2 reasons Oregon can win the Pac-12 championship this year
By John Buhler
The Oregon football team is looking to win three Pac-12 titles in a row under Mario Cristobal.
While the College Football Playoff era has not been kind to the Pac-12, there is reason to believe Mario Cristobal’s Oregon football program should be the favorites to win the conference this fall.
Oregon has won the last two Pac-12 championships. Though the Ducks defeated the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2020 Rose Bowl, they were handled easily by the Iowa State Cyclones in the 2021 Fiesta Bowl.
Even if they do face a handful of worthy adversaries this year, here are two strong reasons why the Ducks can win the Pac-12 for a third straight season and contend for a berth in the College Football Playoff.
Reasons to believe Oregon can win the Pac-12 this season
2. Oregon won’t play either Arizona State or USC until a potential Pac-12 Championship Game
Among the many things that have hurt the Pac-12, we cannot overlook the challenges of playing a nine-game conference schedule, in addition to playing someone of note in the non-conference to keep West Coast fans engaged. The nine-game schedule is unforgiving, as even a great program like Oregon will go 8-1 most years. Having to play a blue-blood like Ohio State as well is brutal.
While Oregon will not be punished too bad by losing a game in The Horseshoe vs. the Big 12 favorite Buckeyes, just imagine if the Ducks pull off the monumental upset. That will be a feather in their cap no other Pac-12 team could realistically hold a candle to. Then, you need to factor in they will not face two of the better teams in the other division this season. They could go 12-0.
By not having to face either the Arizona State Sun Devils or the USC Trojans until the title bout in Las Vegas, that takes two potentially tough dates off Oregon’s nine-game Pac-12 schedule. Yes, having to beat Washington in Seattle and Utah in Salt Lake City will be very challenging, but delaying a meeting with Arizona State or USC until early December is a huge bonus for the Ducks.
It will not be easy, but Oregon has as good of a chance as anyone of going 9-0 in Pac-12 play.