Oregon vs. Utah: How Ducks' Win Reshapes Playoff Picture

The No. 4 Oregon Ducks find themselves in prime position for one of the four spots in the College Football Playoff. On Saturday night, the Ducks went into Salt Lake City and handed the No. 17 Utah Utes a 51-27 loss. 

Ducks quarterback and Heisman hopeful Marcus Mariota was predictably awesome. He finished with 353 total yards and four touchdowns.

The win will vault Oregon ahead of the No. 3 Auburn Tigers in Sunday's Associated Press Top 25 poll. It will likely push the Ducks ahead of Auburn in the CFP rankings as well. Coming into the game, Oregon held the fourth spot, and Auburn was third.

The latter was stunned 41-38 by unranked Texas A&M earlier in the day. Saturday's games also saw the Florida State Seminoles defeat the Virginia Cavaliers, the Alabama Crimson Tide survive a resurgent LSU Tigers team and wins from other one-loss contenders like the Arizona State Sun Devils, TCU Horned Frogs and Ohio State Buckeyes.

It's a convoluted picture right now, but in the end, this is the way I predict the top four spots will be filled.

Rank	Team
1	Florida State
2	Oregon
3	Mississippi State
4	Alabama

The Ducks' win clinched the Pac-12 North title and ensured them a spot in the conference championship.

Things didn't look good at first. Utah nearly had a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, but Utes wide receiver Kaelin Clay made the type of inexplicable mistake that will live in infamy in Salt Lake City.

Clay was headed into the end zone for the score that would have given Utah the two-touchdown lead, but he dropped the ball short of the goal line to begin a celebration.

The ball was picked up by Oregon's Erick Dargan. During a brief scramble, Dargan fumbled, but his teammate, Joe Walker, scooped up the ball and returned it 100 yards for a score. The wild play tied the score at seven.

It was all downhill in the second quarter from there for Utah. The Ducks outscored the Utes 24-3 in that period and held a commanding 24-10 lead at halftime. The Utes got the game within seven points by the end of the third, but Oregon pulled away in the fourth quarter.

This should be the final tough regular-season game on the Ducks' schedule. They still have to face the 2-8 Colorado Buffaloes and the 4-5 Oregon State Beavers. The latter is obviously an intense rivalry game, but Oregon will be heavily favored in both.

In the Pac-12 title game, the Ducks could meet one of four teams from the South Division. If Oregon wins out, it will undoubtedly be one of the four teams playing for a national championship in the inaugural College Football Playoff.