Oregon football, Dan Lanning named favorite to win national title in latest coaches poll

With the Oregon football team preparing for the 2026 season, starting on Saturday against the Boise State Broncos, there is no denying the expectations that are attached to the program. As Oregon football star Dante Moore leads the way for the program, the team also has high aspirations from opposing coaches in the nation.

In Bruce Feldman’s latest piece for The Athletic, he surveyed coaches about a myriad of topics, with one being who they think will win the national championship. Most of the votes went to the Ducks, with many saying that head coach Dan Lanning will bring the program their first title.

“As with The Athletic’s own staff predictions, coaches’ votes were spread out among several teams,” Feldman wrote. “But whereas our writers and editors favored Notre Dame, the most votes among coaches we surveyed went to Oregon, finally winning its first championship, with twice as many coaches voting for the Ducks than any other team. Ten of 18 voters predict a fourth consecutive title for the Big Ten. One coach we surveyed abstained from this question, believing his own team would win it all.”

2026 is the year Oregon football’s Dan Lanning “cracks through”?

Lanning has been the head coach of the Oregon football program for four seasons, as the fifth one looks to be the charm in capturing a national title. Comparatively, having won double-digit games in each of the past four seasons, one ACC offensive analyst would believe that Lanning has improved each year and 2026 will be the one that “he cracks through.”

“I think this is the most wide-open race we’ve had in college football in such a long time. I’ll say Oregon. Dan Lanning has continued to get better and better, and this is the year he cracks through,” the analyst said.

Subsequently, the same coaches were surveyed on which player will win the Heisman Trophy this season, as Ducks quarterback Dante Moore received the most votes, coming off a season where he threw for 3,565 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 10 picks. At any rate, it remains to be seen if Oregon and Moore live up to expectations.

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