To the naked eye, the ducks have been crushing people. But are they for real? Some interesting facts and analysis courtesy of cfn.com:
Oregon has played the 81st toughest schedule in America - Boise State's slate is ranked 57th.
Unless UCLA wins three of its final four five games (against Arizona, Oregon State, at Washington, at Arizona State, and USC), it’s not going bowling. Considering it lost its last two games by a combined score of 95 to 20, that seems like a stretch. Arizona State isn’t going to a bowl game unless it wins four of its final five games (against Washington State, at USC, Stanford, UCLA, and at Arizona). If those two don’t make the post-season, that means Oregon has played just one team [so far] – Stanford -- that will go bowling.
New Mexico might be the worst team in college football. Tennessee is awful, Portland State is Portland State, Washington State is the worst BCS conference team, and it’ll take a miracle for UCLA and Arizona State to go to a bowl. But the number of games against bowl eligible teams isn’t necessarily the measure of a great résumé.
To dive deeper, New Mexico is 117th in the nation in total offense and 102nd in total defense. Tennessee is 95th in the nation in total offense and 88th in total defense. Portland State is Portland State. Arizona State is 34th in the nation in offense and 48th in defense, representing the best D the Ducks have had to deal with. Not coincidentally, Oregon gained just 125 rushing yards and was outgained 597 yards to 385, but Sun Devil QB Steven Threet had a bad habit of throwing the ball to Oregon players. Stanford, the one really good win so far, is 15th in the nation in total offense and 58th in total defense, but the win was in Autzen Stadium. Washington State has the 81st ranked offense and is dead-last in the nation in defense. UCLA is 102nd in total offense and 85th in defense.
Question: are the ducks in for a surprise in a night game against So Cal? Better question: can anyone give me an objective statement as to why Oregon will cover -7 withoug using the "Oregon is awesome" line.
Oregon has played the 81st toughest schedule in America - Boise State's slate is ranked 57th.
Unless UCLA wins three of its final four five games (against Arizona, Oregon State, at Washington, at Arizona State, and USC), it’s not going bowling. Considering it lost its last two games by a combined score of 95 to 20, that seems like a stretch. Arizona State isn’t going to a bowl game unless it wins four of its final five games (against Washington State, at USC, Stanford, UCLA, and at Arizona). If those two don’t make the post-season, that means Oregon has played just one team [so far] – Stanford -- that will go bowling.
New Mexico might be the worst team in college football. Tennessee is awful, Portland State is Portland State, Washington State is the worst BCS conference team, and it’ll take a miracle for UCLA and Arizona State to go to a bowl. But the number of games against bowl eligible teams isn’t necessarily the measure of a great résumé.
To dive deeper, New Mexico is 117th in the nation in total offense and 102nd in total defense. Tennessee is 95th in the nation in total offense and 88th in total defense. Portland State is Portland State. Arizona State is 34th in the nation in offense and 48th in defense, representing the best D the Ducks have had to deal with. Not coincidentally, Oregon gained just 125 rushing yards and was outgained 597 yards to 385, but Sun Devil QB Steven Threet had a bad habit of throwing the ball to Oregon players. Stanford, the one really good win so far, is 15th in the nation in total offense and 58th in total defense, but the win was in Autzen Stadium. Washington State has the 81st ranked offense and is dead-last in the nation in defense. UCLA is 102nd in total offense and 85th in defense.
Question: are the ducks in for a surprise in a night game against So Cal? Better question: can anyone give me an objective statement as to why Oregon will cover -7 withoug using the "Oregon is awesome" line.