Are you sobered up from my report on Monday?  I too, had an “oh crap” moment when I realized that the scheme that Cal came up with IS effective against us and can limit the number of points we score as it happened in Berkeley.  I got a bunch of responses to my report from others who were now concerned about this defense and from those who thought I was braying in the wind.  Have we thought this thing completely through?

I’m listening to the BCS broadcast again on Sunday and lean forward as I hear them say for the third week in a row, “all Oregon has to do is win-out—and they’re in the National Championship Game.”

Really?  Follow me through on this; what if—Arizona and Oregon State adopt the “Pendergast Problem Defense” and slow us down considerably?  In that scenario I am happy just to win and go undefeated, but what about “Style Points?”  After barely beating Cal, and then we barely slip by Arizona—won’t eyebrows go up around the country?  Wouldn’t tongues be wagging about the “Oregon Decline?”  What if we barely beat the Beavers by three points?  We’re undefeated, so shouldn’t we be a shoo-in to the National Championship Game?

The voting members would look at the first nine games of the season where we averaged 50 points a game, and then we barely win the last three games?  They would conclude that Oregon “peaked early” and was no longer the nation’s best team, or even among the top two.  We could drop badly in the polls which would pull us out of the NC game with Auburn, TCU, and Boise State left to fight over the spoils.

This is plausible.  This could happen with this crazy BCS system.

I think the BCS talking heads on ESPN are wrong; on Friday, we NEED the win, and we NEED the style points.  It sucks that it IS a beauty contest, but we are in the finals of it and we need to go along with the whole nonsense for our final goals.  These additional considerations do add quite the interest in our game with the Wildcats, don’t they?  Are you squirming in your seat yet?  (I have been for a week)

Baby—this game is going to be EPIC!

We love our Ducks,

FishDuck