No. Eleven Oregon's 35-28 win at No. Three Ohio State is a profoundly meaningful end result for 2 teams, two meetings, this week's USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and the race for the College Football Playoff.
With the win, the Ducks upended several layers of the reputation quo to regulate how we view some of the defining figures behind this yr's countrywide championship, including the powerful Buckeyes, the Big Ten and the much-maligned Pac-12.
A torrid, borderline historical run that started out a decade in the past under Urban Meyer has placed Ohio State most of the elite packages in the Football Bowl Subdivision, in a subset of five or six groups separated from the relaxation of the %.
Losing at domestic to Oregon would not do away with OSU from this elite group but does shake up how this group is seen in opposition to the program's latest beyond.
But the inner most effect of the Ducks' win is reserved for how it re-establishes the Pac-12 as a convention worth of being blanketed within the championship blend with the rest of the Power Five, finishing several years of frustrating consequences for a league that factored heavily into the primary three years of the playoff layout.
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The victory would possibly represent considered one of the biggest moments in cutting-edge Pac-12 records — if the conference is capable of capitalize.
Winning in Columbus displays several years of roster development from Oregon train Mario Cristobal, who has crafted a team constructed more like Alabama, wherein he formerly coached, than the antique Chip Kelly-technology groups that sparked an offensive revolution.
Even without big name protecting end Kayvon Thibodeaux, who was injured within the season opener in opposition to Fresno State and neglected Saturday, the Ducks confirmed enough brute electricity to fit with the country's maximum gifted roster this aspect of the Crimson Tide.
The offense ran for 269 yards, the most OSU has allowed in a recreation since permitting 339 yards to Maryland in 2018. Three specific players ran for at the least forty yards, led by using junior walking again C.J. Verdell's 161 yards and two ratings on 8.1 yards consistent with deliver.
And after struggling thru the pandemic season, the win vaults Oregon back into the upper stratosphere of the FBS. Not seeing that 2016 has a Pac-12 crew made the playoff, and no longer because the Ducks in 2014 has one advanced to the championship sport.
Suddenly, the league has a crew within the motive force's seat for the top four.
The benefit extends to the whole conference. The formulation isn't always complicated: The excellent team from the Pac-12 is better than the first-rate group in the Big Ten. Whether it's Oregon, Southern California or UCLA, an undefeated or maybe one-loss Pac-12 champion will provide a controversy to the playoff selection committee constructed around the Ducks' win.
Follow colleges reporter Paul Myerberg on Twitter @PaulMyerberg
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