Getting to Know You: Auburn-Oregon BCS Mixer/Social

Even for a fluff piece, this NYTimes article is really interesting

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/magazine/05Football-t.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1

1. Lane’s actually done a good job being douche-less this year. Don’t worry, his real douchiness will eventually show itself, but since he’s gotten the job that will get him back to the NFL his dream job, he’s been tolerable.

2. Actually, I was glad Kelly stuck to his guns and kicked Masoli off the team. Now, at first I wished for Masoli’s sake that he would have been able to handle his business, but I’m glad Kelly continued his consistent approach and showed the young guys as well as the upper classmen that no matter what you’re role on this team, you’re not above the rules and code this team has.

3. A round robin sucks, literally. Think about having to play all 11 other teams in the SEC every year, and then just subtract one home and one road game from that and that’s what we go through every year. It’s terrible and difficult, but there is pride in winning the Pac because of it (especially this year since Oregon is the only team to have gone undefeated in the round robin format… not even USC can say that, that should tell you something).

4. Conference expansion is great from a national exposure stand point. The CCG will be great and will bring the Pac on par with a number of other conferences. The only difference is that the Pac is still using a 9 game conference schedule (stupid schools wanting to play in LA every year… don’t ask). The CCG is going to be played at the top ranked conference team’s home stadium. I think this will be awesome, since I’m assuming most of those games will be played at Autzen :).

5. Texas would have been perfect financially and academically, but their a bunch of selfish a-holes so screw them until they can crawling back. As for Boise St, no way, they are a glorified JC school academically and the WAC is terrible. That would be like me asking you if Troy is ever going to be a part of the SEC.

6. I love the North – South split, just wish we could play only 8 conference games like the SEC. With a CCG we’d have to play 10 conference games and that’s just ridiculous.

7. I’d say the 3 biggest are 1) Washington 2) Oregon State 3) USC with Cal coming in a close 4th especially with the fake injuries thing this year. Speaking of which, did you guys have to deal with that this year with your up tempo offense?

8. I think parity is great, but I think it’s been there even with Carroll coaching, just that USC usually got the national media nod. The North-South split will change a lot of that, but I think a competitive conference breeds better football, and that’s all I’m really interested in (I could really care less about the BCS).

9. Other than Ohio State? Would you like to see another Statue of Liberty Fake?

10. Yes, there is a bias, but that’s just natural. That’s like asking if there is a bias towards American politics in the US News media. A lot of it is location and media based. I was in Florida a couple years back when Oregon and USC were both ranked in the top 10 and I couldn’t find the game on TV anywhere. Do I think it matter? Not really. Good teams will rise to the top, like Auburn and Oregon have this year.

Man that took a while. Now you owe me some responses.

Washington is our greatest rival. Oregon State is our little brother.

The Masoli thing was disappointment at betrayal, but that melted away pretty quick when I saw that Thomas could find and hit an open receiver more than 6 out of 10 times. I hope the best for Masoli so long as he gets his crap together. I really respect the way Kelly has handled his team punishments. Some are harsh, some are relatively minor, but they aren’t judged based on how important you are to the team, but based on the circumstances of your violation (or crime).

The 9 game schedule is a tough one for me. I like having to really prove yourself in your league, but our bowl prospects this year as a conference got jacked up in part by having to play 9 conference games. The Beavers and ASU both scheduled some tough OOC games that they weren’t able to overcome in conference. With USC out of it and Zona pulling a world class choke job the Pac looks worse than it is, IMO. That said, consistency was not a strong suit of the Pac outside of Oregon and Stanford.

I hate USC. Not as much as the Beavers or Huskies, but I still hate em. I’m proud that the Ducks are the team that is getting the nation to look at the Pac10 when the Trojans are no good. I want USC to be good (a quality USC is good for the Pac10) but the whole USC and the 9 dwarfs thing makes me gag.

I like conference expansion. For years that Pac has been falling behind in exposure, bowl commitments, TV contracts and every other conceivable tool for improving the conference. It’s about time we’re seeing some risks that may lead to improvements in these areas.

It’s all bias. The Pac is always the bestest ever. Just ask me and I’ll give you my unbiased opinion.

1) Lane Kiffin hasn’t won all that many games this year, and has largely refrained from doing anything absurdly stupid. So for the most part, not all that many Pac-10 fans (except Bruins fans, but they are insane. Take a quick gander at Bruins Nation to confirm that) passionately hate him.

2) Jeremiah Masoli had always been a very mixed bag on and off of the field. I personally did not lament his loss all that much, but I thought it would have an overall negative impact (we obviously ended up much better without him) We had pretty much every offensive player returning this season, so if ever there were a season to replace a QB, this season was it.

