Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota is on the latest cover of Athlon.

EUGENE -- Oregon is picked as a slight favorite to win the Pac-12 North title in 2014 in the opinion of the preseason college football rankings by Athlon Sports, whose latest issue ranks the Ducks No. 6 nationally and puts quarterback Marcus Mariota on the cover.

Not surprisingly, Mariota is listed as the top reason why Oregon is picked as high as it is.

Florida State's Jameis Winston is the No. 1 quarterback in college football, but Marcus Mariota isn't far behind. Despite a knee injury late last year, Mariota threw for 3,665 yards and 31 touchdowns and rushed for 715 yards and nine scores. Mariota also tossed only four interceptions on 386 attempts and averaged 9.1 yards per play. After considering the NFL Draft, Mariota decided to return to Eugene for his junior year, ensuring the Ducks will be a factor in college football's new playoff format.

The No. 6 ranking is the same spot Athlon's assigned Oregon in its way-too-early top 25 poll in early January. It's no longer too soon to think about college football, though: Only 102 days remain before Oregon's season-opener against South Dakota on Aug. 30.

-- Andrew Greif | @andrewgreif