The Oregon Ducks head into Saturday Afternoon looking to continue a furious race to the finish line as Dan Lanning's team looks to pick up a third straight Big Ten win. This weekend's test brings a reeling Michigan Wolverines team to Autzen Stadium, and the Ducks will be tasked with putting a big win behind them, and turning the page to handling business in this matchup.
Each college football Saturday starts with turning on ESPN's College GameDay, and getting to see what the experts are expecting for the slate again. While you get great insights into the games, you can also expect plenty of homer picks at time from Nick Saban picking Alabama, Desmond Howard picking Michigan, and Pat McAfee always believing in his alma mater. While everyone backs their school, Oregon changed the mind of one fan on the panel.
Oregon's resurgence made Desmond Howard pick against the Wolverines
When it became time for the experts to reveal their picks for Saturday's biggest matchups, it was going to be interesting to see which expert predicted the Michigan Wolverines to pull off an upset after a brutal showing last week. It turned out that only Boise State alum Ian Johnson believed in Michigan, picking the Wolverines due to his childhood fandom.
The full-time panel including Michigan great and noted homer Desmond Howard to pick against his alma mater in shocking fashion.
@KirkHerbstreit had to check in on @DesmondHoward after he picked against Michigan 😅 pic.twitter.com/uaXoSALqJi
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 14, 2026
Desmond Howard always picks his alma mater, to the point that Nick Saban has called him out for being a homer. While Howard picking the Ducks isn't the first time he's gone against his alma mater, it is notable given how rare the feat has been.
The good news for Oregon is that guest picker Ian Johnson saved the Ducks from the dreaded sweep of the board, which seemingly is always a curse that gets posted all over social media when the group is wrong.
The picks from the experts aren't the least bit surprising given the way the two teams are trending as of late. The Wolverines just fired the highest paid offensive coordinator in the country, Jason Beck, and are coming off an abysmal showing against a bad Michigan State team.
Firing the offensive coordinator may spark the Wolverines, as it has for Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks. After firing Drew Mehringer, Oregon is 2-0 with great offensive showings against teams ranked in the Top 25 at the time in Northwestern and Ohio State. The Ducks now return to Autzen Stadium with some momentum and swagger, and the team will certainly be riding high off the Ohio State win.
Dan Lanning and the staff's biggest challenge is going to be getting the team to put the two big wins behind them and focus on the task at hand. Oregon should win this game if they play their game, but every head coach ever has been nervous about the potential for a let down coming off the kind of game the Ducks won over Ohio State last week.
Oregon's showdown with the Wolverines kicks off at 12:30 PM PT and will be broadcast on Fox's FS1.
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