The Oregon Ducks have never opened a season with this kind of buzz. Ranked No. 2 in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll, they’ve landed at the highest preseason spot in program history, and the hype is coming from everywhere: the roster, the betting markets, and the kind of national respect Oregon has spent years trying to turn into something bigger.
Dan Lanning’s group has plenty to sell heading into 2026. Quarterback Dante Moore is back.
So is wide receiver Evan Stewart. Center Iapani “Poncho” Laloulu returns, along with the entire starting defensive line.
That kind of continuity is exactly why Oregon enters the season with championship-level expectations.
But the shine comes with a scar. The Ducks have been knocked out of the College Football Playoff in ugly fashion in back-to-back seasons, and that history hangs over everything. Oregon has climbed into the sport’s elite conversation, but the final step still hasn’t come.
The biggest obstacle to that breakthrough sits right at the top of the sport: No. 1 Ohio State.
The Buckeyes are ahead of Oregon in the preseason rankings, and they’re already on the Ducks’ regular-season schedule. If Oregon is going to argue its way into the national title picture, it can do it on the field against the team in front of it.
That’s part of why ESPN’s Bill Connelly sees Oregon as an "extremely obvious" choice to be the next college football program to win its first national title in 2026, ahead of Texas Tech, Ole Miss, Iowa, and Missouri.
"The Ducks reached the national title game in 2010 and 2014 and have finished second in the polls three times in this century. In 2026 they are projected second in SP+ and are the No. 4 betting favorite for the national title.
They're also nearly upset-proof under Dan Lanning: The last time they lost to a team that didn't reach the national title game was against Oregon State late in the 2022 season. That was almost four years ago," wrote Connelly.
Lanning’s start has been blistering. He’s 48-8 at Oregon, a pace that stacks up with the early run Chip Kelly once put together in Eugene. The question now is whether Lanning can carry the Ducks somewhere Kelly never quite got them.
The program has lived on big stages before, and Oregon has been close enough to taste it more than once. The national title, though, still hasn’t arrived.
There’s also the matter of the coaching turnover. Even with so much back, Oregon is set to replace both coordinators through internal promotions. That adds a wrinkle, but it hasn’t cooled the broader belief around the Ducks.
The numbers keep pointing upward. FanDuel Sportsbook has Oregon with the second-best odds to reach the CFP quarterfinals at -185, trailing only Notre Dame at -290. The Ducks’ win total is 10.5, one of the highest marks in the country.
"This is a dynamite program that has earned its place in the Champions Club, even if it's had to wait a bit longer than expected for membership," Connelly continued.
And on a game-by-game basis, Oregon looks like a heavy favorite most weeks. DraftKings’ early lines show the Ducks favored against Boise State, Oklahoma State, USC, Nebraska, Michigan, and Washington. The lone matchup where Oregon is projected to be the underdog is the road trip to Ohio State.
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