Has Oregon ever won a national championship in football? Ducks' college football playoff history explored
The Oregon Ducks are probably one of the best schools to never win a national title. The Ducks have come very close on two occasions, losing the title games of 2010 and 2014.
As you can imagine, the success of the Pac-12 school is rather recent at the national level, but they have always been a competitive side conference-wise.
The Ducks have 14 conference titles between their Pacific Coast Conference and Pac-12 titles.
They won their first conference title in 1919 and won titles in the next three decades. After the 1957 title, they had a 37-year drought that ended in 1994. The 21st century has brought eight more titles.
Oregon Ducks 2010 Season
Arguably, the biggest period of success for the Ducks was under Chip Kelly, who was their head coach between 2009 and 2012, as he led them to three straight Pac-12 titles.
His best year has to be the 2010 season, when the Ducks ended the season 12-1 and with a No. 3 ranking in the AP Poll, led by quarterback Darren Thomas. They would end up losing the BCS title game to Cam Newton's Auburn Tigers, 22-11. The Ducks lost no regular-season games that year.
This team won the Rose Bowl the next season under Chip Kelly.
Oregon Ducks 2014 season
Probably the best Oregon team ever, led by quarterback Marcus Mariota and under coach Mark Helfrich, this year the school had a record of 13-2. They ended the season with a No. 2 ranking in the AP Poll and made the first edition of the college football playoff.
In the Rose Bowl, they defeated the Florida State Seminoles to reach the first-ever final of the college football playoff. In the title game, they were soundly defeated by the Ohio State Buckeyes, 59-20.
This season brought a new achievement for the Ducks, as Marcus Mariota became their first-ever Heisman Trophy winner. The native Hawaiian is without a doubt the best player ever to be part of their football program.
In that senior year, Mariota threw for 4454 yards with 42 touchdown passes and only four interceptions. As a true dual-threat QB, he ran for 770 yards with 15 rushing touchdowns.