
Oregon has been treated as a program firmly in the Big Ten’s top tier this season, but based on the initial College Football Playoff rankings, the Ducks’ position is a little more tenuous than many may have expected.
Dan Lanning’s club debuted at No. 9 in the season’s first CFP rankings, dragged down by a decisive home loss to No. 2 Indiana and the erosion of the quality of its overtime win at Penn State earlier this year. On Saturday, they travel to face a Big Ten team that is quietly well-positioned to make some noise in the CFP race: No. 20 Iowa.