The University of Oregon football team earned its highest preseason ranking ever, coming in at No. 3 in the USA Today coaches poll that was released on Thursday. The Ducks received a pair of first-place votes and trailed only the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners and the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide.
Prior to this season, Oregon’s highest preseason ranking came in 2001, when the Ducks came in at No. 8 following a co-Pacific-10 Conference Championship in 2000. Last year, Oregon was the 11th-ranked team in the nation in the preseason polls and went on to finish No. 3 in the final polls behind undefeated national champion Auburn and the unbeaten TCU Horned Frogs.
Here’s a look at the poll:
1. Oklahoma (42)
2. Alabama (13)
3. Oregon (2)
4. LSU (2)
5. Florida State
6. Stanford
7. Boise State
8. Oklahoma State
9. Texas A&M
10. Wisconsin
11. Nebraska
12. South Carolina
13. Virginia Tech
14. Arkansas
15. TCU
16. Ohio State
17. Michigan
18. Notre Dame
19. Auburn
20. Mississippi State
21. Missouri
22. Georgia
23. Florida
24. Texas
25. Penn State
Other Pac-12 schools who received votes: Arizona State, Utah, Arizona, Oregon State and Washington.