Kirk Herbstreit picks new Big Ten team to win national championship

Oregon hopes to avenge last season’s Pac-12 championship loss to Washington with a Big Ten or even a national championship this year. The Ducks currently have the third-best odds to win it all, second in the Big Ten behind Ohio State.

Kirk Herbstreit is very high on Dan Lanning’s team this season, as he predicts the Ducks will stand atop college football’s mountaintop with an impressive debut in their new conference.

“I have Dan Lanning, Dillon Gabriel, and Oregon playing Georgia in the national championship; I’ve got Oregon winning it all,” Herbstreit said on ESPN’s College Gameday.

The Ducks vs. the Bulldogs would be a great “revenge game” storyline in the national championship. Lanning served a couple of seasons in Athens as a defensive coordinator for Kirby Smart, so it would be fun to see the two coaches go head-to-head to crown the king of college football.

Quarterback Dillon Gabriel transfers from Oklahoma and will have many weapons at his disposal. Wide receiver Tez Johnson is one of the best wide receivers in the country entering this season, accumulating over 1,100 yards in 2023. Texas A&M transfer Evan Stewart should also have a big year, with most of the defensive attention on Johnson.

Offensive coordinator Will Stein hopes to coordinate another successful unit like the one he had last year. Oregon will face Idaho in Eugene on Aug. 31, a Vandal team that gave up an average of 182 passing yards per game last season.