Oregon Ducks 'Winners' In College Football Realignment? Big Ten Expansion

The Oregon Ducks are heading to the Big Ten conference for the 2025 college football season. Are the Ducks set up for success in their new conference vs. opponents like the Ohio State Buckeyes, Michigan Wolverines, Penn State Nittany Lions and others?

Oregon running back Jordan James is lifted into the air by teammate Marcus Harper II to celebrate a touchdown as the Oregon Ducks host Hawaii Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA

The Oregon Ducks are major players in college football conference realignment. Will there be growing pains for the Ducks, who join the Big Ten conference this season to face the top talent in the country in the Ohio State Buckeyes and reigning national champions Michigan Wolverines?

Oregon is a first-year Big Ten school in a position to win right away, with much thanks to its perimeter speed at wide receiver and in the secondary. The Ducks' speed on offense is balanced with its aggressive offensive line, full of returners, and physical brand of a menacing defensive line.

Oregon running back Jordan James is lifted into the air by teammate Marcus Harper II to celebrate a touchdown as the Oregon Ducks host Hawaii Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA

Expectations for Oregon in 2024 are soaring as coach Dan Lanning secured the top transfer class in the Big Ten (including top-transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel who takes over for Denver Broncos rookie Bo Nix), plus additions of a highly-touted incoming freshman class that threatens to make an instant impact.

Oregon also returns a group of exciting veterans, like Oregon receiver Tez Johnson and linebacker Jeffrey Bassa, to teach the "team DNA" to the newcomers.

"It's so competitive (at practice)," Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson told Oregon Sports Illustrated’s Bri Amaranthus. "You would think we're out there in a national championship game playing against whoever - we're so intense at practice."

"We work for everything," Johnson told Amaranthus. "I can't tell you enough how many times coach Lanning stressed school on us and going to class. How many class checkers are out there, making sure we're in class. They will not let you miss a class here."

"...That's the standard. If you want to be elite, handle your business on and off the field."

The Ducks will lean on their work ethic and grit during two of the biggest matchups of the college football season: hosting Ohio State on October 12th and playing at Michigan on November 2nd.

If Oregon can defeat both Ohio State at home and Michigan on the road, the Ducks have a real shot at finishing their first season in their new conference, undefeated.

Oregon is thriving in its new conference space already. The Ducks are picked as a team to "jump" in conference realignment, predicts College football HQ on SI. Fellow newcomers, USC Trojans are predicted to "jump" while the Washington Huskies are predicted to "slump" - projecting only six wins for the Huskies under new head coach Jedd Fisch.

The Ducks host rival Washington on November 30th in Autzen Stadium and do not play USC this season.

Coach Lanning is leading the Ducks into Big Ten Conference play with a physical and speedy roster of veterans and newcomers, including the nation's best transfer quarterback in Gabriel, with the type of practices that prepare a team for a College Football Playoff run... The Ducks are rising.