3) A 9-game conference schedule is fantastic to watch as a fan. This prevents teams from watering down their schedules, thus provides a quality game almost every week. Obviously playing tough teams is a drawback in the current BCS system, I still love the 9 game slate.

4) We pretty much all support expansion. Our curent TV deal sucks, and expansion ensures a new one. Viva la Pac-12!!!

5) Utah is a solid program and a solid school, I’m fine with this pick. And Colorado is a good school and a perfect cultural fit. Hopefully they will be decent at football in the coming years. I cant really think of all that many other programs that fit the Pac-10 bill (solid academics, athletics, TV market potential, and no religious affiliation)

6) Our North division will be weaker than the south, and we may not play in LA every season. But expansion will be beneficial for all, and I am more than happy to concede an unequal conference split for more money and a better TV deal.

7) UW, OSU, Arizona. The reason that I am not throwing USC on here is because every team in the Pac-10 would consider USC a “rival”. They were a dominant team for a decade, thats pretty much it. Arizona’s fans threw bottles at our players and Duck fans in 2009, I personally despise them for that gesture.

8) The Pac-10 is usually about parity, I’m sure that it will remain this way. Even when USC was god-like, they would usually drop a game to a terrible opponent. The year we would have dethroned them (2007) everything went to hell and we lost Dennis Dixon in Arizona. Parity will always prevail in the Pac!

9) We utterly destroyed Michigan in 2007, so I have no reason to want to kill them anymore. What the hell, Nebraska. Lets beat up on the new kid.

10) There is probably a bias, but I have just gotten used to it. I never watch the ESPN blowhards ramble on about the same three topics all day every day. It seems like with the emergence of UO, the west has gotten better coverage as of late.

So far, my experience with Auburn fans has been positive, and thanks for the invitation to this site. I love your logo, but that brings me to a question…

Both you and LSU are the Tigers. Which feline came first? Who are the unoriginal ones here? Off of the top of my head, I cant think of another conference in which two teams have the same mascots…

I guess that my only other question would be regarding Oregon’s image from those 2000 miles away (as opposed to 200 yards away from campus). Do you see us as a gimmicky school with a rich uncle and whacky uniforms? A new and fresh power on the CFB scene?

1. I would rather vote for a turd sandwich than have Kiffin be my coach
2.Not too much worry, loyal Ducks have a lot of faith in Chip Kelly’s scheme. Any time you can get 50+ points out of Justin Roper, Thomas/Costa isn’t such a big deal.
3. It is fun. We have less cupcakes (besides both Washington schools the past few years) and always have at least one marquee non conference matchup. Next year is LSU
4. It can be great to host a championship game, but I will miss seeing slick Rick Neweasel and Mike Crybaby Stoops every year.
5. Not a huge impact here. The main reason why this went through was so we could have a championship game.
6. Bleh, besides supposed recruiting disadvantages, this should be an easy ticket to the championship game.
7. Fuskies, Biebers, then whomever Neweasel is coaching. Arizona is also a heated rivalry (seeing their fans have to climb back up to the stands last year was the best image of 2009).
8. The Pac-10 is cyclical. WSU actually had a few ten win seasons not that long ago. While USC and UCLA have a recruiting head start, great coaches and players are what really make up the good teams. The programs go up and down.
9. Not sure, maybe Wisconsin. We already got revenge, but it was tough to see Joey Heisman crying on the bench in his junior year after a tough loss at Camp Randall.
10. Bias is there, but it has to do with the late games and general concentration of good teams in the east. Anyone that watches UO knows that the defense is set up to stop a spread offense and is good at what it does (force turnovers, limit explosion plays, shut down the red zone, and lock down the fourth quarter)

OrSt is second, but in the big brother/little brother dynamic as mentioned. USC…became our rival as we aspired to bigger and better things. But there are plenty of old memories, gripes, beefs, and slights-not-forgotten between every school. Cal is nearly at feud level. There’s been some bad blood, bad losses, and unforgivable acts such as former Duck OC Tedford calling hijinks on recruiting and getting the Ducks a slap on the wrist by the league (seriously, like calling us out on a phone call an hour after it was permissable). Arizona knocked out not one, but TWO of our quarterbacks in ‘05, both on late or dirty hits, resulting in a loss that eventually kept us out of a BCS bowl. And of course the ’07 Dixon thing, which wasn’t their fault but was at their house so suck it, ’cats!!! On and on.

1) Lane Kiffin is pretty much seen as a punchline, and being the coach of USC is always going to make him a target. Even after the fall of USC as the head of the conference, those old memories will take a while to forget so every point ran up on the former greats is one that pretty much everyone in the conference will enjoy. There are more hated coaches out there though. I think he is actually going to have to put up a fight against the ducks sometime before he truly gets vilified.

