ATQ Roundtable: Oregon's Out Of Conference Football Games

The ATQ roundtable will be an offseason series in which ATQ authors give their takes on topics related to Oregon athletics. The first question:

If you could schedule a non-conference home and home series against any school in football, who would you schedule and why?

Takimoto: Baylor, because holy shit how fun would that be?

Sean Larson: Give the people what they want and schedule a home and home series with Alabama. We could've had that matchup in the national championship in recent years, but obviously the college football gods hate us and won't let us have any fun. Schedule it for the first game of the year and let the fans hype it up for eight months straight. It's a win-win for both sides. Win the game, and you have the biggest win on your schedule that'll speak volumes to the College Football Playoff committee. Lose, and you still have the entire season to rebound from it.

Kalon: I think I would aim for one of the most cowardly (scheduling-wise) schools in the nation: Florida. Going to Florida for a game would be awesome, but more importantly Florida would have to travel more in that one trip than they have in 5 years - combined. Seriously, Florida almost never even travels out of state for their away games, and never out of conference - their OOC games that are away are basically either Miami or Florida State. I'd love to see them play somewhere else.

Ryan Dosen: I'm going to be selfish and go with Indiana. As an Indiana native and current IU student, there are obviously very few opportunities to go to Oregon games. The 2008 double-overtime game I attended at Purdue is still my favorite memory as a Duck fan, although I'm hoping the Michigan State game this season (which I'll be going to) can top it.

IU actually makes some football sense too. While the Hoosiers have been atrocious, they're still a power five conference team, so it isn't quite on the Baylor level of bad scheduling. Plus the IU offense can put up points, so the game could serve as somewhat of an early season tune up for the defense, in a game Oregon won't have to worry about losing. So it's a win-win (the second win is for me).

Ed. Note: We owe Indiana something. One of only two home OOC losses of the Bellotti era? WTF?

Dave: I like to see another series with Michigan. Roll them in the Big House, again. Stick it to Harbaugh, again.

Noah: University of Texas. While we've played (and owned) them recently in bowl games, I would love an excuse to visit Austin. They have a great music/film/arts scene and have you seen the Texas co-eds? Plus I feel like Eugene and Austin are kindred spirits. I think the games would be highly competitive as Texas appears to be headed in the right direction under Charlie Strong. They would also be a great platform for recruiting as the state of Texas has been our most fertile recruiting ground outside of California for the past 10 years.

Sean Goodbody: Note No. 1: Is there a better teams-that-have-never-played-in-history rivalry than Alabama/Oregon?

Note No. 2: When was last time Oregon played an ACC team (other than FSU)? I feel like a game with Va Tech, Ga Tech, or Clemson would be pretty interesting, just because we've never seen it before.

Note No. 3: The correct answer is either Alabama or Baylor.

Rusty Ryan: I'd like to see an extra series with the UW so we could kick their asses twice a year. On a more serious note going to Austin would be dope to play Texas but I feel like playing Oklahoma after the last game has the most drama.

Dom Pruett: Notre Dame, hands down. The fight song, the gold helmets, the aura, mystique, ugh...I NEED TO VOMIT. Could these two programs be any more opposite? Notre Dame embodies the outdated wholesome goodness of traditional old-school football, and represents everything Oregon tries to rebel against. Oregon is to Notre Dame as NWA was to Middle America in the late ‘80s. Oregon is new money. Notre Dame is the old guard. And there isn't a more tantalizing matchup in my opinion.

I'd want the Ducks to wear something extra scandalous just to piss off the football purists. Forget black and silver, I'm talking every color in the rainbow because why the hell not? Their fans' brains would be incapable of functioning upon first sight of them. What is this?! Footbaw uniforms are meant to be simple and boring! I'd love to welcome the Notre Dame faithful to Eugene, because the Yankee fans of college football deserve nothing more than to spend good money to travel to the Northwest only to witness their hallowed team getting throttled by 40+ by a school that has never won a National Championship (OH THE HORROR). Their fans would get all goaded and livid before heading to the exits in their imitation Daniel Ruettiger letterman jackets. We'll return to glory once again, just wait!!!

Oh, and the away game in South Bend? I'm absolutely booking a ticket for that. What could possibly be better than a blowout over the Irish in the house Jimmy Clausen built? Pardon my schadenfreude, but seeing such a spoiled and sanctimonious fan base have to endure an embarrassing loss to a startup program in their own HOLY house would be #2 in my greatest sports games ever attended list, behind just only the 2015 Rose Bowl. I'd also like to see Royce Freeman truck one of their 4-star linebackers from Gritville, Ohio, en route to a 60-yard touchdown run.

Then I'd like to tune into the post game coverage to hear Lou Holtz try and lisp his way into justifying why the Irish got beat so badly.

How about you, ATQ reader? Who would you schedule for an OOC football series?