tlongII
12-16-2009, 11:35 AM
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2009/12/oregon_state_makes_bold_statem.html
Don't count me among those wagging their tongues and shaking their heads at Oregon State for selling out to ESPN.
Yes, the Beavers sold out. No, there's not a thing wrong with it.
TCU is opening its schedule at Jerry Jones' new Cowboys Stadium next season, and the network was looking to broker a deal that would facilitate a juicy early-season matchup. Naturally, ESPN went looking where it frequently goes to find a willing party these days: Corvallis.
Oregon State drops Eastern Washington for TCU under the deal outlined this week. The Beavers will also play at Boise State and Louisville at home in previously scheduled ESPN games.
So what we have here is a university that has put together the toughest non-conference schedule in the country while earning some money for their beleaguered treasury.
I love that America will get to see it.
Coach Mike Riley didn't invent the "anyone, anytime, anywhere" scheduling philosophy. That nod goes to Bobby Bowden in his early years at Florida State, then Pat Hill at Fresno State. But Riley understands his place in college football, and on Tuesday said, "The kids love those kinds of games."
Fans do, too. Journalists, as well. So do the polls, and rankings -- if you win them. And so all that's left are critics who will say that Oregon State is risking too much too early by booking dates with what are now two of the country's top six programs.
Is there a fear of getting beat up in the early season?
"Sure," Riley said, "I weighed that. You always worry about that, but when you have a chance to play the best, you play them."
Boise State is 71-2 at home in the last decade. TCU will have the emotion and electricity of playing in a nearby NFL venue. Whichever team wins the Fiesta Bowl, will be coming off an undefeated season.
Despite their success, these programs are chronically dismissed as not good enough to compete in the BCS conferences on a week to week basis. And so ESPN and the participants in these early season games are attempting to do what a flawed postseason football system cannot.
In that, isn't this matchup in the spirit of college football?
We hear all the time that football fans want to see the best teams in the country play each other. And yet the best non-BCS conference teams struggle to get the top teams from major conference football's elite conferences to play them, even at neutral sites.
Alabama, the No. 1 team in the rankings, played Virginia Tech this year as a non-conference opponent. But it also played Tennessee-Chattanooga, Florida International and North Texas. So the road map to 13-0 and the national title game has been set up for college football's big boys by a flawed system.
Oregon State should be applauded for accepting a dicey matchup, and seizing the moment when too many BCS conference members spend their time figuring out ways to schedule themselves into a payday bowl game.
Oregon State has the third-best record in the Pacific-10 Conference over the last decade. Riley's done a terrific job of being consistent. In fact, it's what he sells when he's in the living room recruiting. And now, he'll have the luxury of telling recruits that they'll be on national television three times before the conference season begins.
Riley already has James and Jacquizz Rodgers, who went to high school near Houston. They're tickled with the idea of playing a meaningful game in their home state. So OSU gets an opportunity to further infiltrate the South.
I suppose we're seeing a new side of Riley lately. He went for it on fourth-and-long in the Civil War and defended it by saying, "I didn't want to leave that game without taking a shot to win it." So maybe we're seeing a coach who recognizes that he needs to do something big if he's going to make an impact nationally.
Make no mistake: If the Beavers reach a BCS game next season, it will be because they earned it.
Don't count me among those wagging their tongues and shaking their heads at Oregon State for selling out to ESPN.
Yes, the Beavers sold out. No, there's not a thing wrong with it.
TCU is opening its schedule at Jerry Jones' new Cowboys Stadium next season, and the network was looking to broker a deal that would facilitate a juicy early-season matchup. Naturally, ESPN went looking where it frequently goes to find a willing party these days: Corvallis.
Oregon State drops Eastern Washington for TCU under the deal outlined this week. The Beavers will also play at Boise State and Louisville at home in previously scheduled ESPN games.
So what we have here is a university that has put together the toughest non-conference schedule in the country while earning some money for their beleaguered treasury.
I love that America will get to see it.
Coach Mike Riley didn't invent the "anyone, anytime, anywhere" scheduling philosophy. That nod goes to Bobby Bowden in his early years at Florida State, then Pat Hill at Fresno State. But Riley understands his place in college football, and on Tuesday said, "The kids love those kinds of games."
Fans do, too. Journalists, as well. So do the polls, and rankings -- if you win them. And so all that's left are critics who will say that Oregon State is risking too much too early by booking dates with what are now two of the country's top six programs.
Is there a fear of getting beat up in the early season?
"Sure," Riley said, "I weighed that. You always worry about that, but when you have a chance to play the best, you play them."
Boise State is 71-2 at home in the last decade. TCU will have the emotion and electricity of playing in a nearby NFL venue. Whichever team wins the Fiesta Bowl, will be coming off an undefeated season.
Despite their success, these programs are chronically dismissed as not good enough to compete in the BCS conferences on a week to week basis. And so ESPN and the participants in these early season games are attempting to do what a flawed postseason football system cannot.
In that, isn't this matchup in the spirit of college football?
We hear all the time that football fans want to see the best teams in the country play each other. And yet the best non-BCS conference teams struggle to get the top teams from major conference football's elite conferences to play them, even at neutral sites.
Alabama, the No. 1 team in the rankings, played Virginia Tech this year as a non-conference opponent. But it also played Tennessee-Chattanooga, Florida International and North Texas. So the road map to 13-0 and the national title game has been set up for college football's big boys by a flawed system.
Oregon State should be applauded for accepting a dicey matchup, and seizing the moment when too many BCS conference members spend their time figuring out ways to schedule themselves into a payday bowl game.
Oregon State has the third-best record in the Pacific-10 Conference over the last decade. Riley's done a terrific job of being consistent. In fact, it's what he sells when he's in the living room recruiting. And now, he'll have the luxury of telling recruits that they'll be on national television three times before the conference season begins.
Riley already has James and Jacquizz Rodgers, who went to high school near Houston. They're tickled with the idea of playing a meaningful game in their home state. So OSU gets an opportunity to further infiltrate the South.
I suppose we're seeing a new side of Riley lately. He went for it on fourth-and-long in the Civil War and defended it by saying, "I didn't want to leave that game without taking a shot to win it." So maybe we're seeing a coach who recognizes that he needs to do something big if he's going to make an impact nationally.
Make no mistake: If the Beavers reach a BCS game next season, it will be because they earned it.