The Ducks have had some big press conferences to release their newest version of uniforms. I've been a fan of the Ducks attempt to get more media exposure, I may not like every combination of colors they choose but any press is good press right?
They say preseason rankings don't mean that much, but it is true that the newspapers all select who they believe are the best teams out there and your strength of schedule is based on those influences, which can effect your BCS ranking. This year the Ducks are all over the place. Most preseason polls have them within a couple spots of #10. Which I think is pretty fair. Coming off a great season and a couple of standout performances by Jeremiah Masoli, if he can mirror the success of his last 5 games the Ducks will have a great chance to be in the hunt at the end of the year. Of course, you also have people like Phil Steele who has his top 40 out and the Ducks are not in it. You read that correct, Steele doesn't have the Ducks in the top 40! Talk about a lack of respect. He has at least 5 Pac-10 teams ahead of the Ducks this year. pfft!
Athlon gave a lot of respect to the Ducks and to Masoli in particular. They ranked the Ducks QB unit at 4th behind FL, OK and TX. If you'll remember last year the 3 QB's from those teams were all at the Heisman presentation hoping to win. Masoli outperformed all of them in the last 5 games of the season putting up better numbers than we've seen out of a Ducks team. Blount also saw some success in a limited role last year, we'll have to see what he's like in a starting role.
On the ???? side we will need a receiver to step up. Masoli cannot do it all. The defense is also a question mark. Patrick Chung is near impossible to replace as a player and a leader. We need a playmaker back there!
