Last season, the Oregon Ducks finished the regular season with an 11-1 record, having lost just one conference game to the Indiana Hoosiers. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to earn a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff, as they narrowly missed on the chance to bypass the opening game as the No. 5 seed.
In the end, it didn’t matter too much, as the Ducks were awarded a coveted first-round playoff game against the No. 12 James Madison Dukes before dispatching the No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Orange Bowl. It set up a rematch with the Hoosiers in the Peach Bowl, which was the end of the road for the Ducks in 2026 in a blowout defeat.
That road projects to be different in 2026, with ESPN listing Oregon as the No. 4 team most likely to receive a first-round bye in the CFP this fall.
“With quarterback Moore returning, the Ducks can return to top-four status after a No. 5 seed last year,” ESPN’s Heather Dinich wrote. “The Nov. 7 trip to Ohio State will help settle the seeding, as the committee will honor the head-to-head as long as their records are comparable.”
The Ducks brought back as many as seven players who would’ve been selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, with the goal of bringing a national championship to Eugene. Quarterback Dante Moore was the headliner, but top targets in wide receiver Evan Stewart and tight end Jamari Johnson, plus the entire starting defensive line, will help lead the team back to the CFP.
In order to receive a first-round bye, winning the matchup with the Buckeyes in early November is pivotal. If they don’t, they very well could finish with an 11-1 record and once again narrowly miss out.
The competition is stiff to receive a bye, with the Texas Longhorns, Buckeyes, and Georgia Bulldogs all coming in ahead of Oregon in the rankings. Just behind the Ducks are the Notre Dame Fighting Irish,Indiana Hoosiers, Miami Hurricanes, Texas A&M Aggies, Ole Miss Rebels and LSU Tigers.
A first-round bye in the CFP isn’t the end-all be-all, but it would certainly be nice as the Ducks are hopeful of making a run all the way to the national championship. Any rest that they can get after playing 12 regular-season games, they’ll take.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Oregon Ducks among leaders to receive a 1st-round bye in 2026
