The Big Ten released the college football schedules for the 2025 season earlier this week, making a bit of news. While we already knew which teams everyone would play in the conference, this gave us our first look at the order of games, and when the bye weeks would be for each team.
For the Oregon Ducks, it looks like this:
vs. Montana State
vs. Oklahoma State
at Northwestern
at Penn State
BYE
vs. Indiana
at Rutgers
vs. Wisconsin
BYE
at Iowa
vs. Minnesota
vs. USC
at Washington
From the surface level, it looks like a very manageable schedule. There are some long road trips throughout the year, but it’s hard to complain about a seven-game home schedule that features no Ohio State or Michigan in the regular season.
In years past, we have gone through the new schedules and ranked games according to which we think will be tough toughest, but in the new era of college football where teams can be turned around in a flash thanks to the transfer portal, that feels like a futile effort. For instance, a year ago we would have listed Indiana as one of the easiest games in the Big Ten, but the ended up being a College Football Playoff team.
So instead, we’re going to rank the games based on the level of intrigue that we have going into them, based on competition level, rivalry factors, or anything else worth mentioning. Here are our rankings.
Robert Goddin-Imagn Images
Who doesn’t want to watch a rematch of the Big Ten Championship Game in Happy Valley next year? It’s likely to be a white-out game at Beaver Stadium, and will feature a new-look Oregon team — at least at quarterback — trying to maintain dominance over their new conference. As far as games in the Big Ten go next year, this one takes the cake for the Ducks, especially without Ohio State on the schedule.
Syndication: The Register Guard
Dan Lanning got the Washington monkey off of his back this year at long last, and he’s got a chance to establish a run next year with a second-straight win over the Huskies. It will be interesting to see how Washington looks under Jedd Fisch in Year 2, but no matter if they are good or bad, this rivalry game will bring a lot of intrigue.
Syndication: The Herald-Times
Can you imagine saying a few months ago that this would be one of the most intriguing games of the year for the Ducks? What a world… With how Curt Cignetti has turned things around in a single year with the Hoosiers, I can’t wait to see what Indiana looks like in Year 2, and a trip from Bloomington to Eugene will undoubtedly bring a must-watch game.
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
It’s always entertaining when Ducks and Trojans meet. Will Lincoln Riley still be there? Most likely, but not definitely. As he continues to try and bring USC back to what it once was, the Ducks have a chance here to further establish themselves as the dominant power in the west.
Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
I’m excited to watch this game mainly to see how Oregon handles the Iowa style of play. That’s not to say that I think the Ducks will have any trouble with it, but I look forward to watching this wild clash of philosophies.
Syndication: The Oklahoman
As far as non-conference matchups go, this one is pretty entertaining. It’s no Alabama-Wisconsin, but seeing the Ducks take on yet another OSU will be fun. We will see if Cowboys RB Ollie Gordon chooses to return for one more season at the college level or not. If he does, the intrigue for this one goes up a bit.
Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
Oregon’s trip to Wisconsin was entertaining this year, as it gave the Ducks their closest game of the season other than the thriller vs. Ohio State in Week 7. We will see what Wisconsin can do next year with another year under Luke Fickell, while Oregon looks to show them why ‘Shout’ is better than ‘Jump Around.’
Syndication: The Register Guard
If this was a team with any other name, it might be at the bottom of the list. Oregon State doesn’t project to be that much better next year than they were last year, and that means that the Ducks should once again be able to handle them with ease.
Syndication: Record-Dispatch
Much like Minnesota, Rutgers was pretty impressive under Greg Schiano this past year, getting bowl-eligible with seven wins. I think the most intriguing thing about this game, though, will be to see how Oregon handles the trip across the country to New Jersey for this matchup.
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
Minnesota had a pretty impressive 2024 season behind Max Brosmer, winning 7 games and getting bowl-eligible, but the QB will be graduating after this season, and things will look different for the Golden Gophers next year. Will it be good different as they come into Autzen Stadium for a late-season game? Time will tell, but I don’t have high hopes.
Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports
Northwestern’s 4-8 record in 2024 didn’t do any favors as far as intrigue or excitement goes. After a surprisingly great season in David Braun’s first year as the head coach, the Wildcats are back down near the bottom of the conference without a bright future. This will be a tough road trip for the Ducks, and it will be cool to see a new stadium at Ryan Field, but other than that, I can see very few reasons to get excited about this game.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s be real, an FCS game in Week 1 is not something that is going to drum up a ton of excitement, other than for the fact that it will give us our first look at a lot of new players on the roster, and likely be Dante Moore’s first start in Eugene. Other than that, though, this game won’t bring a ton of excitement.
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