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Oregon Football: Ranking the 2022 Games By Difficulty

On3 imageby:Justin Hopkins•07/21/22
On3 image
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart after the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship against Alabama at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis, Ind., on Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. (Photo by Tony Walsh)

We are getting ready to really take that next level in football coverage. Yes, that’s because the season is coming upon us sooner than later.

And even with all of the conference re-alignment talk dominating headlines for a few weeks, we still have a Pac-12 conference in 2022.

The Ducks have a strong season ahead. It won’t be easy. It never is.

That’s what makes college football great. Each week is a one-week playoff. Almost as if it’s double-elimination. Because let’s be real, if you lose three times, you aren’t sniffing the college football playoff.

Everyone probably knows which team will be Oregon’s toughest game this season. So number one really isn’t up for debate. The other 11 games however, that’s a different story.

Here is my list based on pre-Fall camp intel of Oregon’s toughest 12 games in reverse order.

12. Colorado – Still a weak point in the conference. Colorado has not been able to get back on track since Mel Tucker left for Michigan State.

11. Cal – Tough to get behind a Justin Wilcox-led team. Mostly because they play a fairly boring style of football. They can surprise you, but I don’t see enough talent to ‘shock the world’ this season.

10. Oregon State – I think Jonathan Smith is getting better. But again, he’s still got so much work left to do in Corvallis. I gave Arizona the nod here only as Tucson has been unfriendly to Oregon.

9. Arizona – As noted above, game is in Tucson and Jedd Fisch gets ’em up for Oregon.

8. Eastern Washington – This high on the list because they are pesky. And moreover, it’s an early season game. Always closer than it should be.

7. Stanford – Is David Shaw back? Probably not yet. Although his recruiting is improving a bit. This team definitely has holes but will play disciplined ball. Equalizer is it’s a home game for the Ducks.

6. UCLA – Chip back in Eugene again. Possibly coaching for his job again this season. That usually makes for a long season 9 out of 10 times.

5. Washington State – Wazzu in Pullman with a good quarterback? Yes, this one will be tough.

4. BYU – If you flipped 4 and 5 I really couldn’t argue against you. But BYU coming afer EWU early in the season is going to be a battle.

3. Washington – I mean you knew this was going to be up there. The reason they are behind Utah is it’s a home game for the Ducks. Not to mention, Utah is probably better anyways.

2. Utah – Can Dan Lanning get revenge for what Utah did to Oregon last season? At least it’s a home game for the Ducks. But it will be no walk in the park.

No. 1 Toughest Game: GAWGIA BULLDOGS – National champs, right out the gate. Hostile (neutral obviously) crowd that owns 95% of the tickets. At least we’ll be able to set our season expectations early.

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