Ranking the Ducks’ 2023 football schedule from toughest game to biggest cakewalk
The Oregon Ducks’ 2023 football schedule finally came out on Wednesday morning, giving fans a chance to open up the calendar app on their phones and start looking at plane tickets for this fall.
While we knew which teams the Ducks would be playing next season, we know now the order in which the games will be played, and when they will happen in relation to the bye week.
Are there back-to-back weeks against top-tier opponents? Do the Ducks face a tough team right after the bye? Are there multiple games on the road in a row?
All of those questions were answered on Wednesday, and Duck fans should be relatively pleased with how things shaped up. The back half of the schedule is loaded, with games against Washington, Washington State, Utah, USC, and Oregon State all following the bye week, but Oregon, fortunately, does not play any of those games in consecutive weeks, and they get to enjoy a bye week before traveling up to Seattle.
So which games on the schedule are going to be the toughest, and which ones might be the easiest to win? Let’s take a look in our ranking of the 2023 schedule.
Week 1 vs. Portland State Vikings
James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Location
Autzen Stadium | Eugene, Oregon
Series Record
Oregon leads the overall series, 62-14.
Reason for Ranking
All due respect to Portland State, this is a nice spot for the Ducks opening up the season against a team that they should beat by 46 points, rather than a team they should lose to by 46 points, as was the case in 2022 vs. the Georgia Bulldogs. Expect a blowout, and expect to see a lot of young players in the second half.
Week 3 vs. Hawaii Rainbow Warriors
(AP Photo/Eugene Tanner)
Location
Autzen Stadium | Eugene, Oregon
Series Record
Oregon leads the overall series, 4-3.
Reason for Ranking
There have been some times over the past decade where Hawaii was actually a solid football team, winning 9 or 10 games and making waves in bowl games. However, they’ve been on a downward trend recently, going 3-10 in 2022. They will offer more competition than Portland State, but this is another game that the Ducks should win easily, and it’s nice that it comes the week after what could be a competitive game against Texas Tech in Week 2.
Week 10 vs. California Golden Bears
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Location
Autzen Stadium | Eugene, Oregon
Series Record
Oregon is tied in the overall series, 42-42-2.
Reason for Ranking
If you’re looking to identify the worst team in the Pac-12, then you’ve got two candidates, and California is one of them. It’s unclear who the QB will be, and the depth and skill level on the roster leaves a lot to be desired. This game comes late in the year, sandwiched between a matchup against Utah and USC, so it could either act as a nice get-right game for Oregon, or a chance to get some banged-up players a rest.
Week 5 at Stanford Cardinal
Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Location
Stanford Stadium | Palo Alto, California
Series Record
Oregon trails the overall series, 50-35-1.
Reason for Ranking
If California is one candidate for the bottom of the Pac-12 award, then Stanford would be the other. With David Shaw leaving and a change at QB, the Cardinal have a lot to prove, and a lot of ground to make up before they can be considered competitors in the conference again. This game comes right before the bye week for Oregon, which is advantageous because it could give the Ducks a nice transition and a good bit of momentum going into the off-week.
Week 4 vs. Colorado Buffaloes
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Location
Autzen Stadium | Eugene, Oregon
Series Record
Oregon leads the overall series, 15-9.
Reason for Ranking
It’s tough to know how good Colorado really will be in 2023 with all of the transfers that they’ve been able to add. Deion Sanders could have the Buffs acting as giant killers in the Pac-12, but I think the Ducks are lucking to be getting Colorado early on while they are still trying to find a rhythm as such a new squad.
Week 12 at Arizona State Sun Devils
Location
Sun Devils Stadium | Tempe, Arizona.
Series Record
Oregon leads the overall series, 20-18.
Reason for Ranking
Much like Colorado, it’s hard to tell how good Arizona State will be in 2023. Unlike Colorado, I am not a big fan of where the Ducks get the Sun Devils in their schedule. It feels like Oregon would be better off catching Kenny Dillingham’s squad early in the year while they are still getting everything off the ground. Instead, the Ducks will travel down to Tempe in the second to last week of the season and play the Sun Devils sandwiched in between games against USC and Oregon State. That could be a tough position to be in should Dillingham get his team playing at a competitive level.
