Ducks Popular In Preason Polls

Speed blur: Josh Huff (4) blows right past a Trojan

Here's Oregon's most memorable moments according to bleacher report.  Pretty good list. Whether they're good moments or bad moments, they'll always be remembered for something.


Everybody is starting to put together their preseason top 25 list, and most have Oregon between 3-7.  Here's a few of them, followed by their outlook on the Ducks:

Phil Steele ranks Oregon No. 3

About.com ranks Oregon No. 4

Scout ranks Oregon No. 2

Sporting News is the only one that had Oregon this low at No. 8

Tuesday Duck Links

Oregon's Byron Marshall (#9) dives for a touchdown last Saturday vs. Ark. St. 

Oregon moved up to #4 in the latest polls which were released today.  I was happy they jumped OU.  I smell a fraud when it comes to the sooners.  To see the complete list go here.

Aaron Fentress of the Oregonian takes a sneak peek at Fresno State, because well, that's what he does, and he does it very well.

Speaking of Fresno State, Vegas like them too much...Oregon opens as 33.5 favorites.

Here's an interesting story about how an all men's college in Queens adopted the Ducks as their team!

Several of the talented freshman on Oregon's roster saw significant playing time, here's how Charles Fischer (also from fishduck) graded them in the Oregonian.

Here's a good piece by the Oregonian's Aaron Fentress (again!) on Kyle Long's (son of Howie Long) first game as a Duck at Autzen stadium.

Ducks #4 in CFB Live Preseason Top 25

This past Tuesday ESPN released its College Football Live preseason top 25.  It's never too early to look ahead to next year, and with spring football over, what else are you gonna do from now until September?  With that said, lets take a look at their rankings, and where the Ducks come in:

1. USC

2. Alabama

3. LSU

4. Oklahoma

5. Florida State

6. Oregon

7. Michigan

8. Arkansas

9. Georgia

10. South Carolina

11. West Virginia

12. Kansas State

13. Michigan State

14. TCU

15. Clemson

16. Stanford

17. Wisconsin

18. Ohio State

19. Nebraska

20. Boise State

21. Virginia Tech

22. Oklahoma State

23. Louisville

24. Texas

25. Rutgers

My first impression right away is how in the hell is USC #1?  When did they become THAT good again?  

Alabama, LSU, always reload.  Oklahoma's always in there as well.  Getting tired of the Florida State love.  They were a preseason top 5 year a year ago, and failed to meet those expectations by going 9-4.  Not a bad record, but certainly not what they had in mind going into the season.

What type of hit does Arkansas take after losing Petrino?  South Carolina is probably too high at #10 after losing some key players on defense like Melvin Ingram and Stephon Gilmore.

Another team taking a big hit is Stanford.  You lose what everybody says is the best QB prospect to come out in the last 10 years, you're gonna take a step back.  

And did you honestly think I would leave out Oregon, sittin' up there at #4?  That's mighty kind of them over there at CFB Live, showing a lot of respect.  But Oregon also has some question marks.  However, with their schedule, they could easily come out of the gate 8-0.

While I don't agree with some of the rankings, it's just one man's poll, it's a good attempt.  Gets the conversation going at least.  These things are certain, the final top 5/10/25 will not resemble what it does now, somebody from the SEC I'm sure will get too much "love" from the polls, somebody will be crying foul, and Boise State will exceed expectations again, proving the doubters wrong (which pains me to say because I hate Donkey U.).

My Top 5 In College Football For Next Year

   I know it's ridiculously early but everybody else is already coming out with their top teams for next year, so here are my top 5:  

1. Alabama
2. LSU
3. Oregon
4. OU
5. USC

   The thing these teams all have in common is that, while they're losing a few pieces from this year, they're also replacing them.  These teams don't rebuild, they reload.  All of them have talent waiting to step up and I don't expect them to miss a beat.  All of them are expected by most of the experts to be as good, or in Oregon's case, better than this year.