Predicting where Oregon Ducks land in 12-team 2025 College Football Playoff field – Ducks Wire
The 2024-25 college football season officially came to an end on Monday night with an Ohio State Buckeyes victory, which means that we can all start to look ahead to what’s coming next season. Whether that’s specific to the Oregon Ducks or at large in the world of college football, the offseason brings a ton of hope and anticipation in this sport. What’s fun to look at in this new age of college football is the playoff field, which expanded from four teams to 12 teams in 2024. While there are several changes that may take place to the specifics of the playoff format this offseason, we can still look ahead and try to figure out which teams are going to be participating for a national championship next year. With an incredibly talented roster, a well-respected coaching staff, and one of the most promising quarterback prospects we’ve seen in a long time with Dante Moore, the Ducks should certainly be in the mix for one of those playoff spots once again. Here’s where we project they will stack up in the 12-team field next season. Note: For this exercise, we are keeping the same format as in 2024 — four automatic byes go to the top-ranked conference champions. This is something that will be discussed as a potential change this offseason, but until anything concrete happens, we will keep the status quo.Ben Queen-USA TODAY SportsTop Returning Players: QB Arch Manning, RB Quintrevion Wisner, LB Anthony Hill Jr., DE Colin SimmonsBiggest Departures: QB Quinn Ewers, WR Matthew Golden, OT Kelvin Banks Jr., OT Cameron Williams, S Andrew MukubaESPN Way-Too-Early 2025 Ranking: No. 2Seed: 1First-Round Matchup: BYEAnalysis: With Arch Manning coming in as the new starter, and an incredibly talented defense, the Texas Longhorns project to once again be among the very best in the sport next year, and their schedule presents some major opportunities to establish themselves in the rankings with high-profile games against Ohio State, Florida, Georgia, and Texas A&M in the regular season. Craig Strobeck-USA TODAY SportsTop Returning Players: WR Evan Stewart, LB Devon Jackson, LB Teitum Tuioti, LB Matayo UiagaleleiBiggest Departures: QB Dillon Gabriel, WR Tez Johnson, RB Jordan James, OT Josh Conerly Jr., DE Jordan Burch, DT Derrick HarmonESPN Way-Too-Early 2025 Ranking: No. 6Seed: 2First-Round Matchup: BYEAnalysis: Dante Moore is getting hyped up as the next big thing in Eugene, and if he can live up to those early expectations, Oregon could be back on top of the mountain next year, with a relatively easy Big Ten schedule that has a trip to Penn State in September, but no Ohio State, Michigan, and no overly tough non-conference game. Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY SportsTop Returning Players: QB Gunner Stockton, RB Nate Frazier, TE Oscar Delp, TE Lawson LuckieBiggest Departures: QB Carson Beck, G Tate Ratledge, RB Trevor Etienne, LB Jalon Walker, S Malaki StarksESPN Way-Too-Early 2025 Ranking: No. 5Seed: 5First-Round Matchup: vs. No. 12 LSU TigersAnalysis: There are some questions at quarterback in Athens after Carson Beck’s transfer, but the talent at Georgia is among the best in the nation, and they have arguably the best coach in all of college football, so it’s not hard to project that they will be near the top of the sport again in 2025.Syndication: The Columbus DispatchTop Returning Players: WR Jeremiah Smith, WR Carnell Tate, S Caleb DownsBiggest Departures: RB TreVeyon Henderson, WR Emeka Egbuka, QB Will Howard, G Donovan Jackson, LB Cody Simon, S Lathan Ransom, DE Jack Sawyer, DE JT TuimoloauESPN Way-Too-Early 2025 Ranking: No. 1Seed: 6First-Round Matchup: vs. No. 11 South Carolina GamecocksAnalysis: Coming off of their ninth national championship in program history, the Buckeyes are going to be riding high going into 2025. However, they are losing some major pieces of their roster, replacing QB Will Howard, DEs Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloa, LB Cody Simon, and S Lathan Ransom. Of course, when you have Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs on the roster, the rest will sort itself out. Rich Barnes-USA TODAY SportsTop Returning Players: QB Drew Allar, RB Kaytron Allen, RB Nicholas Singleton, C Nick Dawkins, DE Dani Dennis-SuttonBiggest Departures: DE Abdul Carter, TE Tyler Warren, S Jaylen ReedESPN Way-Too-Early 2025 Ranking: No. 3Seed: 7First-Round Matchup: vs. No. 10 Tennessee VolunteersAnalysis: Penn State is going the route that Ohio State did last year and is returning some of its best players for one more year in 2025, rather than sending them to the NFL draft. Guys like Drew Allar, Kaytron Allen, and Nicholas Singleton are all returning to Happy Valley, and while stars Abdul Carter and Tyler Warren are off to the next level, the Nittany Lions should be really good next year. It all depends on whether or not Drew Allar can take that next step. Dale Zanine-USA TODAY SportsTop Returning Players: C Jake Slaughter, LT Austin Barber, QB DJ Lagway, RB Jadan Baugh, RB Ja’Kobi Jackson, WR Eugene Wilson IIIBiggest Departures: LB Shemar James, WR Elijhah Badger, WR Chimere Dike. RB Montrell Johnson Jr.ESPN Way-Too-Early 2025 Ranking: No. 18Seed: 8First-Round Matchup: vs. No. 9 Notre Dame Fighting IrishAnalysis: Florida has a chance to be a real sleeper next season, as they ended the year on a high note and brought in some great players via the transfer portal and the 2025 recruiting class. With DJ Lagway expected to take the next step in his production, don’t be surprised to see Florida make some noise with major games against the likes of LSU, Miami, Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Tennessee. