Bye Week Banter: College Football and the BCS

The Oregon Duck running the flag.

For those that don't know me, aside from college hockey, I'm a huge Oregon Ducks and college football fan. I was born and raised in Oregon, and I've been a Ducks fan since birth.

Over Thanksgiving (and coincidentally, the Ohio State vs Nanooks game, hence the limited coverage), I went back to Oregon to visit some family, and check out my Ducks' last two games of their now-perfect 12-0 season, their first in school history. Now that the Ducks have secured their spot among the top 2 in the BCS standings, a national championship is pretty much secured, and likely against Auburn. The BCS title game will likely see online sports betting firms favoring Auburn despite key statistical advantages in Oregon's favor. Running backs LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner spearhead the Ducks' 1st ranked rushing offense, which is averaging an NCAA best 303.8 yards per game.

The first game I went to was the final game of the season at Autzen Stadium, the Ducks' home turf against the Arizona Wildcats. Arizona quarterback Nick Foles had a relatively huge game, but it was just a compromise, as the Arizona rushing game was nowhere to be found. Despite scoring first and leading at halftime, the Ducks lead their usual 2nd half surge for 34 points to tame the then-20th ranked Wildcats 48-29. Box Score

And the second game was the infamous Civil War against Oregon State at Reser Stadium in Corvallis. When I first walked in to the stadium, I thought the fans were confused and thought it was still Halloween with all of this orange and black everywhere. All jokes aside, I was a green-and-yellow clad Ducks fan amidst a sea of Oregon State fans, who were hospitable, but didn't let me forget that the Beavers scored first. Fortunately, the heckling didn't last long, and neither did the Beavers' lead. The Ducks went on to pound Oregon State 37-20, as most of their fans vacated their own stadium shortly in to the fourth quarter. Box Score

With the BCS bowls to be announced in about an hour, the Ducks should be headed to their first ever trip to the National Championship game in Glendale, Arizona. But for me, I'm headed back to Fairbanks (in an airport now, in fact), and getting back to the daily grind, and back to the Nanooks.

Stay tuned this week for previews of the Ferris State series as the Nanooks close out the first half of their season before the holidays.