2) It was incredibly hard to lose Masoli at first. Things were looking up for the next season, even after our rose bowl loss, and we all felt that we were the favorites to go back and even had an outside shot at the NCG if things fell the right way. When he was charged with stealing the laptop there was definitely some panic. As soon as it became clear that he was guilty, Chip suspended him for the season and coupled with the LaMichael James assault charge, people were panicking. Still, the team stayed strong and when Masoli was later charged with marijuana possession, no one was up in arms when Chip removed him from the team completely. We love Masoli’s play, but there is only so many chances you can get when you mess up like that off the field.

Which leads into another point, we sort of resent the thug image that we have somehow earned. The truth is that with Chip, off the field actions matter greatly and NO ONE is allowed to act out and get away with it. Every time that someone has done something wrong they have been punished severely with no one getting a free pass. In the Blount incident, Chip’s goal wasn’t to placate the media and try and wrist slap his star senior RB, he honestly wanted to help him grow from it. He suspended him the entire season from the very start. Not indefinitely, which gives you hope, but for the rest of his NCAA tenure. He gave no promises about Blount being able to earn his way back on to the team. Blount could have sulked and sat out, he could have gotten angry about the harshness of the penalty (The Pac 10 would have given a lesser punishment, most likely a set amount of games), but instead he asked to set up his apology on his own, continued to work hard practicing with the team, and did everything he could to prove that what he did in Boise was a mistake in the moment, not who he was. And so he did get back on the team.

You all know how the Masoli incident went down, and he was our star quarterback who was already in the preseason heisman hype. Didn’t save him. And then there was the LaMichael James incident, which some people don’t fully understand. Rather than explain everything, I’ll link the sentencing memorandum from the actual case here (). Suffice to say, LaMichael chose a poor course of actions, but isn’t some sort of hardened woman-beating deviant. You can judge for yourself after reading that.

Overall, I think that the Masoli saga was unfortunate, but nobody is holding too much of a grudge. I rooted for Ole Miss once or twice during the season because he was there. Then again, getting into the NCG without him certainly helps alleviate any bad feelings about losing him. And honestly, if we had gotten into the NCG WITH him, we would be worse off now, as Darron Thomas is a legitimate passing quarterback who has great accuracy and strength and matches up better against Auburn’s defense than Masoli would have (As I am quite sure you guys know now, with his 2.1 YPC against Auburn)

3) I’m a HUGE proponent of the 9-game conference schedule as it existed in the Pac 10, and I am actually sad that we lose the aspect of “You play everyone in your conference”, even though we are keeping it as the Pac 12. There was no doubt whatsoever who the champion was when you play everyone, there is no ability to sneak by anyone in the conference, everyone gets a shot at you. After all, who knows if Auburn could beat Florida this year?! They never faced! Yes, I am being facetious with that =P. The downside is that it has hurt the image of the Pac-10 as a whole. The conference has more losses than any other by default, and only got 30 OOC opponents a year compared to 48 in the 12 team conferences. Less home games, less easy opponents, more grind. So…good aspects and bad.

4) I have mixed feelings. The conference championship is indeed a great boon. It is bad for recruiting because of less games with the southern california teams, and it is bad in the short run that the Pac 10 North is a piss-easy schedule (If Harbaugh leaves Stanford like rumored that is) until some of the programs can get themselves together again. Which can be good for getting into the NCG later on, but the single greatest annoyance in college football is people looking down their noses at your strength of schedule (regardless of bowl and OOC records cough cough…sorry…getting off topic)

5) Ultimately, the Pac 10 wants only certain types of schools to join, and Boise just doesn’t fit. We were going for the Texas schools, but they simply won’t accept any equal profit sharing systems, they only want the largest piece of the pie

6) Already went over that somewhat in 4 =P

7) We hate the huskies so bad you cannot even begin to fathom it. Ok, of course you can, but there is some really, really dirty laundry there. On some level we even want the huskies to return to a level of success just so when we beat the piss out of them it hurts even more. Although watching them wallow in despair is pretty damn amazing too. I NEVER advocate running up the score on another team, but the huskies don’t qualify as a team so much as a group of assholes dressed the same, on a field, and in the way, and a triple digit score isn’t enough. The Beavers are…well, more like an actual rival than an enemy, at least at this point in time. We beat each other up good, always look forward to the civil war, and trash talk them to hell and back, but the difference is that I can stand trash talking beavers fans, I don’t even want to breath the same air as a husky fan. USC comes up third, but that hatred is entirely due to events and can change over time.

8) I don’t know if people remember this, but there WAS actual fight in the conference during that time. The reason USC wasn’t in the title game every single year is that some team in the pac 10 would always take them down a peg. The “USC an the 9 dwarves” thing was pretty much a national media myth.

9) What?! You can’t take away Ohio St! Ugh, fine…I guess Wisconsin? But not super strongly or anything.

