 25. They're in range of those coveted top four spots.
Elsewhere in the conference, Utah is 7th and USC 14th, the only other PAC-12 schools included.
🚨NEW🚨 College Football Preseason AP Poll👀https://t.co/3GzpuFLfGZ pic.twitter.com/zmIaiyA9Xd
— On3 (@On3sports) August 15, 2022
Some fun facts: Texas received a first-place vote in the Coaches' Poll but is unranked by the writers. The Ducks are ranked in the top 15 for the fourth year in a row. Since 2000, Alabama has been ranked number one in the August poll 6 times, SC four times, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma twice. The SEC leads all conferences with six teams in the Top 25, while the PAC-12 has just three. The Trojans came in 14th despite a 4-8 record last season, largely on the strength of hiring Lincoln Riley and a flurry of transfer portal moves that included Sooner quarterback Caleb Williams and UO running back Travis Dye.
Mario Cristobal's first squad at Miami was picked 16th. The Canes have a date with #6 Texas A&M on September 17th while closing their regular season at #4 Clemson November 19th then at home versus #17 Pitt.
Last year, 14 teams in the preseason poll were unranked at the end of the year.
Just a few years removed from being a national champion, erstwhile SEC stalwart LSU was left out of the preseason Top 25 for the first year since 2000. The writers picked Baylor 10th despite going 7-6 last season.
Oregon faces the 6th most difficult schedule in college football season, according to ESPN's FPI. They open with National Champion, number three ranked Georgia at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta September 3rd. They'll host #25 BYU in Autzen two weeks later. Utah travels to Eugene this year in the season's penultimate contest November 19th.
For the Ducks, the season hinges on likely starting quarterback Bo Nix. The defense has the potential to be quick, freakishly athletic and disruptive, but for Oregon to reach the 10-win plateau and remain in the Tip 25, Nix has to achieve a level of consistency beyond anything he's shown in three years as an SEC starter.
The opener looms as an improbable task. Mercedes Benz Stadium is a mere 70 miles from Athens. The "neutral site" game will feature a crowd that's 90% clad in Bulldog red. Kirby Smart sent a record 14 players into the 2022 NFL draft, and five defensive standouts were picked in the first round, including monster defensive tackle Jordan Davis, off a unit that held opponents to a NCAA-best 10.2 points a game.
Even with all the attrition, UGA is loaded on both sides of the ball. They added five five-star recruits for 2022, and returnees include defensive back Kelee Ringo, quarterback Stetson Bennett and Mackey Award candidate at tight end Brock Bowers (13 touchdown catches last year). The Dawgs are a 17.5-point favorite. FPI gives Oregon an 8.5% chance to win.
Bounce back with wins over Eastern Washington and BYU, though, and Oregon can remain in the Top 20 to start PAC-12 play. That's the advantage of being ranked high early.
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