Here. We. GO. Our Oregon football program is officially in the dance again after an 11-1 regular season, and the matchup is set for James Madison to come up to Autzen on December 20th @4:30 PST. While the Ducks are opening as massive favorites (-21.5 points at the time of writing this), the confidence this team must have entering their ...

Does Oregon Have the BEST Path to a Championship

Thanks Alex for your thoughts and perspective on OBD's path to the Natty.

I feel that the Ducks have the easiest opening round game, on paper, in any bracket.

Moving forward into the quarterfinals we have the most difficult path. The Red Raiders can hold their own with any opening round opponent. Their CFP ranking the last 4 weeks says so! (LOL)

The Tech game will be a 60 minute battle. The Red Raiders have not faced a well balanced offense like the Ducks. Nor have they faced a defense like OBD's. The Ducks have future NFL players filling both sides of the ball. TT has not faced a complete team like the Ducks!

The Red Raiders, just like Indiana, are hungry to excorcise decades of demons. We didn't handle the Hoosiers very well!

The Ducks must start fast, play clean mistake free football. Take their rabid fans out of the game by putting TT in a early, deep hole.

Moving forward is hard to predict. Will the curse of the first round bye continue? Who will fall or proceed? That first round by is the unknown elephant in the room.

Is the SEC overrated? Underrated? Indiana will find out just how good the SEC is, for sure.

Georgia most likely will face souless Ole Miss. Miami will handle a highly overated Aggie team to get their shot at tOSU.

Alex, if OBD's make it to the finals, my gut tells me that they would face Georgia! Not tOSU........

Looking forward to reading all the thoughts today on this thread.

Go Ducks and Go OBDF!

Nothing is a given in football. Everything has to be earned.

ONE GAME AT A TIME!

We have the path of least resistance but TTU is very good defensively and the longer the game goes on the better they get. JMU is also a talented defense with similar skill profiles at edge rusher to Tech. I think Georgia and Indiana are the two toughest teams in the bracket

Until I see another team hoist the trophy. My list of teams to avoid early would be...

1.) Ohio State

2.) Georgia

3.) Indiana

4.)Texas Tech

Oregon happens to be on the side of the bracket with my three, and four.

My reasoning is based off top end talent, championship experience, and ceiling to floor capability. If Ohio State, and Georgia are operating at optimum, with all those five stars. Watch out. We saw it last year with Ohio State.

My fear with Indiana is what they have left. They put their everything into winning that game against the big bad monster that's been bullying them for the past thirty seven years. Just like Ohio State put everything into beating Michigan the prior week. There is a natural letdown that happens. I think Oregon felt that after beating Penn State.

Now Oregon gets a warm up tbh against James Madison. A week later they will face a Texas Tech that bulldozed their way through the Big 12. Oregon will be the best team Tech sees all year. I don't think Tech is better than Indiana.

Meanwhile, Ohio State, Georgia, and Texas A&M , Ole Miss, and Miami will be bludgeoning each other in the other half of the bracket. All have just as much, or more talent than Indiana, and Tech.

Oregon gets a glorified bye, and then they get a rested, but rusty Tech. Indiana will get Alabama or Oklahoma, two of the least deserving playoff teams in the field. I think Indiana will wipe them out, and face Oregon in the semifinals, where I like Oregon as the more talented team.

On the other side, I think it comes down to Ohio State, and Georgia. They will pound each other into submission. Whoever wins that game will have felt like it's been a twelve round Tyson clobbering.

I like Oregon to have a much better chance to be the last team standing. It's going to be tough, but this year I think getting Ohio State, or Georgia, is far harder than James Madison, Tech, or Indiana.

First of all. Thanks for framing it as "best" path through the playoffs cuz' No Game should/would be easy. Best get that out of the way. That being said.....

GO DUCKS! BEAT DOWN THE 'DUKES!

Originally, I did not want to remain a No. 5 Seed, but as it turned out--this was our best scenario and I cannot complain. Let's go win!

4th best odds and 4th best path seem to be the consensus -

ESPN lists Oregon to win the championship as best bet during the CFP

Hats off to ESPN's Pam Maldonado, who recently had harsh words for OBD, and now has Oregon as the best bet on the board.

With regards to the talent level of the competition, I think we have the gradual path towards the championship.