10) There is a definite east coast bias, but to a certain extent, it is understandable. There is the most demand for college football coverage in the south. I honestly believe the SEC is overrated (Not to say that they aren’t the best conference, just that they are overrated), but it isn’t a ridiculous nonsensical event. The SEC has DOMINATED in the past. I feel that dominance in the past doesn’t necessarily mean current dominance, but it’s reasonable to feel that way until proven otherwise. You can’t argue against Florida, LSU, Florida, Alabama, especially if Auburn is added to that. If the other conferences want to be treated better, they need to win. Most of all, I think parity at ALL levels of college football is increasing. We’re seeing it in the decline of traditional powerhouses, the increasing amount of FCS wins over FBS teams, the increasing amount of Non-AQ schools doing well…I think in a few years down the road EVERYONE is going to have to try and abandon their past conceptions and re-evaluate things fresh.

It’s hard to be arrogant and stupid when you’re under probation and going 7-5 even when still loaded up with 5* talent. It’s far more satisfying to have Skippy Neuheisel open his big mouth about “solving the Oregon offense” then getting tsunami’d by 47 points.

Big-10? How can you not hate a school that insists on being called “THE Ohio State University?” I can’t crack on Michigan because their fans, press, media, coaches, and players were all very gracious despite losing both of our recent home-and-home games.

Expansion? Overdue. Our previous conference commish was a brain-dead figurehead. Our new guy GETS. SHIT. DONE. As far as North/South and the rest? Fine with me. We’re still going with a 9-game conference schedule, and 6 of the original Pac-8 schools are in our division, so we’ll be able to keep up the old rivalries. Plus in the age of 24-hour cable sports and the internet, the need to play in SoCal for recruiting purposes is part of a bygone era. I personally can’t remember playing in Texas, yet we are starting to get more and more recruits from there as well as Florida, Louisiana, etc. Thomas, James, and Huff are all from Texas, for example.

Utah and CU are natural fits as far as traditional PacX qualifications. Research institution? Check. Strong academics? Check. Support at least 7 D-1 athletic programs? Check. They “feel” like a better fit than the proposed Pac-16 with the Texas and Oklahoma schools.

Bias? Yes and no. We’ve gotten plenty of love this year, for the most part. Lots of folks saying they have no problem with us being #1 over Auburn. Right up until we both clinch the title game, then it’s INSTANTLY “the Ducks have no chance, because: SEC.”

1) I think I dislike Stoops even more than Kiffin. On the other side of the topic, Mike Riley up at OSU is one of the classiest and most intelligent coaches in the league.

2) I didn’t feel betrayed or outraged by Masoli’s crash-and-burn. I just shook my head in disbelief at his stupidity, and I agreed with all of Kelly’s actions.

3) I’m going to miss the nine-game round-robin. Playing every team every year eliminated a lot of “what ifs,” and gave the conference real cohesiveness.

4) That said, I think most Duck fans (and Pac-10 fans) support the expansion. Getting Texas would have been fun, but Utah and Colorado are natural fits in large markets.
         “Do you think the conference was getting overlooked in the BCS because of the lack of a CCG?” No, not really. I hate the BCS system, and Oregon got screwed a couple of times (Auburn knows how that feels!), but it’s hard to blame it on not having a championship game.

5) See #4.
     There’s a lot of bad blood between UO and Boise right now, relating more to that nasty opening game last year than to the fact that they’ve beaten us twice, I think. But I think they’d have been a good fit in the Pac-12. Can’t hold their weak conference schedule against them anymore; they’ve proved that they can compete with anyone.

6) The North-South split was probably the best of the alternatives. The northern schools are concerned about recruiting in the Southern California talent pool, but the Ducks are starting to become a national recruiting force. So long as we keep winning, that shouldn’t change. OSU had a down year, but they’re getting a lot of deserved attention these days as well. And Washington is starting to come back from the dumps (pity).
      “Do you think we’ll finally get to hear Utah legislators quit bitching about CFB inequities?” No.

7) As others have said, Washington is easily our biggest rival. I always cheer for Oregon State when they’re not playing the Ducks. The Civil War is huge, but the rest of the time state pride holds the schools together. With UW there’s real hate.
    So: UW, OSU and (at least for the moment) Arizona. Our games with them tend to be immensely entertaining shootouts (not this year), but they have the worst fans in the Pac-10. Easily.

8) Would rather have greater parity. I think expansion will help that. USC was everyone’s target when they were on top—-but between us and OSU, the Trojans are 0-5 playing in the state of Oregon the past five years. Hard to really hate them. (But I’d rather live in Death Valley than Los Angeles.)

9) Sorry, it’ll always be Ohio State. We recently played a home-and-home against Purdue, but it led to a lot of friendly feeling between the schools—-if blog posts are any indication. As for Wisconsin, I have to abstain; my wife’s from Milwaukee, so I’d better be a Badger fan.

