Where Oregon landed in AP Poll following Pac-12 title game loss

After a chaotic championship weekend across the college football landscape, the Oregon Ducks dropped significantly in the latest AP Poll.

Oregon, which entered the weekend with hopes of securing a College Football Football Playoff berth, dropped three spots to No. 8 after its loss to Washington in the Pac-12 title game. The Ducks (11-2) received 1,119 votes.

Dan Lanning’s squad will now wait to learn its bowl game destination, which is slated to be announced at approximately 11:30 a.m. PT on Sunday.

While speaking with reporters following the loss, Dan Lanning was asked if he believes Oregon still deserves to be ranked among the top-six teams nationally and play ina New Year’s Six Bowl.

“At the end of the day, not really for me to decide,” Lanning said. “I think everybody saw our guys fight out there. Like I said, they never threw in the towel. They worked their tails off this entire game. A game that we probably faced some adversity we haven’t seen. We’ve been down in some games this year by two scores. To be able to come back and respond… Again, I think this team has been playing really good ball throughout the season. To finish it off on that note, that’s a sour taste in our mouth for sure.

“But I’m excited to see what bowl game we get. I know we’ll get a great one and have a great team to go compete against.”

It’s still unclear which players will and will not be available to play in Oregon’s bowl with the transfer portal set to officially open on Monday. Several of the Ducks’ key contributions will have difficult decisions to make regarding their professional futures.

Quarterback Bo Nix said Friday that he hasn’t decided on his future plans yet. Later in his press conference, Nix reflected on his own college football career following the Ducks’ loss to UW.

“Well, football is a tough game. Sometimes you put it all out there and you come up short. There at the end it was just one of those things where you want the moment to last longer than what it can.,” Nix said. “Even though we lost, it was one of those types of games that it was really fun to play in. It was just a shocking end. It’s tough when you’re so used to go, go, go, go, go. When it ends, it just happens very quickly. I’ve got all the respect in the world for (Michael Penix Jr.). He’s played his butt off this year. I respect him a lot because I know how it is to play through some adversity, to play when you’re not necessarily feeling your best. He showed up tonight and he did a really good job of making the explosive play when he needed it.

“That just shows what kind of team (Washington) are. They battled in a lot of games down the stretch and they pulled them all out. So that’s a really good football team. I think what sometimes hurts is when you put it all out there and it’s still not good enough.”

AP Poll — Championship Weekend

1. Michigan
2. Washington
3. Texas
4. Florida State
5. Alabama
6. Georgia
7. Ohio State
8. Oregon
9. Missouri
10. Penn State
11. Ole Miss
12. Oklahoma
13. LSU
14. Arizona
15. Notre Dame
16. Louisville
17. SMU
18. Liberty
19. North Carolina State
20. Iowa
21. Oregon State
22. Oklahoma State
23. Tulane
24. JMU
25. Tennessee

Others receiving votes

Clemson 87, Troy 65, Utah 39, Kansas St. 38, Miami (Ohio) 31, Toledo 22, Kansas 8, Kentucky 4.