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Ranking Oregon's Top Five Rivals in College Football

On3 imageby: Justin Hopkins11/26/25

This is one of the most unique weeks in college football for Oregon fans in a long while. The Ducks find themselves wedged in between two teams they really don’t like. With the new conference alignment, Oregon has been set up with Washington as its new rival. Some purists want to continue to maintain it’s Oregon State, but it’s really not much of a rivalry these days.

I wrote about the anatomy of a rivalry yesterday and it feels pretty clear Washington fits the profile currently.

But along with that anatomy, I do think you can have more than one rival. Maybe different levels of rivals. But teams you flat out don’t like just the same.

So here are my top five rivals for the Oregon Ducks as we get ready for the Huskies. It’s worth noting, if Oregon were to face Miami while Mario Cristobal is still there, that would move them immediately up to No. 3 on this list. The two teams have not met since 1958, the only meeting of the two programs.

5. Utah – These two teams don’t meet regularly like they used to. And I’m not sure the rivalry is as strong as its been. But it is fairly recent and there’s no doubt the Ducks and Utes had some pretty heated battles, especially under Mario Cristobal. The reason this one is number five is because they won’t meet often moving forward and I think the two programs are headed different directions. I think it could be replaced by Penn State or Michigan sooner than later.

4. Oregon State – Look, like I said it’s not much of a rivalry today. But let’s be real with each other. You can’t be an Oregon fan and lose this game. You simply can not. Which keeps it on the list. But even in passing, most sensible Beaver fans are aware of how far apart these two teams currently are in just about every sport but baseball. It’s an in-state rivalry and it must remain on this list.

3. Ohio State – This one is newer but it’s absolutely shooting up the rankings. Oregon fans and Ohio State fans are not friendly these days. Not on the field, not in recruiting. And that’s the makings of a great rivalry. These are two heavyweights in today’s college football. And it feels like both are here to stay for the long haul. Because of length of history, it sits at No. 3, not No. 2.

2. USC – Like I said in the beginning, these are the two teams Oregon fans don’t want to lose to. You can’t lose to them. And USC is perhaps working its way back to making this series a little closer than its been. Yes, they have tradition on their side, but since 2010, it’s been heavily in Oregon’s favor. this weekend was a reminder of how much this game means to both fanbases.

.1. Washington – It’s HUCK THE FUSKIES right? I talked about this in the anatomy but this one has all of the ingredients of a tremendous rivalry. It has even gained national attention these last few years as both teams have been in and pushing for a college football playoff spots.

I don’t see anyone knocking off this rivalry any time soon but Dan Lanning needs to get on the winning side of things and stay on that side. He knows it and both fanbases know it.

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