It's lonely at the top.
According to Fox college football analyst Joel Klatt, Oregon must be pretty lonely as he has the Ducks as the No. 1 in the nation, and "it's not even close."
In most preseason polls, the Ducks are in the Top 5 at the very least, and in Joel Klatt's poll, Oregon is the No. 1 team, and it's 'not even close.' Oregon is No. 2, only behind Ohio State. But Klatt, who usually talks highly of the Ducks, has Oregon as his preseason No. 1 in the land and the favorite to win the national championship.
Klatt cites the overall roster in Eugene is just stronger than those around them.
"Guess who doesn't have any questions. It's Oregon, and it's not even close," he said in his weekly podcast. "If you're going through this evaluation and process
in the preseason, there is no question about Oregon. The only question about Oregon is, can you rewrite these performances from your last two blowout losses in big games?"
That is a fair question, as Oregon has been smacked around in those losses to eventual national title winners. Ohio State defeated the Ducks 41-24 in the 2025 Rose Bowl, and Indiana handed them a 56-22 shellacking in the Peach Bowl last year.
Oregon does have all the ingredients to win the whole thing this time around, as the Ducks have elite talent at quarterback, running back, receivers, and virtually the entire defense. The offensive line is the most popular so-called question mark about this team, but Oregon has had a history of figuring that out as the season goes along, and there's no reason to think 2026 won't be any different.
As for the rest of the Big Ten, Klatt has the Buckeyes at No. 3, Indiana at No. 5, Michigan at No. 10, USC at No. 12, Washington at No. 20 and Iowa at No. 22. The Ducks play all those teams, except for the Hoosiers.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: Joel Klatt: Oregon Ducks No. 1 team, and it's 'not even close'
