It’s early, but it’s already worth asking: Does this 2025 Oregon football team have what it takes to make a legitimate postseason run? Just eight weeks in, has this roster and staff shown enough to prove they’re ready for a real shot at the National Championship? Head coach Dan Lanning has Oregon sitting at 6-1, a record that some might ...

Oregon Football: Are the Ducks Postseason Ready?

Alex, great thoughts in your article and a great question to ask......

Are the Ducks ready to go on a run the last 5 games of the regular season. 80% confident they are. Dante still lacks game experience against a strong defense like Iowa or even udub. Dont be fooled by the Rutgers game. DL and WS put Dante and the O in attack mode. On the road can Dante recognize the D alignment and audible out?

Its a fair question.........

As for the CFP games. The talent will be on the field. The depth will be on the sidelines, oozing with youthful energy and talent.

My concern, is our young coaching staff! Do they have what it takes to make in game adjustments? Will they be out schemed or out coached?

I am 50/50 on that! Because of the youth and lack of experience with on field leadership? Well the coaches have to fill that gap.

Very excited to see what legacy this team leaves. Remember, OBD's cannot fall below #9 to make the playoffs. 10, 11 and 12 are ACC, BIG 12, Group of 5.

Ducks must win out!

Go Ducks!

We have faced one very good team this year and failed the test. In that game, our QB looked like a first year starter. Unfortunately, we will not play another national championship contender the rest of the regular season (UW or USC could make the playoffs, if they win the rest of their games but they have too many holes to be serious challengers this year) so we won’t see how we measure up until the post season. I’m just not sure how our offense performs against an Ohio State, Texas, Miami defense, if we couldn’t handle what Indiana threw at us at home. Is Oregon’s defense good enough to win those games, if the offense is only able to score 10-14 points?

Hopefully, the team continues to improve each week and Dante completes against our starting defense in practice and they throw everything at him. The Indiana loss seems to have lit a fire under the team’s a#% so I don’t believe that motivation will be an issue.

Edited 17 hours ago17 hr by OregonDucks

Go far in the PO? With or without a long winter's nap?

OBD is in contention for the coveted 5th seed and a home game versus the 12th seed, the G6 representative.

Win the opening game as it should, and OBD's 2nd round game in the Cotton or Orange Bowl would be against the lowest-ranked Power 4 champion. The 6th seed this season would also see OBD favored against the 11th seed in Autzen and a bowl matchup against the 3rd seed.

Let Indiana and Ohio State beat one another up on December 6th in a 13th game in Indianapolis, with the winner having to go bye-bye for three plus weeks.

Make it as the 5th or 6th seed, and I see Oregon playing in a semifinal game in the Fiesta (ideal) or the Peach Bowl.

TCB versus the Baggers, er, Badgers 😁, and we'll find out on November 4th how the PO Committee views OBD and its Strength Of Schedule and Strength Of Record to date. (Thank you very little Penn State.)

SC is off this week. A 5-2 UW defeat of 5-2 No. 23 Illinois in Seattle would help the Ducks' SOS down the road. The Floyd of Rosedale game from OBD's POV is a push; Iowa and Minnesota are back-to-back on Oregon's schedule.

The B1G has some interesting trophy games. Last week, Indiana defeated Michigan State and won a ... Spittoon. Gag!

The Floyd of Rosedale trophy carries an impressive name, but it's lipstick on a pig. 🤪

Here's a B1G prediction that is a lock - Rutgers vs. Purdue will draw fewer than four million viewers. 🙃

This Saturday Only, it's OK to Waste Wisky!

Timing often is everything.

Last year Lanning & Co coached 1 egg of a game, in the playoffs against tOSU.

So far this year, against Indiana.

Let that be our learning curve.

We have some solid games left after this week. Any let-downs could result in a loss.

The PSU collapse doesn't allow us any leeway.

Those final 4 games will prove our mettle and convince us all how ready our Ducks are.

I don't think any team yet has shown the consistency and talent to go all the way. No one team, IMO, looks dominant. This year's playoffs will be the determining factor and our Ducks are as capable as any team so far.

The football athletes of today and tomorrow are getting much better than we we have seen even in the last 5 years. Domination is getting tougher and tougher.

