Pat McAfee didn’t exactly soften the message when Oregon came up on College GameDay in Boise.
With ESPN’s pregame show in town for Boise State’s matchup with Oregon State, the Ducks got an earful of boos from the crowd when McAfee brought them into the conversation about Big Ten College Football Playoff contenders. And after No. 4 UCLA knocked off Illinois 22-14 on Friday night, McAfee said the path back to the CFP is still there for Oregon.
“And I’m going to be blunt about this. Oregon beat Boise State.
It was a close one, but they had done that basically every single year. Boise had give Oregon problems.
This year, we just assumed Oregon gets past it. He’s already fired his offensive coordinator and now, with UCLA winning last night, it opens the door for Oregon to get back in this thing,” said McAfee.
That wasn’t the only Oregon moment on the show. At the end of College GameDay, Michigan legend surprised the rest of the cast by picking the Ducks over the Wolverines. Former Alabama coach Nick Saban, McAfee, and analyst Kirk Herbstreit also backed Oregon.
The Ducks’ outlook looked a lot different not long ago, when three losses seemed to push them out of the picture. But two strong wins over Northwestern and No. 20 Ohio State have put Oregon back in the mix as one of the better three-loss teams in the rankings.
There’s still a clear road ahead. Oregon has three regular season games left: Michigan on Nov.
14, Michigan State on Nov. 20, and Washington on Nov. 28.
If the Ducks win out and get some help from teams ranked ahead of them at No. 16, they could still land in the CFP.
ESPN’s Power Football Index gives Oregon a 15 percent chance to win the Big Ten, trailing No. 9 Indiana at 45 percent and No.
4 UCLA at 23 percent. The Ducks’ chances of making the CFP sit at 29.5 percent.
For now, the immediate focus is Saturday’s home game against Michigan at Autzen Stadium. The Wolverines arrive in a rough spot after a 15-6 home loss to Michigan State, a defeat that led to offensive coordinator Jason Beck being let go.
Oregon has made a change of its own that appears to have helped. Since firing offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer, the Ducks have scored more than 30 points in both games with Jay Johnson handling play-calling.
DraftKings Sportsbook lists Oregon as a 10-point favorite, with the over/under set at 39.5 points. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m.
PT at Autzen Stadium, and the game will air on FS1. Oregon has won three straight against Michigan dating back to 2003, the last time the teams met in Eugene.
In Other News...
Illinois Can Still Shape Oregons Playoff Fate This Weekend
Oregons path to the Big Ten Championship Game and the College Football Playoff has gotten a little cleaner after back-to-back wins, but the Ducks are still very much living on the edge of the bracket conversation. At 6-3, they have done enough to stay in the mix, yet their fate is tied not just to what happens in Eugene, but to a web of results across the Big Ten and beyond.
Illinois is one of the teams that could end up mattering most this weekend, and that is what makes the scoreboard-watching so important for Oregon right now. The Ducks still need to take care of their own business, but they also need the right dominoes to fall elsewhere if they want to keep their championship and playoff hopes on track. [Read more 🡒]
Oregon Fans Just Saw What Kept Jesse Legree Off The Portal
Jesse Legrees rise has become one of the defining stories of the 2026 college football season, and Oregon fans have had a front-row seat to the ripple effects. The freshman wide receiver has been a breakout force for Oregon State, leading FBS receivers in yards and tying for the touchdown lead entering Week 11, production that naturally put him in the center of the transfer-portal conversation as his stock kept climbing.
Instead, Legree has announced he will return to Oregon State in 2027 after signing an NIL contract, a move that gives the Beavers a major piece to build around and shuts down a lot of the speculation for now. Former Oregon State receiver Chad Johnson even publicly offered to match a $2 million payment to help keep him in Corvallis, a sign of just how valuable Legree has become and how hard the school had to work to hold onto him. [Read more 🡒]
Michigans Injury Trouble Just Changed The Stakes For Oregon
Michigans trip to face Oregon now comes with a little more uncertainty after the Wolverines absorbed another setback and are trying to steady themselves with bowl eligibility still on the line. They need one more win after the loss to Michigan State, but the offensive line picture has thinned with Blake Frazier out and Brady Norton possibly unavailable, which puts even more pressure on a group already dealing with a tough assignment.
For Oregon, the matchup still looks favorable on paper even with Jordan Davison out, because Michigan is preparing to see the Ducks backup quarterback and running back instead of the usual lineup. The bigger question is whether Michigan can patch together enough up front to make that edge matter, especially with a few defensive pieces expected back on the other side and the stakes rising for both teams late in the season. [Read more 🡒]