Oregon quarterback Dante Moore (5) works against Indiana during the second half of the Peach Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal. AP Photo/Mike Stewart See more of our coverage in your search results.
Add The New York Post on Google Dante Moore’s decision to return to Oregon for the 2026 season caught plenty by surprise.
Outside of Fernando Mendoza, last April’s draft class was skint on quarterbacks, and Moore would have been a lock to be a first-round pick, maybe even as high as No. 2 overall to the Jets.
Moore instead chose to go back to Eugene to try and lead the Ducks to their first-ever national championship.
The bookies believe there is a decent chance that he does just that.
FanDuel Sportsbook has pegged Oregon as the third-favorite to win the College Football Playoff at +700. Only Ohio State (+550) and Notre Dame (+650) have shorter odds.
Moore is also the third favorite to win the Heisman at 11/1. If you want to look beyond that, he’s also the second choice to be the No. 1 overall pick at the 2027 NFL Draft behind only Arch Manning. Moore is +350 to go first, Manning is +250.
Everything points to a big season for Moore and the Ducks.
Should bettors hop on the bandwagon now? Or is the market now too high on Oregon?
Head coach Dan Lanning of the Oregon Ducks walks on the field against the Colorado Buffaloes during the first half at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, on Saturday, September 23, 2023. Getty Images The Big Ten looks pretty straightforward on paper. Ohio State, Oregon, and Indiana are the headliners, and everybody else has question marks. That’s on paper.
If you really dig into what’s to come for Oregon, things look pretty tricky. The Ducks get a real test on the road at USC on Sept. 26, but their stretch run is really where we’ll find out if this team is finally going to get over the hump.
Oregon closes the season with a six-game gauntlet that sends them to Illinois, back to Oregon to take on Northwestern, then to Ohio State, back home to host Michigan, then to Michigan State, before closing out the season at home against Washington.
The Ducks will be favored in each of those games save for the trip to Columbus, but the travel, the quality of opponents, and the attrition of a full college football season will take its toll. If the Ducks can rack up 11 wins against this zany schedule, we’ll tip our caps.
The Play: Oregon Under 10.5 wins (-130, FanDuel)
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
