There aren't too many college football personalities that are more respected than former Ohio State quarterback and current ESPN analyst, Kirk Herbstreit. He's been a staple of college football Saturdays since many current fans have been watching and tried his best to have sensible and well-thought-out insight to what's going on in the college football universe.
So, when he speaks, many listen. He's not always right of course, not anyone is, but at least he's not just throwing things out there to get a reaction out of certain fanbases.
Herbstreit recently appeared on the Pat McAfee show and singled out a Big Ten team he thinks has the ability to take home the College Football Playoff national championship in 2024, and it might be a different team than you think.
No, it wasn't Ohio State or Michigan that he singled out, but rather, one of the new kids on the block in the Big Ten, the Oregon Ducks.
“Look out for ole’ Oregon. Look out for the ole’ Oregon Ducks," said Herbstreit. "I may have Oregon winning it all. If you quote me, I said, ‘I MAY have Oregon winning it all.'”
To be fair, the comment came while Herbstreit was discussing Michigan and other teams in the Big Ten, but he made a point to mention Oregon as a potential national championship winner, which seems fairly significant.
I know some people like to rail on Herbstreit, but you have to at least respect his effort to remain neutral and unbiased, and this appears to be another case of that. Oregon has a lot of talent on both sides of the ball and it gets Ohio State at home. So yeah, there's reason to believe in the Ducks in 2024.