When the AP preseason poll came out, Ohio State and Oregon were ranked number one and two, respectively. This Saturday, they will square off. Both are ranked in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, but neither are in the top 10. Both teams are playing with a backup quarterback.
Ohio State has the opportunity to win a Big Ten Championship and make the College Football Playoff right in front of them, while Oregon has three losses heading into November. Are the Ducks a dead team walking into the Horseshoe?
For as bad as things feel in Columbus following the loss to USC, it could always be worse. Oregon's season has been an unmitigated disaster so far. They lost their first game against a power conference opponent this season and gave up nearly 40 points against Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
In their Big Ten opener, star quarterback Dante Moore was knocked out of the game, and ultimately for the season, against USC. They lost their second game of the season against UCLA, and their season appeared to be over after they suffered a third loss at Illinois.
Many of the best players on Oregon could have gone to the NFL. After losing three games before Halloween and some off-field troubles, it would make sense if Oregon mailed in the rest of this season. Their most recent result might indicate that that isn't the case.
Ohio State and Oregon are fighting for their seasons
Oregon's win over a ranked Northwestern team kept their season alive last weekend. Their offense broke out for 34 points, which is the most they had scored since September. Some were surprised to see the Ducks' name pop up in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, but they came in at number 23. That might indicate that the Ducks aren't done just yet.
They have two Big Ten losses and are just one game back of second place. If they beat Ohio State, that would give the Buckeyes their second conference loss. If Indiana loses another game, only UCLA would have fewer than two Big Ten losses. Depending on how many teams and what teams are in the tiebreaker, we could still see the Ducks in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship game.
A 9-3 Oregon could potentially make a case for an at-large bid as well. They would have three wins over ranked teams, with two of them being on the road. One of their losses is just a 2 point loss against undefeated UCLA. It probably won't be enough to get them in, but this has been a chaotic college football season so far. We could potentially see multiple three-loss teams make the top 12.
Even if Oregon's longshot national title hopes were zero, they'd still be up for this game. They're a talented, veteran team that remembers what happened the last time they faced the Scarlet and Grey. It was the most embarrassing moment in program history, as the undefeated, No. 1 Ducks trailed the Buckeyes 34-0 in the first half of the CFP Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl.
They will come into Columbus on Saturday with something to prove, just as every team does when they play Ohio State. Even though they haven't won the conference since 2020, the Buckeyes are still the standard in the Big Ten. Oregon doesn't have Dante Moore, who was the projected top pick in the 2027 NFL draft before the season, but they still have a lot of talented players.
That talent was the reason I picked the Ducks to win the national championship in August. That talent is still there, and Ohio State has to rise to the moment on Saturday.
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