3 most important games for Oregon football in 2024

2. at Michigan (Nov. 2)

There's a very good chance Oregon is either 8-0 or 7-1 for this matchup and if that's the case, a win could set up a clean finish to the regular season with three more wins and a perfect record or 11-1 year and a playoff and Big Ten title game berth.

But winning in Ann Arbor is not easy.

We saw just how good this Michigan team was a year ago when it finished 15-0 with a national title and even thought Jim Harbaugh, Blake Corum, and JJ McCarthy are gone, the Wolverines are going to be one of the favorites to win the Big Ten yet again. That makes this arguably the toughest game on the schedule for Oregon.

Is Michigan the best team Oregon will face? I don't believe so, but I do think that the atmosphere at the Big House for this one coupled with the fact that Michigan is still somewhat loaded makes for one of those games that will feel like a heavyweight boxing match.

These two prizefighters will go blow for blow until the end but the winner will still be very much alive in the College Football Playoff race and ahead in the Big Ten standings.

This would be a heck of a statement for Oregon in its first Big Ten season.