Josh Pate Has Oregon Playing for a National Championship in 2025

The Oregon Ducks are coming off of a 13-1 season, Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff appearance in 2024.

Despite setting a program record for most NFL Draft picks with ten and losing a slew of top veterans, the national media remains confident in what Dan Lanning and the Ducks can achieve on the field. Few national analysts are more confident in Oregon than Josh Pate, who has the Ducks playing for a national championship in his 2025 playoff prediction.

Pate has Oregon drawing the No. 4 seed. In order to draw that seed, Pate has Oregon losing to Penn State in both the regular season matchup on September 27 and the eventual Big Ten title game in December.

Once the playoff gets rolling he has Oregon defeating the fifth-seeded Clemson Tigers. Pate also has the Ducks knocking off the top-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions to draw up a matchup with the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide in the national championship.

“I think Penn State’s gonna beat Oregon in the regular season game,” Pate said on the Josh Pate College Football Show. “I also picked Penn State to beat Oregon in the Big Ten championship game. Are you gonna beat the same team three times in a year?

“My answer is no. Again, I like Dan Lanning having been there. I like their talent having gotten to this spot. And I believe they can get the job done and Oregon beats Penn State.”

So while the Ducks make it to the national championship for the first time since the 2014 season, Pate ultimately sees Oregon coming up short against Alabama. However, he’s also an Oregon believer in the long term and he thinks the Ducks will win a national championship under Lanning.

“Kalen Deboer‘s still himself, just probably with a more talented roster, against Dan Lanning and Oregon,” he said. “Dan Lanning and Oregon may get the job done. They eventually will. But I’m not going to have Kalen DeBoer dunk on me again and prove me wrong by going with Dan and then at the end of the day saying ‘man Kalen DeBoer’s pretty good.’ So if this is the matchup I’m taking Alabama to win it all.”