Brandon Walker, who hosts Barstool's college football show alongside Kayce Smith, put Oregon on top of his national championship board before Week 1 kicked off. Oregon then needed a 62-yard fourth-quarter touchdown from Dakorien Moore to finally shake Boise State, escaping Autzen Stadium 34-27 in a game that was still up for grabs deep into the 4th quarter. That's not the coronation anybody drew up for the preseason favorite, and Nicky Smokes was ready the second the final whistle blew.
Brandon Walker curse strikes again. Oregon might be ASS.
"Brandon Walker curse strikes again. Oregon might be ASS," Nicky Smokes posted, folding this into a running bit that Walker's national title picks are less a scouting report and more a hex. It's the kind of shot that only lands because Walker's takes carry weight in Barstool's college football corner — you don't get clowned for a pick nobody heard.
Walker didn't duck it. He turned around and needled Kayce Smith, who apparently also had Oregon to win the whole thing, for being on the hook right alongside him.
Can you believe @KayceSmith picked Oregon as her national champion?
"Can you believe @KayceSmith picked Oregon as her national champion?" Walker wrote — deflecting some of the heat onto his co-host rather than sitting in it alone. Nicky Smokes wasn't done either, piling on with a joke comparing a Brandon Walker natty pick to catching a disease, which is about as brutal a bit as it gets even by Barstool standards.
Walker leaned into the pile-on rather than fight it, cracking that at least Oregon can't choke in the Playoff if a Week 1 near-loss knocks them out before they ever get there — and floating, only half-jokingly, that he might pivot his title pick to Ole Miss instead. It's the classic move when a preseason pick gets shaky in Week 1: laugh at yourself before anyone else can dig deeper.
Elsewhere in the pile-on, a Barstool follower posted his own reaction calling Oregon "real easy" — a betting take aimed at the same game, tagging Barstool Sports directly into the conversation.
Real easy with Oregon!! @barstoolsports
None of this changes Oregon's record — the Ducks are 1-0 and still very much alive in the national title conversation Walker put them in. But in the picks business, a shaky opener is a gift to everyone who bet against your take, and Brandon Walker just handed the group chat a full season's worth of ammunition on Week 1 alone.