Which team is Oregon's toughest opponent?
Oregon's 2019 schedule opens with the marquee game of college football's opening weekend and features road tips to Stanford, Washington and USC.
How do Oregon's opponents rank? The Oregonian/OregonLive examines Oregon's regular season schedule and ranks teams from 12 to 1 in terms of difficulty.
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12. Montana, Sept. 14
By far the easiest game of the season, Oregon's guaranteed win over a wildly overmatched FCS foe comes in Week 3. There is simply no way Montana will be in a competitive game with a ranked Ducks team.
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11. Colorado, Oct. 11
Colorado is at the start of a massive rebuild. There is no way to expect the Buffaloes to come into Autzen Stadium on a Friday night and pull off what would be one of the most stunning upsets of the Pac-12 season.
AP/Tony Avelar
10. Oregon State, Nov. 30
It's hard to place a rivalry game this low, but the last two years have not been remotely competitive and there is nothing at this point to think that's going to change. Oregon State also lost to Nevada last season.
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9. Nevada, Sept. 7
Nevada has some top-end talent that could make for a competitive game. Andy Avalos was able to bottle up Toa Taua with Boise State's defense though and Oregon has a more talented group.
AP/Rick Bowmer
8. Arizona, Nov. 16
A healthy Khalil Tate could make this game quite interesting. Oregon will surely be out for revenge after last year's debacle and being at home is an advantage. Besides last year's games with Oregon and Oregon State, Arizona's defense has been abysmal of late.
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7. Cal, Oct. 5
Cal is in for a more difficult slate this year than last season and Oregon could benefit against a Bears team that could easily enter Autzen at 2-3. The Bears secondary is the best in the Pac-12 and Evan Weaver is the top linebacker in the conference, but the Cal offense enters the season with a lot of questions.
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6. at Arizona State, Nov. 23
Last season's meeting with competitive from start to finish. But Arizona State lost significant playmakers, though it also returns Eno Benjamin, Merlin Robertson and has one of the better offensive lines in the conference.
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5. at Stanford, Sept. 21
K.J. Costello leading the offense and Paulson Adebo locking down one side of the field on defense makes Stanford a more than formidable matchup. But the Cardinal open the season with a brutal schedule and last year's bizarre ending will surely serve as motivation for Oregon.
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4. Washington State, Oct. 26
This game could easily be flipped with Stanford, but Mike Leach's dominance against Oregon makes this a harder game until the Ducks show otherwise. Being at Autzen will be a huge change from last year's trip to Pullman but changing the result is what matters most.
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3. at USC, Nov. 2
This game is so high out of respect for the volume of talent on USC's roster and because this game is on the road. Of course, if the Trojans flounder and Clay Helton's seat has gone from hot to pulled out from under him by the time of this game then the difficulty could plummet.
AP/Elaine Thompson
2. at Washington, Oct. 19
Washington lost a ton of talent, particularly in the secondary, but Jacob Eason may prove to be an upgrade at quarterback and the Huskies offensive line is still talented. UW also replenishes many of the areas where it's replacing starters. A heated rivalry, on the road, against the reigning Pac-12 champs makes this the hardest conference game on the schedule.
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1. Auburn at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Aug. 31
Strictly in terms of talent, Auburn has the best roster of any team on Oregon's schedule. Even coming off an 8-5 season that by most every measure was a disappointment, Auburn still managed to beat Washington last season. The Tigers didn't do that by accident, even if they were inconsistent afterward. Auburn has the best defensive line in the country, four starters back in the secondary and all five starters back on the offensive line. Even with a new starting quarterback, the Tigers are turning to a five-star recruit in true freshman Bo Nix.
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