When Oregon was revealed as the No. 6 team in the country in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, ESPN’s Rece Davis made sure to bring up the 46-point Week 1 loss to Georgia.

All season, Davis has been adamant the nature of that loss shouldn’t be forgotten when discussing the Ducks’ CFP chances. He’s certainly not alone in that thinking. He called it an albatross loss on ESPN’s rankings reveal show.

“I still think 46 is an albatross,” Davis said. “Now, the Tennessee loss to Georgia was every bit the beatdown, but not — on the scoreboard — the same. That’s hard to get past, to put them in if all of the other things on the résumé are relatively equal. And while I agree they’re playing better, they’re also playing teams in the Pac 12, so what does that mean?”

Kirk Herbstreit disagreed with the premise, while also adding that the selection committee could, in knocking the Ducks late for a Week 1 game against another Power Five team, influence others going forward to stop scheduling high-profile inter-conference games.

“They’re playing right now like one of those teams you don’t want to get on the field with,” Herbstreit said. “They have found something over the course of these last four, five weeks and they are executing very, very well. And I can’t wait to see how they finish down the stretch with some potential heavyweights coming up, especially in the Pac 12 championship.”

Oregon has won eight straight games, all of which have featured 41 points or more on the scoreboard from the Ducks’ offense. They’ve also won five straight by at least 15 points.

CFP selection committee chair Boo Corrigan has said the way they’ve looked since their lone loss — and the way they handled UCLA — have helped to buoy the Ducks in the CFP rankings.

The fact of the matter is that, at No. 6 with several weeks still to play, Oregon is in a strong position to be there right at the end if it continues to win.

This Saturday against No. 25 Washington at home would be another bullet to add to the résumé. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. PT on FOX.