This year I find myself missing the Pac-12 and all the chaos it brings. The B1G is just too top-heavy, and that’s the problem with super conferences; they generate a whole lot of mediocre games. The marquee match-ups have been great fun. Watching Oregon play Ohio State last year was one of the best games in Oregon’s history. The games against Penn State were pretty good, too. Yes, this year’s game has lost some of its luster as Oregon broke Penn State’s spirit and the Nittany Lions have since slumped so badly that it resulted in James Franklin being fired, but in that moment that was an incredible game.
Indiana was also a fairly good game, or at least a good match-up on paper. The Ducks played their worst game of the season against the Hoosiers for sure. Even Mr. FishDuck took a break from his study of week 12 odds and the NFL latest news to share in our mutual B1G internal struggle.
If there is a rematch this year, then I wouldn’t count the Ducks out, because for as well as the Hoosiers played the Ducks played far below their standard as well. A rematch could yield drastically different results if we get the opportunity this year.
But outside of Penn State and Indiana there aren’t any other big games with the same hype around them on Oregon’s schedule. Sure, USC keeps dancing their way in and out of the Top 25, and Washington probably deserves to be ranked inside the Top 25 (which would both be good games). However, those aren’t traditional B1G teams and, like Oregon, they are newcomers. Furthermore, I find myself looking forward to those games because they have something extra to them, too. They are our old Pac-12 rivals.
Football, like many things in life, is all about the relationships. As it stands right now we just don’t have that many relationships within our new conference. What is Oregon’s relationship with Rutgers? Nothing, it was the first time we played them.
How do we feel about Rutgers after our only match-up?
(Photo By: Evan Bernstein)
The best connections we have to this conference so far are with top teams, but those are more one-sided. As Oregon fans we feel we belong at the top end of the B1G table and have invited ourselves to sit there. They have recognized our presence but they are only circling us on their calendar because we are a good team and a novelty.
The Pac-12 Was Our Conference
I do miss the Pac-12 right now. This is not me saying that I think the Ducks should have stayed in the Pac-12, because seeing Oregon State’s problems, I would take my disinterest in the B1G over that any day. But this is me saying that the B1G just lacks so much of that Pac-12 charm.
The Pac-12 was the conference of cannibals and chaos. Every week there seemed to be one or two upsets and no one was ever safe. I didn’t tune in to watch a B1G game this last Saturday. I paid attention to the scores, but I didn’t watch a game.
In part this is because I have little kids and they eat up a lot of time, and I just didn’t care enough to tune in for the B1G brand of football.
Last year I wrote an article about how the Pac-12 was a far more diverse conference in terms of play styles and environments, making it a tougher conference than the B1G, despite its lack of one or two powerhouse teams. The top end of the B1G is certainly better than the Pac-12 but when only three or four teams make up the top end of the conference, that leaves a lot of mediocre teams left over.
If the old Pac-12 was still around, though, I truly believe that Oregon would be absolutely dominant. That diversity in play and environments with just a sprinkle of the Wild West created something special: chaos. And that chaos hasn’t truly been replicated anywhere else.
Bucky Irving runs against Stanford in 2023.
(Photo By: Nancy Paiva)
Many of the former Pac-12 teams still do bring the chaos. Florida State traveled to the farm a few weeks ago and figured out what it means to get Stanforded (yes, losing to Stanford in an embarrassing way is a verb).
UCLA was dead to rights but found a way to fight back into, not bowl contention or even relevancy, but into something interesting for sure.
Arizona State found a way to upset Texas Tech, who was undefeated and ranked in the Top 10 at the time.
Even Washington State, still a member of the Pac-12, gave Ole Miss a scare in the first half before Ole Miss ran away from them in the second half.
The old Pac-12 had some unique characters. I would trade playing Wisconsin for Stanford in a heartbeat — not because Stanford is better than Wisconsin, they’re probably not, but because there is something wild about the west coast still and there’s the intrigue knowing anything can happen. “Pac-12 After Dark” was a cool slogan but it also meant something; when the lights went out on the east coast there was something special happening on the west coast. Not so much anymore.
I just don’t find myself watching and being excited about any team not named Oregon these days. I am interested in the outcome of many games and I usually watch parts of several games on a Saturday, but more than ever before I find myself just looking at the scores. The conference of chaos is dead and I am far happier in the B1G than anywhere else in college football, but I will still lament one last time that there was something special on the west coast that no longer exists.
David Marsh
Portland, Oregon
Top Photo By Gary Breedlove
Natalie Liebhaber, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in financial technology in SLC, Utah.
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David Marsh is a high school social studies teacher in Portland, Oregon. As a teacher he is known for telling puns to his students who sometimes laugh out of sympathy, and being both eccentric about history and the Ducks.
David graduated from the University of Oregon in 2012 with Majors in: Medieval Studies, Religious Studies, and Geography. David began following Ducks Football after being in a car accident in 2012; finding football something new and exciting to learn about during this difficult time in his life. Now, he cannot see life without Oregon football.