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We can officially put a stamp on the 2021 college football season and start looking ahead to 2022.
In the hours after the Georgia Bulldogs won their first championship in 41 years, downing the Alabama Crimson Tide, ESPN released their traditional ‘Way-Too-Early Top-25′ rankings, which offers college fanbases to get irrationally upset, or elated about the prospects of how their team might perform next season.
For the Oregon Ducks, the outcome is pretty encouraging, considering all of the turnover that took place in the program after former head coach Mario Cristobal took off for Miami, and the team hired Dan Lanning to be the next head coach.
ESPN ranked the Ducks 12th in the nation, noting that they will be losing some huge pieces on the defense, namely Kayvon Thibodeaux, Mykael Wright, Verone McKinley, and DJ James. ESPN also noted the additions of Bo Nix, Devon Jackson, Jalil Tucker, and Christian Gonzalez.
After former coach Mario Cristobal bolted to return to Miami, his alma mater, the Ducks are gambling on Lanning, a first-time head coach. Lanning inherits a defense that loses Thibodeaux, potentially the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, but brings back a lot of talent, including LB Noah Sewell, CB Dontae Manning and NT Popo Aumavae. Only three starters on offense are expected to leave, and Lanning is bringing in former Auburn starter Nix to compete for the starting quarterback job. Even with Lanning’s inexperience, there’s enough in place for the Ducks to win the Pac-12 North again. The Ducks open the season against Georgia in Atlanta and play BYU at home.
Elsewhere on the list, the Utah Utes got some extreme love, with ESPN ranking them at No. 7 in the nation at the start of the offseason. The only other Pac-12 team to be ranked was USC at No. 22.
A few other teams to note on Oregon’s schedule next season are the Georgia Bulldogs (No. 3), and the BYU Cougars (No. 18), both of whom the Ducks will play in the first three weeks of the season.
There are a lot of unknowns facing this team over the next several months as they quickly rebuild under a new coaching staff, but we will learn a lot about them pretty instantly next season.
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