Oregon Ducks Ranked No. 18 in ESPN's Way Too Early Top 25

The Oregon Ducks have more than 230 days before their next football game, but that's not going to stop anybody from looking ahead to the 2016 season.

ESPN's Mark Schlabach has already put together a detailed preseason top 25 for next fall, and Oregon is in it.

Here's what he had to say about the No. 18 Ducks:

The Ducks' collapse in a 47-41 loss to TCU in the Valero Alamo Bowl, in which they blew a 31-0 halftime lead, certainly raised some red flags heading into the offseason. Coach Mark Helfrich demoted defensive coordinator Don Pellum after Oregon allowed 37.85 points per game in 2015, and they'll have to replace most of their front seven on that side of the ball. The Ducks are also going to gamble on another one-and-done quarterback. Montana State transfer Dakota Prukop has already enrolled in classes at Oregon and is the leading candidate to replace Vernon Adams Jr.

It'll be a tough road ahead if this nine-month-early poll is at all accurate. The Pac-12 includes no less than six ranked teams. They are Stanford (No. 8), USC (No. 15), Oregon (duh), Washington State (No. 20), UCLA (No. 21) and Washington (No. 25).

The Ducks kick off the season Sept. 3 against UC Davis, with the first conference game at home against Colorado Sept. 24.