The final year of the mighty Bowl Championship Series won't produce a real #1.
How can it if Alabama isn't playing?
Auburn's a good substitute, same state and all, but they know they shouldn't be there. War Eagle, or Tiger, or any other secret name, scored on a last second field goal. By the other team. Call it a fluke, a 109 yard fluke.
It's not the same last second Auburn field goal that beat Oregon for their last title. Field goal ending games don't feel as good as blow outs where you know you've been stomped, and Auburn Eagle couldn't dominant the Ducks even with a one and done Cam Newton playing under questionable circumstances all season.
He's playing, he's not, then he is. With all the time passed, it's still wrong to think Newton's eligibility was reviewed until the check cleared. Either way, Oregon in the title game showed recruits what they needed to see. It feels similar to the bowl draw this year.
Oregon vs Texas in the Alamo Bowl could be the Fox in the Hen House Bowl. The Ducks roll up with their 10-2 record tuned in the key of redemption. Beleaguered Texas coach Mac Brown brings his Steers in with rumors of Nick Saban swirling across the Lone Star State. A Texas loss will do two things:
1. Show the Alabama coach as less than truthful after he rides into Austin following Brown's decision to retire so he can spend more time with his family like Urban Meyer did in Florida. (Did anyone mourn the Buckeye loss?)
and,
2. Show the Ducks in an up close and personal way to Texas D and O-line prospects. They need to see Oregon as a valid destination for their future greatness. There's room in Eugene for the big men. Check it out, then tell your friends at the camps.
The Stanford game showed the need for bigger Ducks up front. Where do you find the best of the bigs? In the SEC and Texas. They don't travel too far from home, but that can change. If the Ducks show all their feathers in the Alamo Bowl, maybe some of the big momma's boys from Louisiana and Alabama and Texas will cut the apron strings and man-up to the great Northwest. And Oregon is the perfect destination.
Here's a recruiting pitch for the young men who make national titles in the great Southland a forgone conclusion:
"Men, and I call you men no matter how many times the talking heads on TV call you kids, there are three schools of choice on the West Coast. Just three. USC, Stanford, and Oregon.
"Go to USC and you'll feel the bright lights of Hollywood. Sure they'll celebrate you, but the giants of the film industry like the 5'7" Tom Cruise will have to jump up to look you in the face. Those guys look big on the silver screen, but you are the real deal. You don't want actors pogo-ing up on you unexpectedly.
"Skip USC for Stanford and you might become a better person. They have that going for them, but do you want to join the privileged at a private academic school? Of course you do, everyone does. But if that's the case, why not Notre Dame?
"Oregon is your best bet. Go there and you won't be celebrities, just the men who escaped the SEC and Texas for greener fields. You'll get a lifetime of celebrity if you're in the class that finally brings the crystal football to Eugene. Up until then you'll have a normal college experience.
"Now I know what you're thinking: Eugene is called Track Town USA and you're worried about too much track food. Sure these skin and bones athletes, these lungs on legs runners, eat a special diet to lower their track times. You won't eat at their training table.
"We know how to cook. From the old logging camps to the UO campus, our dietitians know how to throw a spread for hungry big men. You won't starve. If there's any doubt, bring a few recipes from home and we'll whip up the sort of food that keeps your motor running full blast.
"It's Oregon time, men. It's your time. Let's put it together and get one."
An Alamo Bowl stomping of Texas sends the right message to potential recruits: Come to Oregon and learn how to step up.
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