Week 8 vs. Washington State Cougars
James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
Location
Autzen Stadium | Eugene, Oregon
Series Record
Oregon leads the overall series, 53-42-7.
Reason for Ranking
A lot of people instantly look at games against Washington, USC, Utah, and Oregon State on Oregon’s schedule, but don’t forget about Washington State, either. This is a potentially tough spot for the Ducks, hosting the Cougars a week after going up to Seattle for a big flash with the Huskies. Washington State has a chance to be really good this year, and QB Cameron Ward could take them to the next level. I think this could be one of the tougher games on the schedule for Oregon.
Week 2 at Texas Tech Red Raiders
Michael C. Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Location
Jones AT&T Stadium | Lubbock, Texas
Series Record
Oregon leads the overall series, 2-0.
Reason for Ranking
I’m not sure that this non-conference game against Texas Tech — down in Lubbock, Texas — is getting enough hype or caution from Oregon fans. At the moment, the Red Raiders are ranked No. 23 in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25, so there is a real chance that this could be a top-25 matchup in the second week of the year. It reminds me a lot of Oregon’s game against BYU this past season. Will the Ducks be able to find the same result this time? We will see, but it is certainly not an easy game.
Week 13 vs. Oregon State Beavers
Location
Autzen Stadium | Eugene, Oregon
Series Record
Oregon leads the overall series, 67-49-10.
Reason for Ranking
Now we’re really getting into the part of the schedule where every game is incredibly tough, and you could argue that the opponent belongs higher in the ranking. You could try to convince me that Oregon State will win the Pac-12 Championship this season and I wouldn’t argue with you. The defense is fantastic, the running game is elite, and they won 10 games last year without a viable quarterback under center. So of course, they went and added a viable QB — Clemson’s DJ Uiagalelei — to the roster, hoping that he will be enough to get them over the hump. The Ducks are lucky that this game is at home, because they will need all the help they can get to beat an incredibly plucky Oregon State team.
Week 9 at Utah Utes
Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports
Location
Rice-Eccles Stadium | Salt Lake City, Utah
Series Record
Oregon leads the overall series, 24-12.
Reason for Ranking
It was really tough for me to decide which was the harder game — vs. Oregon State or at Utah. In the end, the fact that the Utah game is being played in Provo gave it a slight edge for me. Going to altitude and playing a team as good as the Utes is an incredibly hard thing to do, and Cameron Rising is poised to have that team rolling once again. This could potentially be a Pac-12 Championship preview, and the icing on the cake of the difficulty meter is the fact that this game comes directly after Washington and Washington State on the schedule. That’s a tough three-game stretch.
Week 11 vs. USC Trojans
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Location
Autzen Stadium | Eugene, Oregon
Series Record
Oregon trails the overall series, 38-22-2.
Reason for Ranking
It’s the matchup that everyone wanted to see in 2022, and we’re finally getting it this year around. While the Ducks fell short of the chance to face USC in the Pac-12 Championship this year, we will get a late-November showdown between these two, both of whom could very well be ranked inside the top 10. I was close to ranking this as the hardest game on the schedule, but the fact that Oregon gets to play it at Autzen was enough to boost the next opponent to the top of the list.
Week 7 at Washington Huskies
Location
Husky Stadium | Seattle, Washington
Series Record
Oregon trails the overall series, 61-48-5.
Reason for Ranking
It may be the hardest game on the schedule, and it may be the most important game on the schedule. Rivalry games are always fun, and when both rivals could be ranked inside the top 10 at the time of the matchup, then complete chaos could take place. With Oregon and Washington both vying for a College Football Playoff spot, this game will be among the best of the year. Being played up in Seattle, it was pretty easy to rank this one at the top of the list in terms of difficulty.
