Oregon Ducks Ranked No. 3 In Preseason AP Top-25

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 01: Head coach Dan Lanning of the Oregon Ducks looks on prior to a game against the Washington Huskies during the Pac-12 Championship at Allegiant Stadium on December 01, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)

750 The Game Staff

No. 3 in the country.

That is where Oregon Ducks football landed in Monday’s preseason top-25 from the Associated Press.

It is Oregon’s highest preseason AP ranking since 2014. They went to the national championship game that season and Marcus Mariota won the Heisman Trophy, the first Oregon player to do so.

Oregon was also ranked No. 3 in the preseason coaches poll that was released earlier this month.

Georgia is No. 1 in the AP poll, followed by Ohio State at No. 2, the Ducks at No. 3, Texas at No. 4 and Alabama at No. 5. Reigning national champion Michigan is No. 9.

Oregon also was ranked No. 3 in the AP preseason poll in 2011 and 2013. The Ducks have never been higher than No. 3 in the preseason edition of the poll.

Dan Lanning is entering his third season as head coach of the Ducks, having gone 22-5 in his first two seasons combined. Oregon went 12-2 last season with their only losses being to rival Washington, to whom they have lost each of the last three meetings. Dan Lanning has yet to beat the Huskies.

Oregon opens the 2024 season, their first in the Big Ten Conference, on Aug. 31st at home against Idaho.

The Ducks take on preseason AP No. 2 ranked Ohio State at Autzen Stadium on Oct. 12th.

Oregon faces rival Washington in Autzen Stadium on Nov. 30th. Washington, last year’s national runner-up, is not in the preseason AP poll. The Huskies are the first program to reach the College Football Playoff and be unranked in the following season’s preseason poll.