The Oregon Ducks are just going to fall short of a national championship bid. They were thoroughly overwhelmed in their first game against the LSU Tigers and couldn't catch up to the USC Trojans in time. Even winning one of those games might have been enough to ensure they'd be playing in New Orleans in January.
Instead, Oregon will have to settle for the Rose Bowl and another top-five finish in the BCS standings. Tough life they lead.
Oregon finishes fifth in the final BCS rankings, placing them only behind the Stanford Cardinal (fourth) in the Pac-12. The Ducks will probably argue they deserved to finish over Stanford considering they won head-to-head, but Oregon probably fell below Stanford because they lost an extra game. Oregon also doesn't have any signature wins outside beating the Cardinal, which kept them from rising up even further.
Not that it matters. Oregon punched their ticket to the the Rose Bowl when they beat UCLA, so none of this really matters to them.
Here are the official rankings. Click here for final standings.
1. LSU
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma State
4. Stanford
5. Oregon
6. Arkansas
7. Boise State
8. Kansas State
9. South Carolina
10. Wisconsin
11. Virginia Tech
12. Baylor
13. Michigan
14. Oklahoma
15. Clemson
16. Georgia
17. Michigan State
18. TCU
19. Houston
20. Nebraska
21. Southern Miss
22. Penn State
23. West Virginia
24. Texas
25. Auburn
To discuss Ducks football with Oregon fans, head to Addicted to Quack.