College football's most overrated team from every Power 5 conference

College football’s most overrated team from every Power 5 conference

FAYETTEVILLE, AR - NOVEMBER 9: Head Coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide on the field during a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium on November 16, 2019 in Starkville, Mississippi. The Crimson Tide defeated the Bulldogs 38-7. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

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Head coach Mario Cristobal of the Oregon Ducks (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images) /

Overrated college football team from the Pac 12: Oregon Ducks

The Oregon Ducks are the favorites coming into the season of a division that is one big question mark. Who knows what’s going to happen with the Pac 12 this season. Bettors like Oregon and USC, but with Utah going into the season with an expected down year it seems like a guess at best.

Mario Cristobal seems to have the Ducks going in the right direction, but they seem to lose when it matters most. Last season, with everything on the line, they lost to Arizona State on November 23rd. At that point, they still had a good chance to make the College Football Playoff. It wasn’t meant to be, and the Justin Herbert era ended without any real memorable moment. Think that’s a little harsh? Just look at his career there.

Now, they have to replace probably the most talented quarterback in college football. For all his flaws, he brought an insane amount to the table every game. Tyler Shough is the likely man to step up and take over. He’s a really good pro-style quarterback, but to think he’s going to be ready to take over with a less-than-normal offseason is a lot to ask in this division. There’s a lot asked of the offenses in the Pac 12. Shough has to step up almost immediately.

The reason Shough has to prove himself from the jump is that once again Oregon has an insane matchup early in the season. The Ducks take on Ohio State in Week 2. They also take on an interesting Hawaii team the week after that, but as long as they don’t lose focus because of the Buckeyes matchup we feel that one will go fine.

The issue here is the Pac 12 schedule. To win this division, they can probably only lose one of these games. California is a team we really like this season, and they play them on the road. They do get Arizona State and USC at home, but they are within six days of each other. There’s not a lot of turnaround time between those matchups, and a Friday night matchup against Arizona State, the one conference team they lost to last season, could prove problematic.

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