Oregon’s 2023 home football schedule looks like this. Portland State, Hawaii, Colorado, Washington State, California, USC, and finally Oregon State.
All in all it’s a favorable schedule where the Ducks should be favored in six of the seven games.
But unless Oregon chooses to schedule those Pac-12 teams, except USC, as non-conference games in the future, this will be you’ll see them play at Autzen for quite some time.
Enjoy it while you can.
Starting next season, teams like Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska, and Penn State will be making their regular rounds to Autzen every year and it’s going to be different.
Whether it will be better still remains to be seen. But it will be different.
Night games with Stanford and Cal will be no more.
The Ducks won’t be heading down to the desert any time soon after 2023. Instead, they’ll be going to places such as Wisconsin, Rutgers and Purdue.
No more Pac-12 After Dark and the wildness that comes with it. That might be a good thing.
Oregon has chosen to enter big-time college football.
Going through the gauntlet of the Big Ten won’t be easy. But they do belong in that big time and the Ducks won’t make a fool of themselves.
Dan Lanning has his staff recruiting players as if they saw the future and knew the Ducks’ level of competition was going to another level. That’s where they have taken recruiting in Eugene … to another level.
But the 2023 season still needs to be played and some of those old Pac-8/10/12 traditions need to be enjoyed one more time. It’s hard to believe, but this could be the last time the Beavers and their fans make their way into Autzen for a while. The two schools are determined to keep the rivalry alive, but in this climate of college sports, nothing can be put in stone.
This last Pac-12 season won’t be just about football. Basketball and baseball will also play new opponents.
It’s ironic because the Pac-12 on the field, probably has never been stronger. But off the field, it was a dumpster fire, and this is why the Ducks and Dawgs left.
So let’s enjoy this one last season and not think of 2024 quite yet. The Ducks will go out in all sports determined to win one more Pac-12 title.