One thing that has become commonplace in the world of college football these days is everyone putting out their way-too-early rankings for the upcoming season as soon as the previous season comes to an end.
What isn’t as common, though, is the top of the football world seeing a major shift in the days and weeks after those rankings come out.
That’s what happened this offseason, though, with legendary coach Nick Saban retiring in early January, leading national championship runner-up coach Kalen DeBoer to leave the Washington Huskies and take the head coaching job for the Alabama Crimson Tide. This then led Arizona Wildcats head coach Jedd Fisch to leave Tucson and head north to Seattle. Meanwhile, Jim Harbaugh announced his departure from Michigan to the NFL, taking over as the new head coach for the Los Angeles Chargers, though that move didn’t cause as much upheaval as the previous trio.
It’s safe to say that there has been a lot of movement since those initial top-25 rankings came out earlier this month. It caused us to update our preseason rankings, and now it’s led The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel to do the same.
Here’s where he had the Oregon Ducks ranked in his updated way-too-early top 25 for the 2024 season:
Georgia Bulldogs
Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Previous Athletic Ranking: No. 1
Ducks Wire Top 25 Ranking: No. 1
ESPN Top 25 Ranking: No. 1
Ohio State Buckeyes
Previous Athletic Ranking: No. 4
Ducks Wire Top 25 Ranking: No. 2
ESPN Top 25 Ranking: No. 5
Texas Longhorns
Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
Previous Athletic Ranking: No. 5
Ducks Wire Top 25 Ranking: No. 4
ESPN Top 25 Ranking: No. 2
Oregon Ducks
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Previous Athletic Ranking: No. 3
Ducks Wire Top 25 Ranking: No. 3
ESPN Top 25 Ranking: No. 3
Ole Miss Rebels
Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports
Previous Athletic Ranking: No. 8
Ducks…
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