Following a wild and woolly first half of the football season, teams across the country are gearing up for a final stretch run that they hope either cements their place atop the conference standings, or at a minimum, secures bowl eligibility. For the 19th-ranked Oregon Ducks, bowl eligibility is all but confirmed, though they do reside squarely in the group that aims to grab, at the very least, a share of a conference crown.

Oregon’s pursuit of that goal begins in earnest this week when the Ducks travel to Tucson to take on the hapless Arizona Wildcats.

Considering where the Ducks were two seasons ago, 2018 has been an indicator of remarkable progress for this program. It’s also quite the initial mark made by first-year head coach in Mario Cristobal, who has at worst demonstrated that the culture he has worked so tirelessly to establish is taking root in Eugene on the field, on the recruiting trail, and inside the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex.

But just because the remaining schedule for Oregon seems particularly “getable” as we stand here today, if the Pac-12 has proven anything this season, it’s that it’s a conference with a wide middle class and few, if any teams, who can truly call themselves elite.

In the North division, Stanford, Washington, and Washington State are currently clustered together atop the divisional standings with one conference loss each. Adding even more intrigue to the race is the fact that all three teams will play one another between now and the end of the season. The first such game comes this weekend when Stanford plays host to Washington State before the Cardinal head to Seattle the following week to take on the Huskies.

In the South, the division is even more wide open, as Utah, USC, UCLA, and Colorado each have two conference losses, while Arizona and Oregon State have three Pac-12 losses a piece.

In the midst of this tangled mess is Oregon, currently slotted as the fourth place team in the North and on the outside looking in with regard to a trip to the Pac-12 Championship Game. With one eye on the road ahead, and another on the cannibalization that is about to take place with the teams ahead of them in the division, the Ducks need help if they are to regain their once prime position in the title race.

But should winning the Pac-12 title really be the focus?

As previously mentioned, for all intents and purposes, the heavy lifting portion of the Ducks’ schedule is effectively over. After cruising through a weak three-game non-conference slate, the Ducks are 2-2 in Pac-12 play with wins over Cal and preseason Pac-12 title favorite Washington, and losses to Stanford and Washington State. All that remains is three road trips to aforementioned Arizona, plus Utah and Oregon State, and two home contests versus UCLA and Arizona State – five games total that, on the surface, provide the Ducks with a relatively manageable path to a 10-win season.

With their slim to begin with College Football Playoff hopes now effectively dashed, and their Pac-12 title hopes resting on unstable ground, it seems that setting aside thoughts of a conference title and instead viewing success through a lens that simply includes 10 wins should be the primary focus.

Certainly, an appearance in the Pac-12 Championship Game with a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line would be an incredible opportunity for this team in Year 1 of the Cristobal era. However, a 10-win regular season that includes none of those things is a tremendous accomplishment in and of itself and should be celebrated as such. Especially given that most preseason prognosticators expected the Ducks to be a year away from posing as legitimate contenders in the Pac-12.

Instead, it’s clear that the Oregon rebuild been a fast-tracked operation.

Whether the Ducks can close out their season winning their final five remains to be seen, but make no mistake, the words “Rose Bowl or bust” need not be part of Duck fans’ lexicon in 2018.