Oregon Ducks

Oregon has best path to the playoff of any Pac-12 school

Published Aug. 6, 2015 5:10 p.m. ET

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Can the Oregon Ducks make the College Football Playoff for the second consecutive year?

Sports Illustrated's Colin Becht recently profiled the Pac-12 conference and gave Oregon the best chance of advancing to the College Football Playoff. Here's his explanation:

"Marcus Mariota may be gone, but last year’s national runners-up remain the Pac-12’s top College Football Playoff contender. Whether electrifying Eastern Washington transfer Vernon Adams wins the starting QB job or not, Oregon will have no shortage of playmakers on the field. Adams’s competition, Jeff Lockie, proved himself capable of powering the Ducks’ offense, completing all nine of his passes in Oregon’s spring game for 223 yards with three touchdowns.

Whoever starts under center will have a host of weapons to work with, including running back Royce Freeman (1,365 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns last year) and receivers Byron Marshall (1,003 receiving yards and six TDs), Darren Carrington (704 receiving yards and four TDs), Devon Allen (684 receiving yards and seven TDs) and Bralon Addison, who missed last season with a torn ACL after racking up 890 yards and seven scores in 2013. The defense has some holes to fill without Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and Arik Armstead, but defensive end DeForest Buckner and linebacker Joe Walker should help pick up the slack.

Mark Helfrich’s squad separates itself from the rest of Pac-12 as the top playoff contender with its schedule, which includes an ideal mix of challenge and manageability. Road games at Michigan State, Arizona State and Stanford will test the Ducks, but if they can win two out of three, they’ll prove themselves playoff-worthy.

Then Oregon just needs to take care of business at home, something it has proven itself quite capable of, and pick up some quality wins over USC and Utah. A one-loss record against a quality schedule—something that could prove too difficult for any of the Pac-12 South contenders to pull off—combined with another Pac-12 title would secure the Ducks’ return to the playoff."

(h/t Sports Illustrated)