|
It's
now official …the Ducks will play the Colorado
Buffaloes in the Fiesta Bowl. The snub that Oregon
received from the BCS to be left out of the Rose
Bowl stinks, but I sincerely hope that the Ducks
and their fans realize that this is the biggest
game the football program has played since the
1995 Rose Bowl … perhaps bigger.
|
| In 1995,
Oregon was the unwanted guest in Penn State's quest
for a national title. Even though the Ducks put
up a great effort and proved they could play with
the big boys, Penn State was a notch above the Pac-10
champs. |
| In 2002,
the Ducks will have much more on the line than proving
they belong. Now, they know they are one of the
big boys and they are out to put maybe, just maybe,
the BCS in the closet forever. The BCS was created
to avoid a split national championship so they would
be no controversy. If Oregon can beat Colorado and
Nebraska somehow upsets Miami (which is possible
given this wacky season), the AP writers would most
likely name the Oregon Ducks national champions.
The Cornhuskers would likely be the BCS champions,
but we would still have a split championship. |
| Can
you say "playoff system"? Mr. Bellotti can. |
| Is all
of this necessary? I mean really. How hard would
it be to have the four BCS bowls as quarterfinals
and play this thing out on the field? I'm sure the
Ducks would love a crack at Nebraska and tell them
to take their margin of victory and shove it. Colorado
certainly wants to beat up on Nebraska again if
given the opportunity. |
| If seven
playoff games are too much, then match up No. 1
and 2 after the bowls. That would work out perfectly
this year. The Rose and Fiesta Bowls would be the
semifinals and have the championship game a week
or two later. |
| Another
question arises. What exactly would have got the
Ducks to the Rose Bowl besides an undefeated record?
A conference championship game would have helped.
Another game and a boost to the "Strength of Schedule"
would probably have propelled the Ducks to Pasadena.
The Pac-10, which happens to get the shaft every
year, needs to join the other conferences and expand
by two. The Pac-12 Championship Game presented by
Microsoft. |
| Fresno
St. and UNLV would be my choices. Both football
and basketball teams from those two schools are
decent enough to at least compete in the Pac-12.
Their facilities are up to par. Fresno St. is expanding
their football stadium to be the size of the old
Autzen Stadium and Las Vegas is well, Las Vegas
… very attractive. |
| The
Pac-12 would have a North Division consisting of
Washington, WSU, Oregon, OSU, Cal and Stanford.
The South Division would have Fresno St., UNLV,
USC, UCLA, Arizona and ASU. Both divisions keep
the old tradition rivalries alive and present new
ones. Fresno St. will have the opportunities to
prove to everyone that they are as good as the other
California schools. UNLV is close to the Southern
California schools and the Arizona schools to create
new rivalries. |
| The
championship game could be rotated between the Seattle
Seahawk's new stadium, Stanford, the Rose Bowl and
Sun Devil Stadium. All relatively warm climates
(Seattle's Stadium has a retractable roof) and the
surfaces are all grass. It would be awesome and
this would bring the Pac-12 up to par with the Big
XII and the SEC and prevent the Oregons and Washingtons,
ect., from getting left out again. |
