Sporting News predicts Ducks to College Football Playoff, facing an old foe
Bill Bender of The Sporting News predicts the college football playoff Thursday, and he has Oregon making the field as the No. 9 seed, facing an old conference rival on the road in round one.
In his bracket the Ducks travel to Arizona State to take on the Sun Devils, coached by former UO offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham with West Linn High's (West Linn, Oregon) Sam Leavitt at quarterback.
Back in the PAC-12 days under Willie Taggart and Mario Cristobal, the Webfoots lost heartbreakers in Tempe in 2017 and 2019.
"The Ducks and Sun Devils were conference champions last season. The Sun Devils will not get a bye if they repeat as Big 12 champions in this scenario, and the Ducks will be a Big Ten at-large. The coaching matchup between Dan Lanning and former Ducks offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham would be fun, too."
Oregon survives this first-round matchup at Sun Devil Stadium, but falls in the quarterfinals to Arch Manning and No. 1 Texas, ending their season at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
2025 college football playoff X-factors via Carter Bahns of @cbssports 👀📈📉
— DuckZone503 (@DuckZone503) June 25, 2025
Oregon true freshman WR Dakorien Moore makes the list 🦆👀 pic.twitter.com/2LgXcB8QjR
Big Ten Champion Ohio State wins the Rose Bowl for the second-straight year, setting up a Buckeyes versus Longhorns final at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on January 19.
Bender doesn't predict a champion for this story, but it's hard to repeat, particularly with a redshirt freshman quarterback. However, the Buckeyes have the two most dominating players in the game in Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs. Could the defensive line stop a potent Longhorn attack?
Two-team, four-team or 12-team, playoff football favors the deep-pocketed and well-stocked.
Duck softball fans are going to miss these three
Three stars from Melyssa Lombardi's 54-10 softball squad made the Academic All-America team after ending their careers at the College World Series.
Sisters Kai and Kedre Luschar and shortstop Paige Sinicki won spots on the prestigious team, making it the first time in school history that Oregon claimed three Academic All-Americans in one year.
#Version7 continues to make history.
— Oregon Softball (@OregonSB) June 17, 2025
3️⃣ Academic All-Americans for the first time ever.
📰 https://t.co/gb17bBHPdc
Tremendous accomplishment.@k_kedre @paige_sinicki @kaileeee___ #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/xli4XZJZM0
From Carson High in Carson, Nevada, Kedre Luschar batted a team-leading .435 and drove in 63 runs, a hawk in centerfield. She graduated with degrees in business administration and social science, earning a 3.83 GPA.
Kedre Luschar in her final season left it all out on the field.
— Brett Austin Taylor (@Brett_Taylor94) June 2, 2025
Such an incredible journey, one of perseverance, that finally paid off this season and that each of her teammates got to witness & most importantly her sister, who played right beside her.
"This has meant… pic.twitter.com/kMIGVSvH0u
Sinicki spearheaded the Oregon defense with her Gold Glove defense at short, batting .376 with eight homers and 50 RBI. She earned a degree in human physiology with a 3.77 GPA.
Named to the second team, Kai Lushar ignited the Oregon offense out of the leadoff spot, a .415 hitter with a .508 on-base percentage. She scored 65 runs and stole a school-record 60 bases, also best-ever in the Big Ten. In the classroom she sped to a 3.72 GPA and a degree in social science.
Kedre Luschar met this potential homer AT THE WALL 😲 #WCWS pic.twitter.com/5Eh4bHPuF3
— espnW (@espnW) May 30, 2025