It may be incredibly early in the year to be making any bold predictions or proclamations; the Oregon Ducks haven’t even played their annual spring game yet. However, we’re in the business of predictions and analysis, so forgive us for looking ahead and trying to figure out how many games the Oregon Ducks are going to win in the 2023 season.
Once the schedule was released back in February, we looked at the matchups, the order in which they came, and the likelihood that the Ducks make it out of each week unscathed. Our end result was an incredibly impressive season for Dan Lanning and his team, which could put them in the Pac-12 Championship and potentially, in the College Football Playoff as well.
Our predictions were based on opinions and gathered information from talking to coaches, players, and team sources while watching practices every week.
Recently ESPN’s Football Power Index released their schedule predictions for every team in the nation, largely using numbers as the reasoning.
For those unfamiliar with ESPN’s FPI, it is a ranking that “relies on past performance on offense and defense, returning and transfer production and past recruiting data for players on the roster to form a rating.” Virtually, it’s ESPN’s way of declaring the top teams in the nation, looking at their roster, their schedule, their percent chance to win each game, and where that ultimately lands them after the season comes to an end.
In short, they looked at Oregon’s 2023 schedule and predicted what percent chance the Ducks have to win each game. Throughout the year, the numbers will change based on past performance, injuries, and a whole myriad of variables that take place throughout the season.
Let’s take a look at what the numbers say this spring.