College Football Playoff Predictions: Dan Lanning to Face Old Rival

Josh Pate has the Oregon Ducks earning the No. 4 seed in the 2025 College Football Playoff. This would give Oregon the last first round bye to the quarterfinals.

Here are the 12 teams in Pate's playoff and their ranking.

1. Penn State Nittany Lions

2. Alabama Crimson Tide

3. Texas Longhorns

4. Oregon Ducks

5. Clemson Tigers

6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

7. Ohio State Buckeyes 

8. Florida Gators

9. Georgia Bulldogs

10. Arizona State Sun Devils

11. Nebraska Cornhuskers 

12. Boise State Broncos 

Pate has Penn State and Oregon facing off in one semifinal and Alabama playing Texas in the other. This sets up a national championship between the Oregon Ducks and Alabama Crimson Tide . He then picked Alabama to knock off Oregon and win the national title. 

This would be the third time since 2010 where Oregon would be playing for a national championship. The Ducks have come up short in their two prior title game appearances and hope to change that if they get back there.

Oregon Ducks coach Dan Lanning and current Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer have a history back from DeBoer's days as coach of the Washington Huskies. He has got the better of Lanning in head to head matchups, beating Oregon three straight times before taking the Alabama job.

Oregon Ducks 2025 Outlook

In 2024, the Ducks entered the playoff with a 13-0 record and the No. 1 overall ranking. They received a first round bye. In their first game against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the quarterfinals, the Ducks were beat 41-21, ending their season. Ohio State went on to win the National Championship. 

Now, will be a new look Ducks team, with top contributors from last season elsewhere. Starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel , leading rusher Jordan James, and leading receiving Tez Johnson were all selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. 

It appears coach Dan Lanning will turn the starting quarterback role over to Dante Moore. Moore is entering his third season in college football and second with Oregon. After transferring from UCLA to Oregon following his 2023 freshman season, Moore sat behind Gabriel.

With a year of learning offensive coordinator Will Stein’s system, Moore will be well prepared if he ends up getting the starting job. Lanning has not yet made an official announcement. The Ducks kick off their 2025 season against the Montana State Bobcats on Saturday, Aug. 30 at Autzen.

Another quarterback vying for that starting spot is Austin Novosad. Novosad like Moore is entering his third collegiate season. His prior two were with the Ducks, but he did not see much of the field behind Gabriel in 2024 and Bo Nix in 2023.