ESPN’s College Football Countdown crew has put its national championship picks on the record, and the three analysts didn’t come close to agreeing.
Greg McElroy went with Ohio State. Booger McFarland took Notre Dame. Jesse Palmer, though, picked Oregon to win the College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 25 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For Ducks fans, Palmer’s bracket is more than a simple title prediction. It lays out a path that would send Oregon through LSU, Texas and Miami - and each stop would carry its own kind of weight.
Palmer’s bracket has No. 1 Oregon beating No.
9 LSU in the quarterfinals, then taking down No. 5 Texas in the semifinals before finishing the job against No.
3 Miami in the championship game. Before that, he has Texas beating UNLV and Georgia, LSU getting past Texas Tech, Ohio State handling Oklahoma before falling to Miami, USC beating Indiana, and Notre Dame advancing over USC before losing to Miami.
That quarterfinal matchup with LSU would immediately hit a nerve in Eugene. Oregon opened the 2011 season with a 40-27 loss to LSU after falling to Auburn in the national championship game the previous season, a defeat that still sits fresh in the memory for Ducks fans who watched the season’s hopes get clipped early.
The Texas game would bring a different kind of spotlight. Palmer’s bracket sets up a matchup between Oregon quarterback Dante Moore and Texas quarterback Arch Manning, two of the top expected NFL Draft picks. It would also put Oregon’s Dan Lanning across from Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, with both head coaches trying to win their first national championship.
Then comes the Miami final, which would be loaded with old Oregon history. The Ducks were left out of the 2001 title game despite finishing the regular season 10-1 and ranked No. 2 in both major polls. The BCS sent Nebraska to face Miami instead, and the Hurricanes beat Nebraska 37-14 to win the championship, leaving Oregon with a long-running what-if.
An Oregon-Miami title game would also bring Mario Cristobal back into the conversation. Cristobal, now at Miami, coached Oregon from 2017-21, winning two Pac-12 championships and a Rose Bowl before leaving for his alma mater. There are no current Ducks who played for him in Eugene, but the matchup would still give Lanning a chance to beat the coach he replaced.
Lanning addressed the national championship picture at Big Ten Media Days, saying, “We’re close,” Lanning told On3 at Big Ten Media Days. “I know Indiana’s an outlier and they’ve done an unbelievable job, but it takes time, man, to build something really special."
He added, “It takes time. It’s hard.
It’s hard to build. There’s, what, four active coaches that have won national championships?
We’re close. We got to win the last one.
We got to play better, and certainly there’s no excuses from us. We just got to continue to improve," Lanning continued.
Oregon enters the 2026 season with plenty of expectation after bringing back Dante Moore, Evan Stewart, center Iapani "Poncho" Laloulu and the entire starting defensive line. The Ducks have reached the national championship game in 2010 and 2014, and they’ve finished No. 2 in the polls three times this century.
One more note that keeps feeding the optimism: Oregon hasn’t lost to a team that failed to reach the national title game since its late-season loss to Oregon State in 2022.
So yes, Palmer’s bracket would be a dream scenario for Oregon fans. For a fan base still chasing that first title, it’s the kind of path that gets the imagination going fast.
In Other News...
Jeremiah Smiths Ohio State Record Chase Starts With A Historic Ceiling
Jeremiah Smiths place in Ohio States record chase is already starting to feel less like a possibility than a timeline. The Buckeyes standout wide receiver is tracking toward the program marks for touchdowns, catches and receiving yards, and the pace he has set makes this a conversation that could come to a head well before the season reaches its stretch run.
Smiths current averages point to a record-breaking march that could happen in the first half of the schedule, which is remarkable even by Ohio State standards. Of course, the whole thing depends on the two usual variables that can change any season in a hurry: production and health. But if Smith keeps moving at this rate, the Buckeyes may spend the fall watching one of their biggest offensive stars climb into a truly historic lane. [Read more 🡒]
Will Howard Just Bought Himself More Time In Pittsburgh
Will Howards NFL journey got a little more breathing room this week when he made the Steelers initial 53-man roster. It was an important checkpoint for the former Ohio State quarterback, whose pro career now gets at least a little more time to develop in Pittsburgh as the team heads into the season with four quarterbacks on the roster.
Howards appeal has never been limited to what shows up in the box score. He is viewed as a strong character and a positive locker room presence, but the competition around him remains real, with Drew Allar also in the mix and the backup job still unsettled. For Howard, staying on the roster is a win, but the larger battle for playing time is far from over. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State's New Captains Just Sent A Clear Message About 2026
Ohio State has leaned into balance with its 2026 leadership group, naming seven captains and splitting the room almost evenly between offense and defense. The list says as much about where the Buckeyes think their foundation is as it does about who has earned respect inside the building, with Jaylen McClain, Payton Pierce, Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and the rest forming a group that reflects both production and presence.
For a program that expects to reload without losing its edge, the mix is telling. Brandon Inniss, Austin Siereveld, Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith give the offense a core with both star power and accountability, while the defensive side brings its own steady voices. The real message is less about individual labels than what those choices suggest about how Ohio State wants to be led heading into 2026. [Read more 🡒]