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsTop Returning Players: RB Jeremiyah Love, RB Jadarian Price, WR Jordan Faison, WR Jaden GreathouseBiggest Departures: QB Riley Leonard, TE Mitchell Evans, DT Rylie Mills, S Xavier WattsESPN Way-Too-Early 2025 Ranking: No. 4Seed: 9First-Round Matchup: at No. 8 Florida GatorsAnalysis: It was a tough end to the season for Notre Dame with a loss to Ohio State in the championship, but Marcus Freeman should be able to get this roster back to prominence in 2025 with all of the talent that they have. There are some questions about who the QB will be after Riley Leonard goes to the next level, but without a conference to run through, the Fighting Irish should be able to once again win 10-11 games and find a spot in the playoff. Denny Medley-USA TODAY SportsTop Returning Players: QB Nico Iamaleava, WR Mike Matthews, LB Arion Carter, CB Jermod McCoyBiggest Departures: RB Dylan Sampson, DE James Pearce Jr., WR Squirrel White, WR Bru McCoy, WR Dont’e Thornton Jr.ESPN Way-Too-Early 2025 Ranking: No. 19Seed: 10First-Round Matchup: at No. 7 Penn State Nittany LionsAnalysis: Can Nico Iamaleava Jr. continue to progress and lead the Volunteers to the playoff once again? That is the biggest question in Tennessee right now as Josh Heupel works to replace some major names on the roster and have the Volunteers compete in the SEC with what could be a generational quarterback. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsTop Returning Players: QB Sam Leavitt, WR Jordyn Tyson, RB Kyson BrownBiggest Departures: RB Cam Skattebo, WR Xavier Guillory, LB Caleb McCulloughESPN Way-Too-Early 2025 Ranking: No. 14Seed: 3First-Round Matchup: BYEAnalysis: Kenny Dillingham announced himself as one of the top young coaches in the sport this past year, leading Arizona State to a Big 12 Championship and a spot in the playoff. There’s a good chance that he can do the same thing next year with Sam Leavitt and Jordyn Tyson, and while the Sun Devils are losing RB Cam Skattebo, the coaching in Tempe is good enough to get the job done in that conference. Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsTop Returning Players: QB Carson Beck, RB Mark Fletcher Jr., OT Francis MauigoaBiggest Departures: QB Cam Ward, OT Jalen Rivers, WR Xavier Restrepo, WR Jacolby George, WR Isaiah Horton, RB Damien MartinezESPN Way-Too-Early 2025 Ranking: No. 23Seed: 4First-Round Matchup: BYEAnalysis: How good — and how healthy — will former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck be? That’s a major question for the Hurricanes, but assuming Beck is fine, Miami is talented enough to win a lot of games in the ACC and make it into the postseason. What Mario Cristobal does from there, though, is anyone’s guess. Dale Zanine-USA TODAY SportsTop Returning Players: QB LaNorris Sellers, WR Mazeo Bennett Jr., LT Josiah Thompson, S Jalon Kilgore, DE Dylan StewartBiggest Departures: S Nick Emmanwori, DT T.J. Sanders, DE Kyle Kennard, LB Debo WilliamsESPN Way-Too-Early 2025 Ranking: No. 10Seed: 11First-Round Matchup: at No. 6 Ohio State BuckeyesAnalysis: With LaNorris Sellers and Dylan Stewart on the roster, South Carolina should be capable of winning a lot of games in 2025. They lose some talent on both sides of the ball, but the recruiting and transfer portal activity has been promising, and the Gamecocks project to be one of the top teams in the SEC. John David Mercer-USA TODAY SportsTop Returning Players: QB Garrett Nussmeier, RB Caden Durham, WR Aaron Anderson, LB Harold Perkins Jr.Biggest Departures: WR Kyren Lacy, WR CJ Daniels, OT Will Campbell, OT Emery Jones Jr.ESPN Way-Too-Early 2025 Ranking: No. 8Seed: 12First-Round Matchup: at No. 5 Georgia BulldogsAnalysis: If Garrett Nussmeier can continue to take that next step, then LSU could be a really interesting team in 2025, especially with the talent they have on the offensive side of the ball. Linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. projects to be one of the best defensive players in the nation next year, so don’t be surprised to see the Tigers make some noise. Sign up for our newsletter to get updates to your inbox, and also receive offers from us, our affiliates and partners. By signing up you agree to our Privacy Policy
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