I watch about 6 college games and at least 2 pro games a week. The Ducks don't have any other probs than the others. Lets be honest Oregon looked bad against Indiana but they only beat us by an average of 2.5 points per quarter,---less than a field goal per quarter--Indiana is now considered #2 with one of the best wins so far.

There are currently 9 teams in the Big Ten with a 3-1, or better, conference record.

Each has 5 games remaining. Below are the overall, and current B1G record, of each of the next 5 opponents combined.

14-21, 4-16 - Indiana - face UCLA, Maryland, Penn St, Wisconsin, Purdue

16-19, 6-14 – Ohio St

21-14, 8-12 – Michigan

21-14, 9-11 - Minnesota

22-13, 11-9 – Oregon

24-11, 14-6 – USC

24-11, 11-9 - Iowa

25-10, 13-7 – Northwestern

29-6, 15-5 – UCLA - face Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio St, Washington, USC

The spread in remaining schedule difficulty is pretty amazing.

Indiana faced Illinois, Iowa, Oregon - with a bye before Oregon. Their other 6 B1G opponents are bottom half of B1G.

1 hour ago, HDuck said:

There are currently 9 teams in the Big Ten with a 3-1, or better, conference record.

Each has 5 games remaining. Below are the overall, and current B1G record, of each of the next 5 opponents combined.

14-21, 4-16 - Indiana - face UCLA, Maryland, Penn St, Wisconsin, Purdue

16-19, 6-14 – Ohio St

21-14, 8-12 – Michigan

21-14, 9-11 - Minnesota

22-13, 11-9 – Oregon

24-11, 14-6 – USC

24-11, 11-9 - Iowa

25-10, 13-7 – Northwestern

29-6, 15-5 – UCLA - face Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio St, Washington, USC

The spread in remaining schedule difficulty is pretty amazing.

Indiana faced Illinois, Iowa, Oregon - with a bye before Oregon. Their other 6 B1G opponents are bottom half of B1G.

Thanks, HDuck. Conference schedules in today's mega-conferences vary widely. Compare Wisconsin's 2025 B1G schedule with Indiana, Ohio State, and OBD. Much more difficult journey for Wisconsin, especially with Penn State's meltdown.

This is one reason why I favor Tony Petitti's Automatic Qualifiers PO proposal. If adopted, the last week of the regular season would see PO play-in games, with B1G No. 6 at No. 3, No. 5 at No. 4, and No. 1 versus No. 2 with both teams in the PO.

In 2027, OBD plays road games versus Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, UCLA, and UW, plus a road game in Waco, Texas, against Baylor. Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State, and Purdue visit Autzen. I can't imagine a more difficult conference schedule in 2027 than this. With this schedule, a 3rd through 6th place OBD deserves a shot at the PO.

The games we remember are played in November. SP+ Combined Strength of Record and Resume Rankings have Indiana 1st, Ohio State 2nd, and OBD 4th.

If the Committee's metrics produce the same or close to the same results, why schedule Texas, Ohio State, when you can play three donut holes OOC, like Indiana?

The SEC is deeper through the middle of the conference, but the B1G Three (move over Penn State) are deemed stronger at the top by SP+ than the top SEC teams.

ESPN.com

Ranking the most interesting College Football Playoff and...

We have just over a month until Selection Day and these battles for CFP slots and major awards should be fun.

We need more adversity and in-game adjustments. I hope Iowa, USC, and Washington provide some resistance.

With the old PAC-12, every team was frisky every Saturday. In the B1G, half of the teams in the conference are dead on arrival. No wonder Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State coasted every year.

6 hours ago, Jon Joseph said:

A 5-2 UW defeat of 5-2 No. 23 Illinois in Seattle would help the Ducks' SOS down the road.

That is definitely a win win situation.

But, I would have to root for the Huskies!

1 hour ago, mikethehiker said:

We need more adversity and in-game adjustments. I hope Iowa, USC, and Washington provide some resistance.

With the old PAC-12, every team was frisky every Saturday. In the B1G, half of the teams in the conference are dead on arrival. No wonder Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State coasted every year.

Mike, good post.

It was the 8th game of eight in a row without a break, but Wisconsin gave OBD all it could handle last season. The score was 35-0, but Purdue did put up a fight on its home field.

