The Oregon Ducks didn't play this weekend, but they climbed one spot in the AP Poll anyways. Oregon is up from No. 9 last week to No. 8 this week, and their ranking is more than fair.

If you're looking for a hot take, you're not going to find one here. There's no outrage, no overreaction, no pounding the table with a gavel and yelling at the Associated Press about Oregon being too high or too low in the ranking.

They're exactly where I would rank them.

The biggest shakeup near the top of the AP Poll was Missouri narrowly escaping against Vanderbilt with a 30-27 win in double overtime. That game was enough to drop them four spots down to No. 11, allowing Miami, Oregon, and Penn State to move up a spot.

Let's look at the teams around Oregon and why they rank where they do, starting with Miami, who looks like an absolute wagon right now.

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Miami (7)

Miami, ranked No. 7 in the latest poll, is coming off a 50-15 dominant victory over University of South Florida, and they have plenty to be excited about on both sides of the ball, starting with former Pac-12 quarterback and now Heisman Trophy frontrunner Cam Ward, who transferred down to south beach from Washington State. 

In his previous two seasons, Ward had shown flashes, averaging 278.7 passing yards, 1.92 passing touchdowns, and .64 interceptions per game. Now in Miami, Ward has erupted, and is currently the Heisman frontrunner with 359.8 passing yards, 3.5 touchdowns, and 0.5 interceptions per game. He's completing over 72% of his passes and has thrown for at least 300 yards and three touchdowns in all four games this season. He's playing out of his mind.

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Ole Miss (6) 

Ole Miss is one of five SEC schools that rank in the top-6 of this week's AP Poll. Jaxson Dart is having a very strong season, breaking the record for the most passing yards through the first four games by an SEC quarterback that was previously held by Joe Burrow in his dominant 2019 season.

Dart looks like he's playing college football on freshman mode. Everything is effortless and in control, they have an explosive group of wide receivers, and their pass rush is a force to be reckoned with. Ole Miss has a test on their hands this coming weekend against a very stout Kentucky defensive front, but the Rebels are serious contenders this year.

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Tennessee (5)

Tennessee is trouble, and just handled business against Oklahoma with a 25-15 win. At quarterback (noticing a trend?), the Vols have a stud in quarterback Nico Iamaleava, and showed on Saturday that they're capable of playing more of a ball control style instead of the high-flying offense that head coach Josh Heupel is known for. They played a bit of keep away and leaned on their defense, including defensive end James Pearce Jr., who has the makings of a very high draft pick in next April's NFL Draft.

Tennessee is heading to a bye week and then will have meetings with Arkansas and Florida before a brutal stretch that will see them play No. 4 Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi State, and No. 2 Georgia in Athens. 

Oregon currently looks like a good but not great team. How they respond coming out of this bye week, if their pass rush can get back on track and if their offensive line can continue the strong performance that they showed against Oregon State, will say a lot about their quest to continue towards the College Football Playoffs. 

Two top Oregon Ducks recruits set to build on breakout success of freshman wide receivers next season

Oregon recruits got next.

Follow along all year for more Oregon Ducks coverage on A to Z Sports. You can find me on X @JonHelmkamp, as well as follow our main page @AtoZSportsNFL for all the latest news.