This tour through Oregon’s 2025 football opponents has been fun, and we’ve all learned so much about our new B1G foes. Let’s pick it up where we left off, and turn our attention to the next teams on the slate, and get further acquainted with teams we will be competing with for a very long time. Mr. FishDuck has a very keen interest in these three opponents, and actually took a break from his fun studying the Best college football sportsbooks to banter with me about them.
WEEK 7 – October 11, 2025 – Autzen Stadium – Indiana Hoosiers – Bloomington, Indiana
In 2025, Oregon matches up against two Sporting News Preseason Composite Top 25 teams. Oregon is on the road against No. 3 Penn State in Week 5, and then after a bye in Week 6, we get a visit in Week 7 from No. 21 Indiana, who will also be coming off of a Week 6 bye.
In 2024-25, Indiana’s audacious new head coach, Curt Cignetti, led the Hoosiers to a historic 11-2 season, a second place finish in the B1G, and a Playoff invite. Indiana’s two losses came on the road to AP-Final-Poll No. 1 Ohio State, and No. 2 Notre Dame. Not too shabby for college football’s all time ‘losingest’ football team.
Like Oregon in 2025, Indiana has to replace a quality starting QB, and Cignetti scored in that regard, pulling the No. 3 ranked transfer QB Francisco Mendoza from Cal. The Hoosiers return 61% of the 2024 roster in 2025; however, only four starters on offense, while five on defense return. With three cupcakes out-of-conference, Indiana’s Win Total Over/Under of 8.5 could go Over. A motivated Hoosier squad will not be an easy out in 2025.
Famous Alums – Tennis Star Venus Williams, NBA Owner Mark Cuban, ESPN Playoff Go-To Gal Heather Dinich
Series Record: Oregon 2 – Indiana 1 – In 2004, Indiana won 30-24 in Autzen. Oregon finished the season 5-6 under Mike Bellotti, while Indiana was coached by current B1G Network football analyst Gerry DiNardo, finishing 3-8.
New Jersey in mid-October could be a beautiful trip for Oregon fans. (Photo by Mike Lawrence, Courtesy of Rutgers Athletics)
WEEK 8 – October 18, 2025 – Rutgers University Scarlet Knights – SHI Stadium – Piscataway, New Jersey
In Week 8, Oregon will make its second and final trip to the Eastern time zone, this time to New Jersey to play Rutgers. Except for Atlantic City, this is about as far East as you can travel. Rutgers has the distinction of hosting College Football’s First Game at College Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey. On November 6, 1869, Rutgers defeated The College of New Jersey (Princeton) Six to Four. (The win is probably the high-water mark of Rutgers football.)
Rutgers finished its 110th season of football in 2024, with a record of 7-6, losing its bowl game against Kansas State, 41 to 44. This loss gave the Scarlet Knights an all time record of 507 – 521 – 22. Being on the winning side of the 2024 ledger is nice, but Rutgers did have the easiest B1G schedule in 2024 and has the second toughest schedule coming into 2025.
Oregon heads to Jersey off of its home game against Indiana. Rutgers also has a long way to travel, playing Washington in Seattle in Week 7. I expect Oregon will be at least a double-digit favorite on the road against Rutgers.
Famous Alums – Tony Soprano, er, James Gandolfini (You can’t make this stuff up!
,) NBA Commissioner David Stern, NCAA Basketball Champion Coach Jim Valvano, Singer Sistah Souljah
Series Record – Oregon 0 – Rutgers 0 – Considering that 2025 will be Rutgers’s 156th season of football and Oregon’s 131st season, this game has been a long time coming.
WEEK 9 – October 25, 2025, Autzen Stadium – Wisconsin Badgers, Madison, Wisconsin
The Badgers gave everything they had against Oregon in 2024, with the Ducks scoring 10 points in the 4th quarter to pull out a hard-fought victory. Wisconsin finished 2024 a disappointing 5-7, missing out on a bowl game for the first time in 22 seasons, and putting head coach Luke Fickell on Lake Mendota thin ice.
As we know, playing Wisconsin is always a tough, close game. (Photo Courtesy of Iowa Athletics)
Oregon plays two Sporting News Top-25 opponents in 2025, but the Badgers play six: at No. 9 Alabama, at No. 19 Michigan, No. 2 Ohio State, at No. 6 Oregon, at No. 21 Indiana, and No. 14 Illinois. Wisconsin also plays Iowa, Washington, Iowa, and Minnesota. (No Purdue, Northwestern or Rutgers on the schedule.)
In addition to Alabama out-of-conference, Wisconsin plays MAC co-favorite, Miami (Ohio). Back-to-Back versus Ohio State and on the road against Oregon is as tough as it gets. QB Billy Edwards Jr., transferring to Wisconsin from Maryland, will make his second start in Autzen. In Maryland’s 2024, 39 to 18 loss to the Ducks, Edwards finished 22 of 44 for 206 passing yards, 1 TD, and 2 Interceptions.
If Fickell can find six wins and a bowl invite in 2025, he will have done a terrific job.
Famous Alums – Aviator Charles Lindbergh, Naturalist John Muir, Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Football Player and AD, Elroy ‘Crazylegs’ Hirsch.
SERIES RECORD – Oregon 3 – Wisconsin 3 – Rose Bowl Record -Oregon 2 Wisconsin 0 – The Ducks matched up twice against the Badgers, winning close games in 2021, 45-38, and in 2020, 28-27.
The final 2025 opponents on the schedule will be covered in the near future, so keep an eye out at FishDuck.com for these and other great articles.
Can August 30th get here sooner?
Jon Joseph
Aiken, South Carolina
Photo by Trent Barnhart, Courtesy of Indiana Athletics
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Jon Joseph grew up in Boston, Massachusetts but has been blessed to have lived long enough in the west to have exorcised all east coast bias. He played football in college and has passionately followed the game for seven decades. A retired corporate attorney Jon has lectured across the country and published numerous articles on banking and gaming law. Now a resident of Aiken South Carolina, Jon follows college football across the nation with a focus on the Conference of Champions and the Ducks.