The Oregon Football team heads into the 2026-27 season with true National Championship or bust expectations. After two great regular seasons in the Big Ten and back-to-back trips to the College Football Playoff, making the Playoff is no longer a goal, but winning a Championship would be a major achievement. Heading into the season with a core of Dante Moore, A'Mauri Washington, Matayo Uiagalelei, and several other NFL caliber pieces, the expectations are sky high.
While the Ducks are loaded on paper, that's not good enough to win the National Championship as plenty of talented teams have fallen short. The Big Ten will never be easy, and the Ducks have a difficult game in Non-Conference play to worry about before kicking off league play.
The Oklahoma State game becomes even scarier with early kickoff
As we continue to move closer to the start of the regular season, the kickoff times and TV channels are starting to fall into place. On Wednesday, Oregon was given official start times for the games against Boise State, Oklahoma State, and Portland State along with a window for the Big Ten opener against Northwestern.
Picture is getting clearer đź‘€
— Oregon Football (@oregonfootball) May 27, 2026
Kickoff times and TV information have been announced for multiple games in the 2026 season.
Secure your season tickets and mini plans at https://t.co/OJWeQsDRWe #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/cB0pV3MZUx
The first thing that jumps out when looking at the planned kickoff times is just how early the Oklahoma State game will start. Going on the road already made for a potential trap game against a new look team, and the game kicking off at 9:00 AM PT only makes it a little scarier.
This year, Oregon won't be facing the same Oklahoma State team that the Ducks absolutely embarrassed in Autzen Stadium. Before the season even reached conference play, Oklahoma State fired Mike Gundy, and hired North Texas head coach Eric Morris to replace him in the offseason.
On paper, Oklahoma State will be far more talented than the group Oregon faced last season as Morris brought a ton of talented players with him from North Texas. Drew Mestemaker was a breakout star at quarterback last season, and if he continues to play at a high level, he'll upgrade the Cowboys on his own.
Mestemaker will be joined in the backfield by elite running back Caleb Hawkins who went from unknown recruit to rushing for 1,434 yards as a true freshman. The Cowboys also brought in Wyatt Young who was Mestemaker's top target last season giving this offense an exciting trio.
Given how highly Oregon is going to be ranked, it would be very easy for the Ducks to sleepwalk into this game, especially given how early the game itself will start. Dan Lanning will have to ensure that the Ducks don't take this Cowboys team lightly as they'll have the talent to turn any game into a track meet with serious upset potential.
The good news for the Ducks is that while Oklahoma State has a ton of skill, they're not nearly as built up in the trenches. If the Ducks come ready to play on the line of scrimmage, they can quickly put the Cowboys in danger and control this matchup.
Add us as a preferred source on Google