Football
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The Oregon Ducks will put their undefeated season on the line on New Years’ Day in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl.
The top seed in the new 12-team playoff format will face either the Ohio State Buckeyes or Tennessee Volunteers.
Ohio State is a familiar foe for the Ducks. Dan Lanning’s side beat the Buckeyes by one point in Eugene in October.
Tennessee poses a different type of challenge for the Ducks, but as we’ve seen all season, they have been able to deal with any type of opponent.
Latest Rose Bowl Odds
Ohio State vs. Oregon (-1.5)
Tennessee vs. Oregon (-5.5)
Oregon would be favored in either potential matchup with Ohio State or Tennessee.
Ohio State is a 7.5-point favorite for the first-round clash between the Buckeyes and Volunteers.
The Buckeyes and Ducks faced off on October 12. Oregon picked up a 32-31 victory in that contest thanks to a game-winning field goal in the final two minutes.
Ohio State moved the ball well against the Ducks defense, but the Buckeyes also could not slow down Dillon Gabriel and the Oregon offense. Gabriel threw for 341 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Jordan James also ran for 115 yards against the Buckeyes. He averaged five yards per carry for the Ducks, who totaled 155 rushing yards in the October 12 win.
Oregon’s offense eclipsed the 30-point mark in 11 of 13 games, and in the last two weeks, the Ducks put up 49 points on the Washington Huskies and 45 points against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Big Ten Championship Game.
The Ducks can counter whatever an opposing offense throws at them, and that makes them such a hard team to defeat.
Ohio State played as well as a team can in Eugene and still came up short.
The Buckeyes turned in some better performances after the loss to Oregon, but their lackluster showing against the Michigan Wolverines is lingering on everyone’s minds.
Ohio State struggled to move the ball against Michigan, and if the same shortcomings seep into the matchup with Tennessee, the Buckeyes will not get a rematch with Oregon.
Tennessee battled through a tough SEC schedule to go 10-2, but it found its biggest issues away from Knoxville.
The Vols lost to the Georgia Bulldogs and were upset by the Arkansas Razorbacks on the road. They also struggled at times versus the Oklahoma Sooners and Vanderbilt Commodores.
Tennessee owns one of the better defenses in the country, but freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava sits at a significant disadvantage against Gabriel, and that could make a difference in a neutral-site contest.
Rest shouldn’t be an issue for Oregon, regardless of who it plays, because the gap to New Years’ Day is the traditional rest teams have had in previous iterations of the playoff.
A triumph inside the Rose Bowl is expected for the Ducks, who will be considered by many to be the favorite to win the entire CFB Playoff as the top seed.
Prediction: Oregon beats Ohio State in Rose Bowl
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