Last season, the B1G finished with the best postseason record among the Power 4.

This season, 5-2 Northwestern was a better test than Oklahoma State. 5-2 NW at 5-2 Nebraska, 9 AM FSI, is, at least in theory, a PO elimination game. It's unfortunate NW didn't open with a home game versus a Little MAC instead of playing Tulane in New Orleans.

It's easy to forget that a 3-4 B1G team took OBD into double OT. 😁

I think the game at Iowa in Week 11 and the following Week 12 Friday night game against Minnesota will both be testy.

Iowa did not have to work overtime to defeat that 3-4 team. And the Hoosiers had a close call in Iowa City.

I know that Super Glue is more mobile than Dylan Raiola, and Swiss cheese has fewer holes than the Cornhuskers o-line, but the Gophers did post nine sacks, a team record, against Nebraska. 😁

5-2 Minnesota at 5-2 Iowa, 12:30 CBS, is a PO elimination game.

By the time the Pac-12 cratered, ASU, Cal, CU, Oregon State, Washington State, UCLA, Utah, even in Salt Lake, and a 5-loss USC team, were pretty much walkovers for OBD. Arizona was solid the season the conference died, DeBoer left for Bama, and Fisch dropped his line in Seattle.

With the 5th-best roster in CFB, OBD should handle the majority of the B1G and out-of-conference teams it plays. For the most part, Oregon has done so under Dan.

OBD is on the list of Yahoo's contenders for this season's Natty.

https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/article/era-of-chaos-who-are-college-footballs-national-championship-contenders-133900093.html

6 hours ago, Jon Joseph said:

Thanks, HDuck. Conference schedules in today's mega-conferences vary widely. Compare Wisconsin's 2025 B1G schedule with Indiana, Ohio State, and OBD. Much more difficult journey for Wisconsin, especially with Penn State's meltdown.

This is one reason why I favor Tony Petitti's Automatic Qualifiers PO proposal. If adopted, the last week of the regular season would see PO play-in games, with B1G No. 6 at No. 3, No. 5 at No. 4, and No. 1 versus No. 2 with both teams in the PO.

In 2027, OBD plays road games versus Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, UCLA, and UW, plus a road game in Waco, Texas, against Baylor. Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State, and Purdue visit Autzen. I can't imagine a more difficult conference schedule in 2027 than this. With this schedule, a 3rd through 6th place OBD deserves a shot at the PO.

Exactly!

Play in games...the playoffs before the playoffs. Imagine if Illinois played South Carolina on CCG Week. Indiana vs Bama.

That solves the "who is the best conference" issue. And what a ratings bonanza that would be. Settle the issue on the field. No more 75 SEC teams in the Top 25 claiming they have the best conference (like this year when it is clear Auburn, Tennessee, LSU, Florida, Texas and Vandy are fillers for bolstering and padding reputations instead of being legit conference title contenders).

The SEC is still Georgia and Bama. A&M seems to be a phantom menace more than a legit threat(no defense as far as I'm concerned, and they won't score 39 on a legit defense- again my opinion).

To answer the question of OBD being capable and prepared: that depends on their performance these final five games. In my eyes, a title caliber team obliterated all five remaining in their way. As in 14-17 point margins of victory each game. Or better.

All but Wisconsin have the ability to be troublemakers. Like a Louisville. Kicking some troublemaker behind is an indication of how serious you are about the playoffs. And last everyone is concerned Indiana was a bellwether: are they really? SOS isn't factoring in scheduling itself. Nearly every team OBD face is getting favorable conditions. Including Indiana. Their first road game was buffered with a bye week.

OBD had been back East twice. Before their bye. No excuses necessary. But those facts stand out. The way OBD schedule plays out, if they obliterate the remaining portion of the schedule, it is because they are truly title material because nearly every team got a gift from scheduling.

And get this: odds makers favor OBD in Bloomington if they played Indiana this weekend. What I'm saying is the Indiana loss was an anomaly. And I also happen to believe Indiana would face the same result OBD did in the Rose Bowl should we face them again. Indiana is a B+ team. OBD is at least that if not more. That's what the rest of the season will reveal.

If I'm correct about what I've seen so far, OBD are going to pile drive the rest of this schedule. We shall see if that is the case.