Ducks Digest

Greg McElroy 'Frustrated' With Oregon's No. 6 College Football Playoff Ranking

The former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback isn't sold on the Ducks.

Max Torres

In this story:

ESPN's Greg McElroy isn't happy with the latest edition of the 2023 College Football Playoff rankings, which were released on Tuesday. 

He was displeased with the Oregon Ducks being ranked No. 6 behind Washington (5), Florida State (4), Michigan (3), Georgia (2), and Ohio State (1).

McElroy was particularly passionate about the discussion of one-loss teams, comparing Oregon against Texas (7) and Alabama (8). In his discussion he took a shot at Oregon's week 2 win over Texas Tech on the road in Lubbock.

"Texas should go in front of Alabama. There's no one that would push back on that. But what you're telling people to an extent is 'Hey you know what? Just schedule Texas Tech in the preseason. Because Texas Tech, that's who Oregon played, and Oregon went on the road and looked ugly in that game by the way. Got a late touchdown that made it look a little better." 

He went on to discredit Oregon's strength of record (8-1), which, according to ESPN 'Reflects chance that an average Top 25 team would have team's record or better, given the schedule.'

"But you look at the strength of record, it's not comparable. Alabama and Texas are both operating, right now pretty well. I wouldn't say that they're passing the eye test with flying colors, but they don't have the luxury of playing Cal."

It's funny that McElroy would make fun of Cal being an easier opponent, when schools in the SEC, take his alma mater Alabama for example, have the luxury of not only a bye week, but also a freebie game against Chattanooga on November 18. The Tide get an all but guaranteed win, while schools outside the SEC have conference games in the most important stretch of the season.

The former Alabama quarterback continued to voice his frustration with the playoff selection committee.

"Why is the committee, and this committee is irritating me I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm very frustrated."

McElroy also wasn't impressed by Oregon's dominant win over No. 13 Utah on the road in Salt Lake City.

"The conversation between 6, 7 and 8 needs to be a real one, because Oregon's getting propped up by a big win against a very average Utah team."

He was asked who he would rank as the top one-loss team, and went with Texas. But after the Longhorns he said he'd put Alabama ahead of Oregon, contradicting his own rankings.

"I would put Alabama behind them (Texas) because they challenged themselves on the road and have wins against LSU, which is not great, but they got a win against No. 9 Ole Miss and they also have some other pretty good wins along the way as well. So I would put Alabama at seven, then I'd put Oregon at eight until proven otherwise. And they'll have their chance when they to the Pac-12 champion."

You can watch the whole video for yourself below.

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Max Torres
MAX TORRES

Max Torres is the publisher and lead editor of Ducks Digest. He's covered the Oregon football and recruiting beats for four years. He's based out of Long Beach, CA and travels around Southern California and the country covering top high school football prospects.

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