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Oregon head coach Dan Lanning looks to the clock towards the end of the first half as the Oregon Ducks face the Ohio State Buckeyes Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, in the quarterfinal of the College Football Playoff at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Oregon Ducks Predicted to Win National Championship, College Football Playoff

Originally posted on Oregon Ducks on SI | By Ally Osborne | Last updated Feb 15, 2025 3:11 PM ET

With the 2024 season and a disappointing 41-21 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl behind the Oregon Ducks, the future is bright. After accomplishing the first ever 13-0 regular season record and a first-time Big Ten Conference Title, many fans and analysts are confident Oregon coach Dan Lanning and the Ducks will return in upcoming years better than ever.

For On3 Sports analyst J.D. Pickell, that confidence translates to a future College Football National Championship win. Or at least, that's what he predicts will happen.

In his latest podcast episode of "The Hard Count" on Monday, Pickell elaborated on his thoughts towards the Ducks' future. He argued that Lanning, only in his third year at Oregon, has yet to hit his peak. Pickell thinks the 2025 Stallings Award winner is on his way to be a National Champion coach very soon.

Grace Smith/Indianapolis Star / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Dan Lanning, every year at Oregon as the head coach, steadily just increases in terms of what they do on the field. More wins every single year. When you look at the trend, who's to say that Dan Lanning has peaked at Oregon just yet? Who's to say he's peaked as a head coach? He's still new to this," Pickell said.

Speaking of being new to the head coaching game, there's been much debate over how long a college coach needs to be with a program until he reaches a National Championship win. However, when compared with his peers, Lanning isn't far off from their own milestones.

"It took Ryan Day six years to win a national title. It took Kirby Smart six years to win a national title. It's very, very hard to do, and I've made this point before, but I just think when you look at Dan Lanning and what he is as a head coach, he just does all the things that are required to win at the highest level," Pickell said.

Lanning's resume is already impressive. As previously mentioned, the Ducks became the Big Ten Conference Champion in their first year with the conference. Lanning's overall coaching wins and loss record is 35-6, going 2-1 in bowl games, and 0-1 in College Football Playoff games.

Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

Each year, Lanning has improved on each regular season record starting with a 9-3 record, improving to 11-1, and finally finishing his third year with Oregon off with a historic 13-0 record. With that kind of growth, Pickell's prediction doesn't feel too far off.

Of course, Lanning himself put it best when the Ducks were slated to face Ohio State in the 2024 Rose Bowl.

“Winning a national championship isn’t supposed to be easy," Lanning said on ESPN's College Football Playoff rankings reveal show.

Winning the national championship is not supposed to be easy indeed, but more and more analysts think this Duck can do it.