As we move through the Conference of (real NCAA) Champions and its individual schools on Pac-12 Friday, we arrive at the top seven schools now in terms of conference winning percentage. The previous five schools all have losing records in league play: Colorado, Oregon State, Washington State, Arizona, and California. Now we get to the big “winners”—historically, starting with the Oregon Ducks. Quack on!

As a member of the conference since 1916, the Ducks have won 13 conference titles and played in 34 bowl games. On 19 different occasions, Oregon also has finished as a ranked team in the final media poll of the season. A good portion of the school’s success has come in the last 30 years, for sure, since the surprising appearance in the 1995 Rose Bowl. We even awarded the Ducks one of our MNC designations, so that’s that.

5. 2011

This team finished No. 4 in the country after winning the Pac-12’s first championship game and then the Rose Bowl over No. 9 Wisconsin. The Ducks earned the No. 5 SRS ranking, with the No. 3 offense in the country. They were penalized in the BCS formula by losing a neutral site game against LSU early in the season that was anything but neutral: it was played in Texas. Alas, the conference was screwed over again.

4. 2013

Oregon posted an 11-2 record with an Alamo Bowl romp over Texas to end as the No. 9 team in the nation. Two losses in conference play, including one to eventual Pac-12 champion Stanford on the road by 6 points, hurt the Ducks. But the No. 4 offense and the No. 13 defense added up to the No. 2 overall SRS ranking. The team also played a Top 25 schedule, so getting shunted off to the side in the Alamo Bowl truly was insulting.

3. 2010

The Ducks posted a perfect 12-0 record before losing in the BCS “title” game against a team that should have been ruled ineligible. Oregon had the No. 1 offense in the country, the No. 12 defense, the No. 2 SRS ranking overall, and another Top 25 SOS rating. There’s not much more to say about this that hasn’t already been said, of course. The BCS was never kind or friendly to the Pac-10/12, and this is just another brutal example.

2. 2014

In the first year of the College Football Playoff, the Ducks finished with the No. 1 SRS ranking overall—thanks to the No. 4 offense and the No. 9 SOS rating. Oregon won the Pac-12, beat the defending champion Florida State Seminoles in the CFP semis, and then got hammered in the CFP title tile against Ohio State Buckeyes. No excuses there; the Ducks just ran out of gas eventually, despite having a Heisman vote winner.

1. 2012

Two odd things here: first, this team did not win the Pac-12, thanks to a 3-point home loss to our MNC pick (Stanford); and second, all five of these teams listed came in consecutive years—clearly the apex of Oregon football … impressive. These Ducks went 12-1 with a Fiesta Bowl win to finish No. 2 in the country, built on the No. 2 offense and the No. 2 SRS ranking overall. Why this team wasn’t picked for the “title” game is odd.