Oregon’s slide in the US LBM Coaches Poll kept rolling Monday, with the Ducks landing at No. 18 after their 39-31 loss to Oklahoma State on Sept. 12.
That drop extends a rough opening stretch for a team that entered the season with its highest preseason ranking ever in the poll just over a month ago. Oregon opened with a 7-point win over Boise State at Autzen Stadium, then slipped four places in the coaches poll before falling another 12 spots after its first defeat.
The result is a familiar but still jarring milestone: Oregon is no longer in the top 10. The Ducks had spent 45 straight weeks there, a run that dated back to Oct. 15, 2023.
Even with the downturn, Oregon remains ranked under fifth-year coach Dan Lanning. The Ducks have never been unranked during his tenure.
Their lowest point under Lanning came after his first game in 2022, when a blowout loss to eventual champion Georgia left Oregon at No. 24 in Week 2. The last time the Ducks were left out of the poll entirely was the final ranking of the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Oregon will try to stop the slide Friday, Sept. 18, when it closes nonconference play at Autzen Stadium against FCS Portland State, which is 0-3 and 0-1 in the Big Sky.
At the top of the coaches poll, Texas moved into No. 1 with 42 first-place votes. Georgia is No. 2, followed by Notre Dame, Indiana and Miami.
Ohio State, which started the season at No. 1, fell to No. 6.
The rest of the top 25: LSU, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Alabama, USC, Texas Tech, BYU, Tennessee, Penn State, SMU, Utah, Oregon, Michigan, Iowa, Oklahoma, Missouri, Houston, Washington and Virginia.
Florida dropped out of the rankings after sitting at No. 25 last week.
In Other News...
Oregons Loss Just Put Dan Lannings Staff Under Real Pressure
A loss to Oklahoma State would have stung on its own, but the way Oregon got beat made it feel bigger than just one bad afternoon. The Ducks were outgained and outworked, and when a team comes away looking second-best in multiple phases against an opponent that had been on a long losing streak, the questions tend to land on the sideline fast. For Dan Lanning, the concern is not just the result, but how clearly it pointed back to the coaching operation around him.
The pressure is sharper because Oregon already spent the offseason replacing both coordinators after the 2025 season, then elevated internal options who had not run a staff at this level before. On paper, continuity was supposed to help smooth the transition. On the field, the Ducks looked disjointed enough to make the staff look like the bigger issue than the roster, and now the challenge is whether those promotions can hold up when the margin for error is gone. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Tech Just Got Pulled Into A Brutal Week 2 Debate
Week 2 did more than reshuffle the college football conversation for a few teams, it created a list of people who suddenly look as if they are carrying some of the early season blame. Georgia Techs rough opening stretch, Rutgers slow start under Greg Schiano, John Mateers uneven showing for Oklahoma, Ohio States inability to close against Texas under Ryan Day and Oregons flawed performance under Dan Lanning all fed into a broader debate about who took the biggest hit when the games got real.
For Oregon, the frustration is less about one bad afternoon than the way the Ducks have already invited scrutiny around a roster that was supposed to set a tone early. Dan Lannings group came out of Week 2 with more questions than a team in its position wants, and in a season where September judgments can linger, that kind of performance travels fast. The bigger issue now is whether this was a one-off stumble or the first sign that the Ducks margin for error is thinner than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Kenyon Sadiq Just Sent Oregon Fans A Familiar Reminder
The early buzz around Kenyon Sadiq got a jolt right away Sunday, as the former Oregon tight end made his first NFL drive count in a way Ducks fans know well. Drafted by the New York Jets, Sadiq reached the end zone on a rushing touchdown against the Tennessee Titans and added a 7-yard catch, a quick reminder that his game has always carried more than the usual tight end profile.
What stood out most was how naturally he seemed to fit into the offense with Geno Smith, a promising sign for a rookie still carving out his role. Oregon supporters remember Sadiq as a highly ranked recruit who stacked up both receiving and rushing production in college, and his first professional snaps suggested the Jets may already have found a creative way to use him. [Read more 🡒]