Phil Steele Has Oregon Ranked #11, Behind USC & Stanford!

[SuperDuck]

He has USC at #3, Stanford at #7 and Oregon at #11. He also has Michigan State #9.

Honestly, I understand the reasoning behind him thinking the Ducks may take a step back. The QB will be unproven, at least at the FBS level, and the defense is suspect. I personally think the defense will be fine, but I'm not sure how well they'll hold up against Connor Cook and company on the road. I expect they'll have gelled by the time they play at Stanford and against WSU and USC.

Thoughts?

[fpsduck]

USC @#3 is ridiculous.

Oregon @ 11 seems fair.

[Braveheart]

USC @#3 is ridiculous.

Oregon @ 11 seems fair.

I agree with both.

[SuperDuck]

USC @#3 is ridiculous.

Oregon @ 11 seems fair.

I agree with both.

Figures.

[pezsez1]

Not surprised about USC... the media LOVES the Trojans, and they're always overrated to start the year. Remember a few years back, when they started ranked no. 1? Yeeeeaaah....

Reminds me a lot of how up in Seattle, every year is the year that UW is going to break through and win the Rose Bowl. Now that I finally live in Portland again, I'm really going to miss that! I'll especially miss going to the gym in all my Duck gear... still remember the dude I saw in the Husky shirt that said, "BEAT OREGON" on front, and "NOTHING ELSE MATTERS" on the back. Hahahahaha!!!

That said...

I'd put Oregon maybe at no. 7. I give us a slight step back just because of our question marks at QB, but otherwise this team is going to be lethal. Assuming we don't have another giant rash of injuries, this team could be better than last year's team simply by having more time to gel on the field.

But Stanford in the Top 10? Not seeing it... at all. Top 20? Yeah, sure.

[UOducksTK1]

Kinda hard to give Oregon too much love when you just lost Mariota, I personally think we should be higher than Stanford, but 6-12 range seems like a reasonable starting point for the ducks.

[buckmarkduck]

Who cares honestly? It only matters what we do on the field, and not what some guy who was good in the 90s had to say.

[Duck24]

Not surprised about USC... the media LOVES the Trojans, and they're always overrated to start the year. Remember a few years back, when they started ranked no. 1? Yeeeeaaah....

Reminds me a lot of how up in Seattle, every year is the year that UW is going to break through and win the Rose Bowl. Now that I finally live in Portland again, I'm really going to miss that! I'll especially miss going to the gym in all my Duck gear... still remember the dude I saw in the Husky shirt that said, "BEAT OREGON" on front, and "NOTHING ELSE MATTERS" on the back. Hahahahaha!!!

That said...

I'd put Oregon maybe at no. 7. I give us a slight step back just because of our question marks at QB, but otherwise this team is going to be lethal. Assuming we don't have another giant rash of injuries, this team could be better than last year's team simply by having more time to gel on the field.

But Stanford in the Top 10? Not seeing it... at all. Top 20? Yeah, sure.

I don't understand the USC hate. When they were preseason #1 a few years back, it was because they were easily the most talented team in the country. That season is a perfect example of what terrible coaching gets you.

As for this year, 3 seems high initially but from a talent/potential point of view, I can see it. Outside of Alabama, what other teams roster would you take?

[GoDucksIn09]

I am a loyal duck fan and am hoping for the best this year. I kind of agree with the USC being ranked where they are given all the talent they have. I can understand Oregon being ranked 11th. I do not get the ranking for Stanford though. No disrespect of Stanford but that would seem to indicate that Stanford will win the North division. In regards to Oregon... I think Oregon will definitely be a wait and see as to how good the team will be. One can make the argument that this team potentially could lose 5 games. I do not think we do but before we automatically think it is impossible then consider a few things. We do have road games against Michigan State... against Washington... against Stanford... and against Arizona State... and a really tough game against USC at home. Our defense as a whole took a major step backwards last year in a lot of statistics. If the defense does not improve in those critical areas... and the qb position becomes something of a problem then the 5 games is a possibility. I personally think we lose 2... maybe 3. If we lose 5 Helfrich and company will have a really hot seat really fast.

[pezsez1]

I don't understand the USC hate. When they were preseason #1 a few years back, it was because they were easily the most talented team in the country. That season is a perfect example of what terrible coaching gets you.

Hard to say if they were really the most talented team that year. They had a lot of 5* recruits, but that doesn't always tell the whole story. All I know is the Trojans didn't finish very well the previous year -- nothing about their play that season seemed to justify a preseason no. 1 ranking the following year. It was a laughable prediction.

Same goes for last year and this upcoming season. They finished what... around no. 20 in both major polls? And they weren't spectacular last year, either. I've simply seem nothing from the Trojans to justify vaulting them to no. 3.

Heck, we're all talking about Oregon, saying a ranking of 6-12 is justifiable... yet we're returning a slew of weapons on a team with a recent history of WINNING and a tradition of solid quarterback play.

