Oregon Football: Preseason game-by-game predictions for 2017 season
By Zach Bigalke
Final Standings: 8-4 (5-4 Pac-12)
After going 4-8 a year ago, the numbers will be reversed for Oregon in 2017. A 5-4 record in conference play will probably put the Ducks behind Stanford and the two Washington schools in the Pac-12 North standings and either sixth or seventh overall in the conference pecking order as bowl season approaches.
Fans in Eugene will be able to chalk this up as a successful season in Willie Taggart’s first year. A return to the postseason will also help in recruiting as the new coaching staff gets into the heart of its first full recruiting cycle at Oregon.
All in all, eight wins (with a ninth possible in the bowl game) would be a major step forward as the team builds toward 2018 and beyond. While this is the last season as a Duck for players like Royce Freeman, this year will set the tone for a new era in Oregon football.
Possible Bowl Game: Las Vegas Bowl v. Boise State
The Ducks haven’t played in Sin City since facing BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl back in 2006. Interestingly, Oregon has only played twice overall in Vegas throughout their long history, having also played in the Las Vegas Bowl in 1997 against Air Force.
The Pac-12 isn’t guaranteed a spot in any New Year’s Six bowl game, since the Rose Bowl takes its place as a College Football Playoff semifinal game this season. But the guess here is that the conference lands a team in either the playoff proper or one of the at-large spots. That would make this year’s Las Vegas Bowl to sixth in the conference bowl pecking order.
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Oregon will be an eight-win team, but they are also going to be somewhere around fourth in the Pac-12 North with a record just over .500 in league play. Vegas will jump at the chance to bring the Ducks to town for the third time in school history. Unless Boise State gets into a New Year’s Six game as the top Group of Five champion, they would be automatically in this game. It would be a reprisal of a surprisingly fierce rivalry.