10) “Do you think there is a media bias in CFB between the east and west coasts?” A little, maybe, but it’s changing. And I speak as an East Coaster.

Do you guys really believe Cam knew nothing about the P4P thing?

Notice I’m not asking if you think he did anything wrong.

1) Kiffin can most likely eat a bag a of dicks, I guess. Really just kind of feel sorry for him as he seems out of his depth a good portion of the time. At least he didn’t have his players dive.

2) At first I was crushed. I loved watching Masoli’s style of running (remember that 4th down in 2009 when he posterized that Beev DB?), but when i noticed that our new quarterback can throw a ball with touch and not just a laser when rolling to his right I was psyched. Chip took care of that business as he should have.

3) As most likely mentioned before, round robin is brutal. Loved watching every game though, no “what ifs”. At least we get to play (and hulk smash) the Huskies every year still.

4) See above. Also, we get to play and potentially hate two new schools. New Weasel coached for the Bucs at one point didn’t he? See! Built in hate!

5) BSU is a community college with a Football team. We are all dumber for seeing them. I award them no points.

6) See #3, #4

7) #1. Huskies, alot of this is because I remember the terrible abuse I received as a 9 year old in Autzen from the Huskie fans who inundated the stadium back then. Being told you are a piece of shit by a grown ass man breeds some hate. Also I have to live in Seattle… so take that hate and double it.
   #2. Beavs, with a bit of hilarity. What other school has football players who rustle (potentially) gay sheep, and invent gems like the Naked Three Point Rhino? That ACTUALLY happened! Feel free to google or or just keep up to date with the Fulmer Cup for more is sure to come.
   #3. ASU, gave an intensly hot cheerleader a concussion by hitting her with a bottle last year. This is unforgivable. Also, Stoops is a claymation character who deserves melting.

8) Parity is stressful but fun. Its been alot closer than the media presents it for a while. Never bought into the 9 dwarves thing.

9) No Ohio St.? Crap, well then I guess the new guy then. This is only because I cannot go to my favorite bar to watch Duck games because they take the place totally over. Screw those guys, it sucks enough being in there with all the UDub ass hats.

10) I really dont know, I really think for the most part the Pac10 plays entertaining football no one on the east coast watches. Thats more than half the country. It is what it is.

I’ll be lurking more than posting most likely but I’ll be around this month.

1) It’s funny. I actually like Lane Kiffin MORE now than I did when he was at Tennessee. Though, that isn’t saying a whole lot. He publically admited that faking injuries to slow us down did cross his mind, but he knew that was in poor taste. No doubt, he is still a douchebag. But he’s a slightly more likeably bag of douche.

2) Overall, I hope for the best for Masoli. He was a fun to watch, albiet a bit aggrivating at times too. I’m sure Auburn fans get all giddy when Cam Newton trucks over a defender – that’s what we had in Masoli – not that they are in the same class. Comparing the two, If Cam Newton is Dr. Evil, Masoli is Mini-Me. Short, pudgy, bumbling clone – also, possibly robotic.

3) I loved it. While we’ll be keeping our 9 conference schedule, it won’t be a round-robin anymore. That makes me sad. I loved the Round Robin more than having a championship game. There were no 3-way divisional ties like what happened in the Big-12 a couple years ago. There were no “what ifs”. Sure, there were “co-champions”, but nobody counts them, out side of the official log. All that mattered was who got to the Rose Bowl (Or the National Championship) – They were the Pac-10 champions.

4) I’m “okay” with the expansion. It is projected to bring in tons of more money to all the schools. It should be interesting. Colorado and Oregon had sort of a thing going on for a while. One of those, “Let’s go out, but not tell anybody, because it’s like cheating on our conferences”, but then they never returned our cassette tapes, so we smacked them in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl. We dated Utah once last year, and apparently we totally hit it off, and now they are divorcing their wimpy conference, to be with us more often. I expect some awkward love triangles in the near future.

5) Don’t tell the other two (Utah and Texas), but I have the Texas centerfold, and they are HAWT. Though, I hear they were sorting out some depression this year. I hope for the best for them. Maybe we can hook up later. But they’ll probably just chase after money, and not love. With that said, Utah and Colorado are perfect fits. Utah has the spandex pants thing down, and Colorado is like Samantha Fox. Once upon a time, they were hot stuff and now you hope they kind of keep their clothes on and stop being crazy. Still, you’ll still tell all your friends about you and her “back in the day” which is more recent then you’re willing to imply or admit. Oh, and screw Boise State. They are a junior college education, and they only have one respectable athletic program, and that’s wrestling.

