The Top Is a Lonely Place: The End of Dominance in College Football

David Miller Editorials

Dominance is defined as “the condition of being dominant,” and to be dominant is to “occupy or be in a commanding or elevated position.” For a team to be dominant in college football is now somewhat rare, and apparently becoming more so. Regardless of how you define dominance – including which era (No. 1 ranking in a poll or polls, BCS champion, …

Stewart Mandel on Oregon: Taking that Last College Football Step

Omar Garibay FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

College football has been one of the most talked about sports in recent memory. Whether it’s been the Southeastern Conference’s (SEC) dominance or Florida State‘s off-the-field issues, it has kept people glued to their seats. However, despite the fact that the southern portion of the United States is known as “football country,” west coast football has been on the rise, …

Oregon to Tie The Knott Because of Nike?

Noah Smith FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Oregon Ducks recruit Nigel Knott, a CB from Mississippi, was named the MVP of the New Orleans Nike Opening Regional. For those of you who don’t know, The Opening is a combine-like event that is hosted by Nike for high school athletes. The Opening consists of regional competitions around the country from which the top 150 recruits are selected to …

Next Year’s Playoff: Ducks, Bucks, And The SEC

Noah Smith FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Let me give you a fair warning here, I am from New Orleans, Louisiana; I live outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Outside of Oregon, the LSU Tigers are my favorite college team. I give you that qualifying statement so you’ll understand when I say that I believe the SEC is the strongest conference, top down, in college football. Part of …

How The Mighty Have Fallen: SEC, Pac-12 and Ranked Bowl Games Review

Caleb Couturie FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Oh how the mighty have fallen. West Coast football fans have been saying it for years, but finally the SEC took an undeniable turn and it wasn’t in an upward direction. The storied “powerhouse” conference saw it’s least successful bowl season in years among ranked teams, of which it led the nation with seven. When the final bowl game with a …

Rose Bowl Countdown: FSU, Oregon Coaches Compared

Randy Morse FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Is Oregon Ducks head football coach Mark Helfrich a boy among men? There he sat on Thursday, blinking out at the lights, cameras and a crowd of jaundiced national sports writers at the press conference featuring the four men who’ve led their teams to the brink of the first ever college football playoff championship, looking for all the world like a …

The 10 Dumbest States in America

Kim Hastings FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

The financial website “The Street” went on a quest to find the states where the most intelligent people reside. While I have nothing but respect for Massachusetts, Minnesota, Connecticut, et. al, my greatest interest in their findings were largely in the other direction. What states put out the greatest percentile of dummies … and what might it say about college …

FishDuck Classic: Will Oregon be ready for LSU?

FishDuck Staff FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Now that we’re only seven days from the return of Duck football, let’s take a look back at another season opener.  What a difference just two years makes.  Here we are, with an upcoming opening game at home against Nicholls State.  Juxtapose that with those serious pre-LSU game jitters on a “neutral field” that most of us were feeling in …

Notes from Around the College Football Nation: Expansion Rumors and Shaq Hosts Recruits

Jeff Hostetler FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Signing day is almost here, college football’s version of the NFL draft.  It gives fans a chance to see how their team is filling their offseason needs, and possibly put the pieces into place for a title run.  It can also give fans hope for the upcoming season if things didn’t go so well for them last year (Auburn knows …

What I wish LSU and SEC fans understood about Oregon football

Jared Sawyer FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

It’s inevitable when you write about football for a passionate audience, and the team you cover plays in a big intersectional game: the flamers come out of the woodwork. What I can’t stand are the big-bellied guffaws and quick assumptions, stuff like “y’all don’t understand that football is won in the trenches. Your team doesn’t have the strength and size to compete …