[Spiny_Norman]

Oregon may be inexperienced at some positions, but by the time the Ducks go up against Stanford they will have played 8 games.  Barring injuries, the players will be battle-tested.  While Oregon has a new HC, Nick Aliotti is still the DC.  He is certainly capable and has a lot of talented players to work with.  The schedule is very favorable since the Ducks miss both USC and ASU.  Finally, Oregon has the best player in the conference in Mariota.  I can understand why writers might like them a bit more than the Cardinal.

However here is my suggestion - stop reading pre-season analyses and wait until the team actually plays some games.  Then decide for yourself if Oregon looks like a National Championship contender or pretender.

[Spiny_Norman]

Oregon may be inexperienced at some positions, but by the time the Ducks go up against Stanford they will have played 8 games.  Barring injuries, the players will be battle-tested.  While Oregon has a new HC, Nick Aliotti is still the DC.  He is certainly capable and has a lot of talented players to work with.  The schedule is very favorable since the Ducks miss both USC and ASU.  Finally, Oregon has the best player in the conference in Mariota.  I can understand why writers might like them a bit more than the Cardinal.

However here is my suggestion - stop reading pre-season analyses and wait until the team actually plays some games.  Then decide for yourself if Oregon looks like a National Championship contender or pretender.