6) It’s best if we don’t live with the two new programs. Less drama that way. And as you point out, Utah does appear to be high mantinance (all that legal stuff). We still get to say high to our Golden Bear buddies and drink a pint with the crazy ass tree people. .They are like the crazy uncle – not the one that tells you not to tell anybody about what happened. Except for that crack eyed tree mascot, he’s totally a perv.

7) Would you hope for the best with your biggest rival? I wouldn’t. I “generally” want Oregon State to win their games, except the Civil War. (I still partake in schadenfreude when they lose though). No – The Huskies can go to hell and die. Screw those guys. Want me to say something nice about them? How is this? I hope they die quickly. Unfortunately, that was a lie. The more slow and painful, the better. Want to hear a good joke? Jake Locker for Heisman! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! In order of most hated to least hated: UW, U Dub, EW-Dub, Washington. And then a few spots further down, you can put Arizona, then Oregon State, Arizona State, Washington (Again), Stanford, UCLA, USC, Cal, WSU.

8) It’s actually funny in a way. Across the nation, our conference was called things along the line of “Pac 1 plus 9”, but the Pac-10 had the only schools, aside from Texas in the national championship game, that beat USC since Kansas State in 2002. That included schools like Notre Dame, Michigan (When they were good), Penn State, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Ohio State. It’s nice to have some parity, but what I want is whatever gives us the best football games.

9) Other than Ohio State, pretty much the best, or next best football team. This year, I would have loved to play Wisconsin or Michigan State. We had a really fun home-home with Purdue, and got to know a few of their fans. They are good people.

10) I think there is some level of media bias, but I don’t think it’s what everyone really makes it out to be. There is good football in the Pac-10. I would say it is at least on par and sometimes better than the Big-12. The bias comes from the time difference. I don’t blame people for not wanting to stay up late to watch a game that kicks off at, 9:30pm, or even worse, 12:30am.

We’ll get a post up there for you guys soon, I’m sure. We had a pretty friendly back-and-forth with Tennessee fans earlier this season, which I think surprised a lot of people. We don’t play the SEC much, so it was easy to fall into that stereotype of “ESS EEE SEE SPEEEEEEED” type of fan. But I haven’t seen that play out at all. It will be interesting to get to you know you guys.

Now to your questions:

1. Yeah, he’s a douche. Although he behaved himself pretty well this year. If he keeps that up, he may shed the d-bag label.

2. We panicked. A lot. But a lot of us came around when we remembered what Chip Kelly has done for the other QBs we’ve had since 2007. We knew he’d make either Thomas or Costa (our backup) into a winner.

3. I liked it, but it was tough at the same time. It’s one extra conference loss. You can see the effects of it this year, when an 8-game conference schedule probably would have resulted in THREE more teams making bowl games. The “every team plays every other team” aspect was really cool, though. I think it gives a little more meaning to winning the conference.

4. I don’t think most Oregon fans are caught up in tradition – that’s reserved for the California schools. We just want the huge piles of cash that come along with more TV markets and a new TV deal. So yeah, I guess Phil Knight really does influence us.

5. Aside from any Texas schools, which would have brought bigger piles of cash (see #4 above), Utah and Colorado were the right two schools. They fit the conference athletically, academically and culturally. Boise St. is a glorified community college with only one major sports program.

6. Nah, I like them. We’re in with our two major rivals and one minor rival (Cal). Not playing in SoCal every year is a bummer. I’m more down on it than others (some will say that it will have close to zero effect on recruiting – I think it will be a bit more than that). But overall, I think this was the best solution.

7. Oregon St., Washington, and probably USC, although Cal is close. I would say Boise St. has become a rival due to our matchups the last few years, but I don’t see us obliging those donkeys with a game any time soon.

8. For the rest of the country, yes. All they saw was USC, and because of a few other factors (9-game schedules, tougher than normal OOC schedules), the Pac 10 didn’t have any other teams that got into the conversation. Plus, the few times they DID have another semi-elite team (Oregon in 2005, Cal in 2006), they got screwed by the BCS and didn’t get to play the high profile games.

9. Ummm, Ohio St.? Okay, you said I couldn’t use that. Then, ummmm, Michigan, I guess?

10. Yes, I think there is a regional bias. There are more eyeballs in the East. The time zone thing works against the
West. The culture surrounding college football is much different in the West. Even when USC was big, I don’t thing the pendulum actually swung. I think the media gave their due to USC while continuing to focus on everything else in the East. Some West Coast fans have a chip on their shoulder because of this phenomenon, and some Ducks fans fall into that as well. I see it as business. The ESPNs of the world cater to the East because it’s good for business. As annoying as it is, I can’t argue with that. They’re not a charity.

Hope that helps!

If you had to pick, what is your favorite SEC team? Least favorite?

