Oregon Ducks Snubbed in Recent Big Ten Media Poll

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As each college football season passes by, it feels like the Big Ten continues to gain steam as the premier conference in football.

The past three national champions have come from the Big Ten, and the Oregon Ducks are hoping that they’re next.

However, leading up to Big Ten Media Day, cleveland.com releases a preseason Big Ten power ranking poll. Since the Big Ten itself doesn’t coordinate a poll, cleveland.com has become the ‘official’ poll leading up to the season.

Unfortunately for the Ducks, they come in at number-two, right behind the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Ohio State collected 15 first-place votes, while Oregon ultimately collected 11. It also marks the 10th time since 2011 that the Buckeyes were ranked first in this poll.

A big reason as to why Oregon didn’t overtake the Buckeyes in this poll is likely because of continuity. For the most part, Ohio State’s program is intact, while the Ducks suffered two major losses on their staff.

Previous offensive coordinator Will Stein left town to take the head coaching job at Kentucky, while defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi went on to take the head coaching position at Cal.

In turn, Oregon promoted both Drew Mehringer and Chris Hampton to take on those respective positions.

Despite those coaching departures, Oregon enters the season with one of the strongest quarterback rooms in the country.

Heisman Trophy finalist Dante Moore announced he is coming back to Eugene, while Nebraska transfer Dylan Raiola will back him up.

College football analyst Greg McElroy believes that the addition of Raiola instantly raises Oregon’s ceiling, but not for his immediate impact. It’s for what he can do, should things go awry.

“He’s probably the best backup quarterback in the country, and there’s probably not a lot of debate to be had right there,” McElroy said. “Every contender in America is about one injury away from a disaster, while Oregon is one injury away from a really good quarterback situation. That, I think, is how you build a room.”

Oregon will open its season on September 5 against the Boise State Broncos, with a 12:30 p.m. kickoff at Autzen Stadium.

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