Oregon is ranked No. 8 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.

The initial CFP rankings were unveiled live on ESPN Tuesday evening. Oregon was the Pac-12’s highest-ranked team. Behind the Ducks, USC ranked ninth, UCLA 12th, Utah 14th, and Oregon State 23rd.

After a Week 1 loss to Georgia, Oregon has ripped off seven straight victories and opened Pac-12 play 5-0. The Ducks are viewed as the Pac-12’s best chance to make the CFP field at the end of the season, but Dan Lanning is making sure the Ducks stay focused.

“Control what you can control,” Lanning said Monday when he was asked for his interest level in the initial CFP rankings reveal. “I’m not going to spend any time worrying about that.”

Teams ranked outside the top 10 in the initial rankings have made the field only twice in the CFP’s history — No. 16 Ohio State in 2014 and No. 15 Oklahoma in 2015. Since then, the lowest-ranked team to still make the field in the initial set of rankings was slotted at No. 9.

One of four schools to play in the inaugural College Football Playoff in 2014, Oregon has now appeared in the CFP poll 27 times. This is the Ducks’ 16th top-10 ranking.

Selection committee members are rotated every three years for the CFP, and this season features four new faces, so what has been important in the past might not be as important this season.

The group is directed through written protocol to consider strength of schedule, head-to-head results, and outcomes against common opponents.

Oregon’s strength of schedule to this point ranks 20th nationally, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. Its remaining strength of schedule ranks No. 36. The Ducks have controlled their games, though, and that matters to the committee as well.

The Ducks have put up seven straight games with at least 40 points,  one of the hottest offenses in America. Oregon only has one win over teams ranked in the first set of CFP rankings — a 45-30 win over UCLA.

However, the Ducks still have games against Utah and Oregon State in the regular season. If Washington beats the Beavers on Friday, the Huskies might jump into next week’s rankings right before playing Oregon.

And Lanning says we haven’t seen the Ducks’ best yet.

“We haven’t seen our best yet,” Lanning said after a 42-24 win over Cal. “I was hoping this would be a game where we could walk away and see our best and we haven’t seen it yet. I’m excited to see where we can go but we have to tap into that and it’s a choice we have to make. Hopefully that’ll carry over into the future.”

Oregon faces Colorado Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT on ESPN.

Here’s the rest of the Top 25:

  1. Tennessee
  2. Ohio State
  3. Georgia
  4. Clemson
  5. Michigan
  6. Alabama
  7. TCU
  8. Oregon
  9. USC
  10. LSU
  11. Ole Miss
  12. UCLA
  13. Kansas State
  14. Utah
  15. Penn State
  16. Illinois
  17. North Carolina
  18. Oklahoma State
  19. Tulane
  20. Syracuse
  21. Wake Forest
  22. NC State
  23. Oregon State
  24. Texas
  25. UCF