I know that I don’t really watch TOO much Pac-10, but I’d say Arizona State is probably my favorite (no reason really, I liked the Jake Plummer Rose Bowl team) and (obviously) USC is my least favorite. I don’t really hate anyone else in the Pac-10, so the answer will just have to stick with USC. I’d say Oregon is in my top 2-4 favorite Pac-10 teams.

1. i love Lane Kiffin. he is going to quietly erode what has made USC great again. good leaders give credit to their players and accept blame themselves – he does the opposite.

2. most rational fans were disappointed by the choices and lies he told. if he was honest about screwing up in the first place, he’d still be on the team. Chip Kelly is a tough discipline guy but also fair. we wish him well. he got us to a Rose Bowl. his highlights should still be cheered.

3. i love the full round robin schedule as a fan. i just wish national media could do the math on how it gives our conference automatic extra losses.

4. i happened to be in Austin TX the weekend where the rumors exploded that we stole the Big 12 South. that was fun. as Chip Kelly says, “tell us where to play and we’ll play them.” after finding out how much more money Texas and Oklahoma get than other members of the Big 12, it’s disgusting. equal revenue sharing is good. the champ game is good cuz that means we might get to see our team 1 more time per year.

5. Pac 10 entrance is a little more stringent than say the Big East (yes i’m looking at you TCU). of course expansion is about football revenue but your school also has to fit academically and have more than a good football team.

6. my only qualms about the divisions and schedules is that we can only play Washington once per year. sad face.

7. i base my sports hate on opposing fan bases and how they act. Washington. they’re old money. what’s the opposite of going undefeated? Arizona. worst. fans. ever. see 2009 post game in Tucson. SC. entitlement. the Beavers are more just a fun rivalry these days.

8. when USC was blowing everyone out, it was acceptable to lose to them. basically, if they went to the NC game, we could still possibly get to the Rose. ahh…the good ol’ days.

9. ever since Wisconson AD, Barry Alvarez, said, “we still play real football up here.” after they beat tOSU this year (who also plays real football i suppose), they moved to top of the list. we were rooting big time for a Wiscy/Stanford Rose Bowl so my 2nd fav coach Jim Harbaugh would have no mercy on his soul.

10. of course there is. most of the people, media, etc is east of the mississippi. i’m fine with it.

Question for Auburn fans: we think we have a pretty good crop of RBs on the team and have a better pipeline (2 redshirt frosh) who might be even better. how did you get Ronnie Brown, Brandon Jacobs and Cadillac Williams to all come there and get them enough touches? how did you not run for 600 yds/game when they were there?

Firstly, Tuberville and Chizek are master recruiters as is other coachs on our staff. Secondly, when you have the nickname Running Back U and have graduated a bunch of studs to the NFL, good backs just want to follow
As far as the touches are concerned. Numbers of touches are only applicable in a “me” situation. Tuberville and now Chizek preach team so much players don’t get concerned about how much they shine, only how much they can help the team. AU is truly a family. One home game walkabout will confirm that.

I’m a Falcons fan, but I’ve met Auburn fans who like the Titans and Saints, as well

To put it in a Pac-10 perspective:

USC is Alabama, with all the tradition and so forth.

Stanford is Vanderbilt, the highly regarded academic institution that rarely matters in football.

Washington is Florida. They claim to be equal to USC in football tradition (HAH!) and to Stanford academically (HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!). And they’ll tell you as much any chance they get.

SI covers

Got to get one tonight

and there are 35 days left. I think I will skip today and return tomorrow. See ya tomorrow y’all.

1) I’d be happy as a pig in sherbet if Kiffin was to be named Coach For Life at USC. He’s shown he’s never going to be a better coach than he is right now. Sort of like I begged UW to keep Lambright back in the day. The only downside is that he appears to be a solid recruiter, which makes it harder for us to grab the SoCal players we both want.

2) Masoli was ridiculous, in a good and bad way. We were all ready to write him off last season, even through the Utah game, and then he tore up Cal, completing something like 140% of his passes. But I don’t think any of us expected him to take us to the “next level”, as his passing deficiencies were exploited against Ohio State. I said after the Rose Bowl that I didn’t think he’d ever be much better than he was in 2009, a fact sadly borne out @ Ole Miss, where he didn’t have the personnel on-field to mask his deficiencies. I personally think we would have lost two or three games this season without him (Cal and ASU for sure, and maybe Stanford). I’m personally happy he found a school that will allow him to pursue his dream of parks and recreation management, something Oregon just couldn’t do for him on a graduate level.

3) Round robin? Meh. It was nice to be unique, but we take a hit nationally by not having the ability to schedule a near-guarantee 4th victory, a problem that will continue going forward. However, I think people put too much into the whole round-robin thing. It only lasted five years, after all. Not exactly TRADITION.
(UW fans note with glee that when we won the conf outright in 2001, we “ducked” them, making the title somewhat invalid. Oh, and we didn’t win the Rose Bowl either. Which might give you insight on the whelp mentality.)

