Oregon fell out of the national spotlight to a degree once Chip Kelly decided to leave Eugene to coach the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite the loss of its head coach, Oregon is still a program which should be considered among a small group of national title contenders. Mark Helfrich has an opportunity to take his program to a national championship game as a first year head coach.

Ohio State is the popular pick to dethrone the SEC's recent title supremacy, but Oregon still has all of the tools necessary to challenge this season despite some changes at the top of the program:

Brian Fremeau

Top title contenders outside SEC: No. 1 Oregon

"With a new head coach and some key pieces to replace on defense, Oregon has a few question marks heading into the 2013 season. But dominant performances over the last several seasons suggest they can pick up right where they left off. Quarterback Marcus Mariota was exceptionally efficient last season (68.5 percent completions, 32 TDs, 6 INTs) and chipped in another 752 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. The Ducks have ranked among the top 10 in FBS scoring offense in each of the last five years, but the secret to their elite success is how efficient they have played on both sides of the ball.

The Ducks gave up only 1.4 points per opponent drive last year, the 14th-best mark in the country. They were even better on value drive opportunities, defined as possessions that start on one side of the 50-yard line and move into scoring range by crossing the opponent's 30-yard line. Oregon has ranked no worse than No. 3 in net points per value drive for four straight seasons."