I see this tournament as an opportunity for our coaching staff to prove they have the ability to have our players prepared with a game plan to execute against two savvy and well coached teams in Texas Tech and Indiana.

If we can't get past at least one of those big tests, I'll remain concerned about DL's decision to promote coordinators from within.

First things first. I expect a frisky JMU to show up and be ready to play. We need to bring our A game.

Edited yesterday at 07:31 PM1 day by mikethehiker

What is funny is how perception changes with age. Less than 5 months ago many here predicted a 10 - 2 record. Seems longer. 10 - 2 may not have been good enough to put us in the CFP.

Oregon had the depth to navigate the season, and played very well in spurts, with some inexperience at key positions. Now we are at the point where games will be won in the trenches, and by solid QB play.

Our path put JMU in a game that might change future CFP formats. I say let’s deal with them harshly, and prove that they don’t belong.

Beyond JMU, all teams in our path want to show that Oregon is just like JMU, simply a pretender. I think most of us believe that Oregon has not played their best game yet.

I want to believe we have the talent to compete with everyone in our bracket. Play with discipline, and a big chip on our shoulder. Someone will win it all, why not OBDs.

Another element of this path that may not get talked about enough is that if Oregon makes it to the final, they will have essentially three road games after hosting in the first round.

With the nation's longest road winning streak by far (12), Lanning has proven to have his team ready in hostile environments. I actually think OBD are more focused on the road than at home and this could end up being positive vs home or mixed stadiums (Rose Bowl or Fiesta Bowl) with family and friends in tow.

I wonder if there is a scenario where the team stays on the east coast in between bowl games should they advance vs. returning home for 3-4 days? Travel and jet lag wears on you and obliterates two of your prep days.

7 hours ago, Charles Fischer said:

Originally, I did not want to remain a No. 5 Seed

I did as I thought Indy would beat tosu and I think we will win the Indy rematch. We played a below our standard game the first time around and we a deflected pass away from a possible OT game.

tosu was the unknown as they hadn't played any really tough games until the BIG CShip where their worts were exposed.

Folks are always careful......it's football......so two easy wins for Oregon. Assuming we get our receivers back.

I truly believe this is the year Oregon goes all the way.

I couldn't draw it up better for the Ducks if I had the pen and paper in my hand the whole time.

This is the best path for the Ducks. For other teams, it may be different.

Last year, we squeaked out a win when OSU did not play their best in the regular season and we got by Penn St in the conf champ game. We were on top of the world and then it came crashing down hard and fast.

This year, we had some tough games that forced the team to fight hard at the end of some games. These players should be more battle ready than last year. Each game in the playoffs should get progressively harder, so the Ducks should not get surprised by a competitive game. They will go as far as their talent will take them.

I like the setup, but I will confess I think many are underestimating Texas Tech because they aren't a traditional power. They have a loaded roster (#2 in NIL spending behind only Texas is what you read, and something like $28m compared to Oregon's $23m or so). They're defensive front is considered by many to be the best in college football (and is where they've spend a lot of NIL money). BYU and Utah (I live in Utah) may not be in the top tier of teams, but they are good, and Utah has a very highly regarded offensive line, but neither team belonged on the same field as Texas Tech and neither could handle Tech's front 7. They had the Utah QB on the run consistently. Its that match-up that I hope we game plan for. We saw against Indiana (with a similar ability to get after the QB) that when under pressure, Dante sometimes hurries things and doesn't see receivers down field. With Texas Tech and then Indiana in our path, I'm hoping we scheme some things up to help there. Having some receivers back will certainly help too.

How significant is the Stephen Daly knee/leg injury for Indiana's pass D?

He appeared to do significant damage celebrating with fans post CCG.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by woundedknees

JMU is ranked as high as USC and UW, and they realize this is a once in a program opportunity and will bring their best effort.

We will have to earn the win, but any thoughts of a beauty contest are in the past! Just win and let the haters deal with their personal issues themselves.

3 hours ago, woundedknees said:

How significant is the Stephen Daly knee/leg injury for Indiana's pass D?

He appeared to do significant damage celebrating with fans post CCG.

BAAAAD, likely done for the season.

Indiana likely without DE Stephen Daley for CFP - ESPN