There's just no way USC deserves a no. 3 ranking. No Pac-12 team should be ranked ahead of Oregon right now.

[srsmiley007]

This poll is ridiculous. He has 2 polls the other has us at #6. Talk about covering his bases.

Response: Ducks at #5, Trojan's at #3 (only because of QB), Standford #15.

USC returns most of their pieces with the exception of a star DL & WR. All other draft/graduation losses are likely being replaced with more skilled players who saw PT last year. The notable difference is QB who is quite good and will make them a contender. Not sure about #3 due to depth but talent wise they are loaded.

Oregon's fall is almost all relegated to QB. They have more pieces on defense than before with the exception of DB. Troy Hill got rocked in the NC. Dargen might be the one notable loss that might be challenging to replace. With the exception of replacements for Dargen and IFO there is no dropoff. Armstead is no loss and will successfully be replaced. Seisay if he doesn't make a coverage error was solid and will be good this year.

If Vernon plays as well as he should with the WR's, RB's and OL that we have on deck we could actually be better than last year. Marcus had a piecemeal OL all season, then lost all of our stud Receivers's (Brown, Allen, Carrington & an injured Bayliss-who still played) allowing them to crowd the box in the NC.

Stanfords rank is joke. Top 20 not top 10. Too many key defensive losses, QB consistency is an issue.

The real issue is the schedule for SC & UO. We play UT, USC, MSU, Stanford & ASU which will all likely finish the season in top 25 with 3 of them likely top 10 teams. California could also be challenging. Additionally, our patsy games are against arguably 2 of the top 5 teams from I-AA. SC has almost the same challenging schedule with ND, UA and UCLA in addition to UT and ASU. Depth will be challenged and that's likely where we have an advantage.

[Alan]

I just can't and won't pay any attention to this kind of fantasy BS. Anyone who can get any kind of fan base has a prediction or predictions on how thing will shake out. The only true fact about these predictions is 99.9% will be way off base, the 0.1% will be a lucky guess. So is why I like factual information when it comes to football, such as Mariota's contract. Ohio St lost their first game of the season last year, who saw that coming? It was enough to to make many college football fans and media take their eyes off them for a while, I know I did until late in the season....... I'l try to remember how their season ended up.

I feel much the same way about early verbal commits, they are nice to have but it's still a very long time until ink hits the paper. I should point out I'm a lot less annoyed by the verbal commitments than I am by the homer POS's that try to play the expert.

Was I gentle enough?

[UOducksTK1]

Not surprised about USC... the media LOVES the Trojans, and they're always overrated to start the year. Remember a few years back, when they started ranked no. 1? Yeeeeaaah....

Reminds me a lot of how up in Seattle, every year is the year that UW is going to break through and win the Rose Bowl. Now that I finally live in Portland again, I'm really going to miss that! I'll especially miss going to the gym in all my Duck gear... still remember the dude I saw in the Husky shirt that said, "BEAT OREGON" on front, and "NOTHING ELSE MATTERS" on the back. Hahahahaha!!!

That said...

I'd put Oregon maybe at no. 7. I give us a slight step back just because of our question marks at QB, but otherwise this team is going to be lethal. Assuming we don't have another giant rash of injuries, this team could be better than last year's team simply by having more time to gel on the field.

But Stanford in the Top 10? Not seeing it... at all. Top 20? Yeah, sure.

I don't understand the USC hate. When they were preseason #1 a few years back, it was because they were easily the most talented team in the country. That season is a perfect example of what terrible coaching gets you.

As for this year, 3 seems high initially but from a talent/potential point of view, I can see it. Outside of Alabama, what other teams roster would you take?

Sure they are talented, but you even just admitted terrible coaching can cause the most talented team to severely underachieve. USC's talent + Sark = not even top 5.

[QuackininBama]

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit:

“Florida State, Alabama, UCLA and Michigan State will be the four,” he said.

Then he has the Seminoles and Crimson Tide playing in Dallas for the national title with FSU repeating as champions.

That was from last year and I have mad respect for Herbstreit, but the "experts" are just guessing just like the rest of us. Steele is a smart guy, but he's just guessing to and picking USC, they STILL have a love affair with USC, they always will.

[UOducksTK1]

ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit:

“Florida State, Alabama, UCLA and Michigan State will be the four,” he said.

Then he has the Seminoles and Crimson Tide playing in Dallas for the national title with FSU repeating as champions.

That was from last year and I have mad respect for Herbstreit, but the "experts" are just guessing just like the rest of us. Steele is a smart guy, but he's just guessing to and picking USC, they STILL have a love affair with USC, they always will.

It's true, I forgot how the majority of college football analysts were all about UCLA, before the season started.

To be fair though, FSU, Bama, and MSU were all really good guesses. tOSU was a pretty big surprise, especially with their injuries.

And like you said, generally Oregon gets the short end on things like this, and the UCLAs and USCs of the world, not so much.