Oregon Ducks predicted to host long-anticipated matchup in 2026 CFP

The 2020 COVID college football season was a wild one and will be long remembered for many reasons. For the Oregon Ducks, one reason is that the team did not play a big preseason matchup because of the pandemic, which led to canceled games.

That game was a non-conference marquee matchup against the North Dakota State Bison, who at the time had won eight of the last nine FCS national championship games. At the time, they were undoubtedly the most dominant non-FBS college team, and there was great intrigue as to what they could have done against the Ducks.

Well, now that NDSU has made the move over to the FBS for the first time going into 2026, we might get to see what that would finally look like.

With spring football now behind us, On3's Brett McMurphy put out his post-spring bowl projections, and he has Oregon hosting the Bison in the first round of the playoff at Autzen Stadium. This would make the Ducks the No. 5 seed in the playoff, and North Dakota State the No. 12 seed, representing the Group of Six conferences as the newest member of the Mountain West.

McMurphy has Oregon winning that game at home, then going on to face Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs in the quarterfinals of the playoff, at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas. That game would be played on New Year's Day.

That's where the run is projected to end, per McMurphy, as he has Georgia facing the Miami Hurricanes in the semifinals, and the Ohio State Buckeyes playing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the other semifinal. McMurphy has Miami and Notre Dame in the championship, with the Hurricanes winning it this time around.