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The Pac-12 finally released their conference schedule this afternoon, being one of the last Power 5 conferences to do so.
What does the Ducks schedule look like?
Oregon 2020 Football schedule
— Kevin Wade (@KwadeSays) January 16, 2020
Sept. 5 vs NDSU
Sept. 12 vs Ohio State
Sept. 19 vs Hawaii
Sept. 26 @ Colo
Oct. 3 vs Wash
Oct. 10 - BYE
Oct. 17 @ Cal
Oct. 24 vs Stan
Oct 31 @ Ariz
Nov. 7 vs USC
Nov 13. vs ASU (Fri)
Nov. 21 @ Wazzu
Nov. 28 @ OSU
Dec 4 Pac-12 title
We knew the three non-conference opponents already but the conference schedules weren’t known until this afternoon. The Ducks have their Friday night game at home against the Sun Devils. They finish up on the road in the Civil War after travelling to Pullman to introduce new Washington State head coach Nick Rolovich to Oregon football. Breaking in a new OC and QB on top of majority of the OL will be a daunting task with this opening run.
Thoughts
- The bye comes at a perfect time for the Ducks as they face one of the toughest five game opening stretches in all of college football before it.
- Going to Boulder (at altitude) to face an improving Colorado team under second year head coach Mel Tucker after facing the run and shoot for the first time in a long time will be a tough ask for Mario Cristobal’s charges.
- The three game stretch after the bye week will be the most manageable parts of the schedule, going to Cal, hosting a decimated Stanford, and an Arizona team look for revenge with a new defensive staff.
- USC and ASU in a span of six days will be an interesting two game run for the Ducks given the prospective talents these two teams bring. We all know what ASU did to Oregon this past season. USC will be coming off a home game against Colorado and has washington after Oregon so this might be their Super Bowl. ASU will face Utah and Arizona afterwards so this game may count huge in their Pac-12 South race.
- As mentioned earlier, going to Pullman and Corvallis might get a little interesting as history proves the Palouse has proven to be a house of horrors for the Ducks. OSU is not on the Ducks’ level of talent but 2019 showed that they are improving and the Ducks struggled to get anything going against them.
- It’s a fairly manageable schedule for the Ducks but that opening three game slate will determine the course of the season.
Prediction
11-2 (12-1 if they beat that purple clad school in Seattle). I’m counting the Ohio State game as a loss in this exercise either way.