College Football Preseason Top 25: #17 Oregon

Once a national title contender, Oregon’s off-field issues means the Ducks will do well to make it to the Rose Bowl. Al Dannity says it is possible to salvage this season.

The schedule
Chip Kelly needs time to fix his quarterback situation and that’s exactly what he’ll get at the start of the season. The Ducks September slate includes visits from New Mexico and Portland State, the latter a FCS team. Road games against Tennessee and Arizona State, two programs with issues all over the field, should prove easy enough for Oregon before the real business gets under way.

Stanford will provide a stiff test on October 2 but the biggest questions will be asked at the back end of the season. The Ducks face USC, Washington, Cal, Arizona, and Oregon State in five weeks that will make or break their season.

The players
Oregon saw six of its players arrested during a tumultuous off-season, most notably quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. The signal caller and receiver Garrett Embry pleaded guilty to misdemeanour burglary charges for an incident at a campus fraternity house in January. This earned the quarterback a suspension for the 2010 season and he was subsequently kicked off the program entirely following a citation for marijuana possession. This leaves Nate Costa and Darron Thomas as possible replacements.

Star running back LaMichael James is also suspended, albeit for only one game, after pleading guilty to a domestic violence charge. For all the off-field issues, this remains a veteran-dominated team. That experience will count for plenty in College Football betting this season.

The forecast
The loss of Masoli and all the other issues mean Oregon drops out of the elite discussion in the preseason. The Ducks still have a strong team, one which should win most of its games, but without the dynamic quarterback it’s impossible to put Oregon in the top 10.

Retaining the Pac-10 title won’t be easy, Oregon will probably lose at least two conference games between October and November. This will leave them in need of a win at Oregon State to claim the Pac-10’s automatic BCS bid. I like Chip Kelly as a coach and, despite the brutal second half to the season, he should be able to keep the Ducks in contention for a Rose Bowl bid entering the Civil War.

While this team has the talent to compete, I can’t quite put Oregon at the top of the Pac-10. Life without Masoli is going to be tough in tight games and with the Civil War in Corvallis this year, I think a second straight conference title is too much to ask. Bet on Oregon to go 9-3 in 2010.