Superman has Lex Luthor. Batman has the Joker.
Every superhero has that archvillian that seems to get in the way of keeping the peace. When it comes to the college football season, every team has a rival. ESPN published an article that tried to name every Top 25 team’s specific archvillian, and when it comes to the Ducks, they decided Ohio State is Oregon’s.
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The argument makes sense after last year’s two meetings, where the Ducks narrowly defeated the Buckeyes 32-31 at Autzen Stadium, but Ohio State got its revenge in the Rose Bowl with a College Football Playoff blowout.
With the Ducks now in the Big Ten, new rivalries were bound to crop up, and in the Ducks’ case, it seems as if the Buckeyes will be Oregon’s biggest foil for quite some time. They battle it out on the field and off the field in recruiting, as the two programs often go after the same players in high school and in the transfer portal.
“Is it too simple to say Ohio State? Maybe just Jeremiah Smith after he caught seven passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns in the Rose Bowl drubbing that the Buckeyes put on the Ducks to end their undefeated season,” said Paolo Uggetti.
“The good news for Dan Lanning & Co. (or bad depending on how you look at it) is that Oregon will not face Ohio State in the regular season this season and a rematch could only occur in the Big Ten title game or in the College Football Playoff. Penn State enters the fray this season as a much-hyped conference contender that the Ducks will have to face and yet it feels like Oregon and Ohio State are still the cream of the crop for the conference and are likely to continue seeing each other on the sport’s biggest stages.”
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Not playing the Buckeyes in the regular season does take some luster out of this new rivalry, but it’s very possible the two teams could still meet somewhere down the road in 2025. That could instantly add to the rivalry very quickly and give the Ducks another chance at the Scarlet and Gray.
ESPN does mention that Penn State could fill in that void left by the Buckeyes at least for this season, with the Ducks and Nittany Lions could easily be the two favorites to win the Big Ten this year. The two teams meet up in one of the biggest games of the college football season when Oregon travels across the country to face Penn State Sept. 27 for a primetime affair on NBC.
Although in every Duck fans’ heart, the right answer to who is the real archvillian is really Washington.
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This article originally appeared on Ducks Wire: A new rival could be Oregon’s ‘Archvillian’ for the 2025 season
