Oregon: Josh Pate Makes Bold Prediction on Ducks' CFP Run
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If there is a year Oregon can win its first national championship, it's 2026.
The Ducks are loaded with talent. They were loaded with talent last year, but head coach Dan Lanning made the crucial point last week at the Big Ten Media Days that this team has experience on their side.
With quarterback Dante Moore and a front seven deciding to return to Oregon rather than play in the NFL this fall, the expectations for the team are to do much better than make the College Football Playoff semifinal.
During his show on Tuesday, Josh Pate argued that the Ducks would be the No. 8 seed in the CFP. He has Oregon hosting Oklahoma in the first round, which would feel like a must-win for Lanning.
“I've got Oklahoma going on the road to Oregon, Pate said. "Firstly, up in Eugene, this is Dan Lanning's shot.
"Okay, Dan Lanning, I think he just had a really good year. He's the eight seed, okay, so he's in the playoff, and they've been bounced emphatically two years in a row. They've got to win that game. I think they do. So I think Oregon over Oklahoma is how I'd pick it right now.”
A No. 8 seed would be disappointing for the Ducks, and mean they lost to either USC or Ohio State plus another Big Ten contest. In Pate's scenario, a win as the No. 8 seed sets the Ducks up for trouble in the CFP quarterfinal, where they fall to Notre Dame.
“I guess if you could handpick the lineups, maybe you could make some tweaks here and there and improve it, but you can't improve that by much," Lanning said. "That's an insane second round there. So I'll take Notre Dame over Oregon.
"That's my one seed, and they're sitting there rested. They're ready to go. They've got last year still fresh on their mind. What that would mean for Oregon, we can figure that out.”
A loss in the CFP quarterfinal would feel like a failure for Oregon. Ironically, Ohio State and Indiana defeated the Ducks to win the national championship, and that's what he predicted for Notre Dame in his 1.0 scenario.
There's no way to sugarcoat it for Oregon, it's national championship or bust for Lanning. A loss to any program in the quarterfinal would reinforce the James Franklin comparisons, and would be up to Dylan Raiola to change the narrative in 2027.
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