The portal and NIL have created new parity and opportunity in college football but not at playoff time. The college football playoff went to the team with the most NFL talent.
The top four teams in draft picks last weekend were Ohio State, Georgia, Texas and Oregon.
The Ducks ran into a buzzsaw in Pasadena, a motivated, supremely talented Buckeye team playing angry. On Game Day in the Rose Bowl Jim Knowles and Chip Kelly exposed every flaw in the Oregon scheme. Rusty from a layoff, the Ducks could not match up with elite receivers or a stifling pass rush. It got ugly, quickly.
Post spring game, have Duck fans seen enough to believe anything will be different this season?
It's easy to look at the Oregon season and find ten wins, although Iowa, USC, Minnesota and Washington pose various levels of trickiness. At playoff time, things get different. It's elite-on-elite. Oregon's young, talented defensive backs will have to match up.
Dante Moore has exceptional arm talent and Will Stein has done a great job over his two seasons of fitting the offense to the quarterback and teaching the quarterbacks how to process their options and stay within the system.
Moore had a decent spring game, no more ragged than Bo Nix or Dillon Gabriel looked in their spring debuts. He flashed the ability to make pro throws and hit big plays, four passes of more than 40 yards and all were on target.
The lingering questions about him are responding to pressure, decision-making and consistency. He's matured a lot in his year of development, and he speaks with focus and confidence. How will handle road environments like Penn State, Iowa and Washington? Can he avoid an off game or two or bad decisions?
His one interception Saturday was a desperation heave with 10 seconds to go, nothing that sets off alarm bells. Yet it's a lot to ask to send a first-year starter at quarterback to win a national title as a redshirt sophomore. (Moore started five games at UCLA as a true freshman, but that was an impossible situation with predictably disastrous results.)
Moore said, “I feel like overall today was good, just to have fun, if there was negative or positive plays out there.
"Being out there in the environment with the fans, that was the biggest takeaway. Fans always show out, we’ve got the best fans in the world."
"It was just a great, sunny day in Eugene, so I can’t complain."
His comments, and the way he carried himself in the game, suggest a growing maturity and composure. “Overall, it’s understanding that I have some goals I need to meet, and one of them is being a great leader. I do that by the way I move on the field, but also being vocal," he said.
It all starts with the quarterback, though there's a belief that this could be Dan Lanning's best defense at Oregon. The front seven had 11 touch sacks in the spring game and as a unit they look deep and intimidating.
Seeing how Blake Purchase, Elijah Rushing and Jericho Johnson have developed, Matayo's drive toward the first round and Teitum Tuioti's versatility, there's growing confidence they can become a group that stuffs the run and gets to the passer.
The young linebackers flashed talent, but they're still young and inexperienced. In the secondary, it was hugely encouraging to see the way they locked up with receivers and contested the ball. Ify Obidegwu, Na'eem Offord, Trey McNutt, Jahlil Florence were all tough in coverage. Aaron Flowers had seven tackles and the game's only interception.
At FanDuel, the Ducks are fifth in the odds to win the national title:
NCAAF FBS Championship Winner 2025-26
Ohio State +600
Texas +650
Georgia +750
Penn State +750
Oregon +850
Notre Dame +1200
These odds haven't been updated since January, and they reflect the betting public's expectation as well as returning talent and program strength.
The schedule sets up well for this Oregon team to grow and develop.
August 30 Montana State*
September 6 Oklahoma State*
September 13 at Northwestern
September 20 Oregon State*
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September 27 at Penn State
October 11 Indiana
October 18 at Rutgers
October 25 Wisconsin
November 8 at Iowa
November 15 Minnesota
November 22 USC
November 29 at Washington
Moore, the offensive line, the linebackers and the secondary have four winnable games to find their rhythm and gel as a unit before a showdown with Penn State at Beaver Stadium. They have Minnesota, USC and Indiana at home.
Dan Lanning has never won in Seattle. Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City is a tough place to play in November.
The key factor is how much this team grows between now and the end of August. The bonds and unity are formed outside of the football building. It's tougher to achieve team chemistry in an era where everybody is getting paid at different rates.
In an article earlier this week the USA Today projected that Oregon would have as many as four first-round draft picks. Imagine if Luke Moga thrives in a Wildcat package or Gage Hurych connects on some 47- and 54-yard field goals-- this team could have dimensions the Big Ten just never prepared for, that experts don't even know about.
It could happen, but it will take a lot of growth and hard work, and Dante Moore has to be everything Tez Johnson and Traeshon Holden said he would be.