Has Oregon ever won a national championship in football? History of the Ducks’ best seasons

Has Oregon ever won a national championship in football? History of the Ducks’ best seasons originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Oregon has been a college football powerhouse for much of the 21st century, but the Ducks’ history is much different than recent success indicates.

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Until the calendar flipped to 2000, Oregon struggled to find national relevance. The Ducks didn’t win more than nine games in a season until 2000, and but in this era, anything less than 10 wins would be seen as a major disappointment.

What Oregon is hoping comes next is national championships, and the school believes it has the structure in place to compete for a title every year.

Here’s a look at Oregon football’s best seasons and whether the program has won a national championship.

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Oregon football championship history

Has Oregon ever won a national championship?

Oregon has never won a national championship. The Ducks do have an “unclaimed” national championship from 2024 because two NCAA selectors chose them as champions despite a College Football Playoff quarterfinal loss to Ohio State, but they don’t recognize the title.

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In reality, the closest Oregon has come to a national championship was 2010 and 2014. The Ducks reached the BCS title game under coach Chip Kelly in 2010, but they lost narrowly to Cam Newton and Auburn on the big stage.

Four years later, Oregon entered the inaugural College Football Playoff as the No. 2 seed and played for a national championship after defeating reigning champion Florida State in the Rose Bowl. Despite entering as moderate favorites over No. 4 Ohio State, the Ducks suffered a 42-20 loss and missed their chance to finish Marcus Mariota’s Heisman-winning season with the program’s first national championship.

How many times has Oregon made the College Football Playoff?

Oregon has reached the College Football Playoff three times. The Ducks made the first-ever playoff in 2014 but couldn’t crack the final nine editions of the four-team bracket. Once the playoff expanded in 2024, Oregon entered as the No. 1 seed but was defeated by No. 8 Ohio State in the quarterfinal.

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In 2025, the Ducks entered as the No. 5 seed and won their first two games of the tournament over James Madison and Texas Tech.

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Best seasons in Oregon history

Here are the 10 best seasons in Oregon history, by winning percentage: