For only the third time since the Associated Press began ranking college football teams in 1936, the Oregon Ducks found themselves ranked first in Sunday’s AP Top 25 College Football Poll.
The Ducks leapt from No.3 to No.2 a week ago after defeating the then-No.2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. Now, less than a day after the then-No.1 ranked University of Texas Longhorns lost to the visiting No.5 Georgia Bulldogs 30-15 in Austin on Saturday night, Oregon found itself atop the college football world.
Texas got off to a sluggish start and found themselves down 23-0 at halftime. Although the Longhorns surged back in the third quarter, they couldn’t complete a comeback and ultimately lost by 15 points. Texas (6-1, 2-1 SEC) is now ranked No.5.
The Ducks got to watch Saturday’s upset unfold after shutting out the struggling Purdue Boilermakers 35-0 in West Lafayette the night before. The shutout was Oregon’s first since 2012 and the first time Purdue had been shut out since 2013.
Two days later, Sunday’s AP Poll marked Oregon’s first No.1 ranking in almost 12 years.
Behind the second-ranked Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 SEC) are the No.3-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) had a bye this weekend and sat a place below the Ducks (at No.3) prior to Georgia’s Saturday upset inside Texas’ Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
Oregon was previously ranked No.1 for seven straight weeks in 2010, but the team dropped to No.2 after winning the season finale against Oregon State. Oregon lost the 2011 BCS National Championship Game to the eventual No.1 University of Auburn Tigers and finished the year ranked No.3.
Oregon was also atop the AP Poll for a single week in 2012 after moving to 10-0 on the season, but the team lost an infamous 17-14 overtime heartbreaker to No.14 Stanford the following week and finished the year ranked No.2.
Now, they’re back on top. The No.1-ranked Oregon Ducks are 7-0 and are favored in all five of their remaining conference matchups. The Ducks’ first of those matchups will come at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26 when the No.20 University of Illinois (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) comes to town.
Autzen Stadium is currently the epicenter of the college football universe. Oregon is playing like the best team in the nation, and Duck fans are rooting for the No.1-ranked team in the country.