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Anonymous Big Ten coach makes bold prediction on Oregon's roster in 2026

Danby: Daniel Hager05/23/26DanielHagerOn3

The first two seasons of Oregon‘s venture to the Big Ten have been absolutely outstanding for the Ducks.

In that span, Dan Lanning‘s program has compiled a 26-3 (17-1) record with a Big Ten Championship (2024) and back-to-back appearances in the College Football Playoff. Although the past two years have been very successful, Oregon has fallen short of reaching the National Championship Game, even as the No. 1 overall seed in 2024.

Heading into year three of Oregon in the Big Ten Conference, the Ducks are once again projected to be one of the best teams in the conference and country. They return a ton of star power from last season’s team, including quarterback Dante Moore, who turned down the NFL Draft for his redshirt junior season.

Oregon has never won a National Championship in football, but 2026 could very well be the year for the Ducks. It would mark the fourth consecutive season that a different Big Ten team has won the CFP (Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana).

Anonymous Big Ten coach makes bold claim about Oregon’s roster

In an anonymous interview for Athlon Magazine, an opposing Big Ten head coach claimed that the Ducks ‘might be the best roster in college football’.

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“That might be the best roster in college football, with the returners they have on the D-line and the back end, with the addition of Koi Perich from Minnesota — and then offensively, they basically return everyone but Malik Benson, Kenyon Sadiq and a couple running backs, but they played three running backs all year. They lose a couple O-linemen, but I think they feel fine about it. (Dante Moore) was the best quarterback we faced last year.

“With them, the key is going to be how their coordinators put their guys in position to make plays because at no point did I think what they did on defense was super complicated, but it was just so sound and everyone was doing their job at a high level. When you watch them on tape, they look like a team with a lot of 5-stars.”

While Oregon returns a strong crop of players, it will boast first year offensive (Drew Mehringer) and defensive (Chris Hampton) coordinators. If the program can get its Ducks in a row, however, there’s no doubt Oregon is one of the biggest threats to win it all in January.