4) and 5) Anything for better TV coverage and improved bowl tie-ins. The trip to Pullman isn’t that big a deal for the team — it’s not as if they were riding school buses up there — and I don’t think missing the southern teams on occasion is bad; the impact on recruiting remains to be seen but I think it’s overrated.. we’re recruiting Texas pretty well lately, and haven’t played a game there in several years.
12 teams can’t hurt, Colorado has at least a piece of a NC in its history although they’re kind of sucking lately, and Utah has good programs in foobaw and hoops. Big win all around IMHO. As for fBSU, no way — the academics aren’t there; the Pac presidents are kind of a snooty bunch. Same reason you’d never see BYU in the conf.

6) I personally favored the “California zipper”, which would have put Cal and UCLA in the north division with us; seems that would have solved the recruiting visit problem and still allowed the Cal schools to play with each other, which was what prompted their hissyfit.. But I’m ok with it as constituted. It was very important to us to keep the NW rivalries alive. Nobody wants to miss an opportunity to beat the Huskies again.

7) UW and OAC for sure (OAC = Oregon Agricultural College, the name under which the alleged “university” in Corvallis was founded, and the acronym stuck with some of us, mainly me, sort of like nobody wants to call Candlestick Park “3Com Park” or whatever they’re insisting on calling it now); the 3rd rival varies based on competition, but I think most of us really, really hate Arizona for the level of nastiness that was laid upon us the last few trips down there. Plus, Mike Stoops is a jackass.. easy to hate teams with coaches you hate. (Unlike others here, I’m not as hating on Neuweasel lately, because he’s doing a great job at keeping UCLA irrelevant.)

8) The thing about USC is that for DECADES, the national perception was that if USC was down, the entire conference was down. This dates back to the days of the Pac-8, when they held a stranglehold on the conference going back to the mid-60s. It’s always been hard to overcome that perception.. and when it looked for a while in the mid-00s as though Petey was creating a permanent New Trojan Dynasty, there was a bit of reflected glory.. but not enough to overcome the fact that they were almost impossible to beat, either on the field or in recruiting. Fortunately, the new rules on scholarship limits and travel squads and recruiting have helped level the playing field in general, and the constraints USC is now under will make it very difficult for them to do much more than tread water for several years to come (Carroll kind of left the cupboard bare for them).
I think the league is still considered “better” if its historic marquee team is doing well. What I don’t want to see is for them to become another UW.. because if you think Husky fans are insufferable when they’re down, you’ve never met a Trojan honk.

9) Are you sure I can’t pick Ohio State? Okay. I’ll pick Penn State, because I’m still bitter about 1995. Or Nebraska, if they’re eligible, because during a series of forgettable paycheck games back during The Suffering (1972-1993), the cumulative score was 206-28, and I don’t have to tell you who got the 28.

10) Of course there is an East Coast Bias. That’s where the people live. I’d expect nothing less. Just gives us something else to get pissy about.

1. I think Lane Kiffin is…well, for one, not a very good coach. He is where he is today mostly because of USC’s players during their heydey last decade. He’s a douche, too. Lest we forget that he was USC’s 4th pick to become their head coach.

2. Masoli deserved to be kicked off of the team. Stealing laptops is absolutely inexcusable and stupid. He’s lucky that Kelly let him stay onto the team, despite a year-long suspension. The marijuana citation put it over the top. He needed to go. After his dismissal, it was my honest belief that the offense would be a more well-oiled machine with Darron Thomas at the helm because of his far superior passing skills. I was right.

3. Round-robin is awesome. I’ll miss it when we expand to 12 teams. You get to match up with everybody, every year. I love it.

4. Conference championship game will be at the home field of the team with the best conference record (which is awesome). I like the expansion to 12 teams, especially if Colorado gets better.

5. I think Utah and Colorado were both sensible additions. Boise would not have been. No media market, small stadium, and they aren’t very good at anything other than football. Horrible academically, too.

6. I prefered the north-south split to the zipper. Cal fans would beg to disagree.

7. I’d go with UW, OSU, and Cal/USC/wherever Neuheisel is.

8. I’m a fan of parity, as long as we rule it.

9. Northwestern. Just Kidding….um, I’ll go with Wisconsin. Bielema is a dick.

10. Yes, and it’s hard not to be. Most east costers don’t stay up to watch the Pac-10 play.Games aren’t televised as frequently here.

….on the “fall-down” clock-slowing phenomena… I think Auburn’s been less subject to it this year. First off, Cam’s not afraid to toss the first play, and check off to the sideline. That takes time. Also, there have been stretches where we were terrified about what would come next for our D. Often, especially with a lead, we’ve been adept at milking that play-clock WAY down before the snap!