Bill Oram: Everything Oregon Ducks fans need to know about the undefeated Liberty Flames, a football team from a university in Virginia Bring on No. 21 Liberty, the undefeated champion of um ... um ... A little help here? Conference USA. Right, thank you. Conference USA’s indefatigable champion, the University of Liberty ... Liberty University. The Liberty University ... Patriots? Flames. Ah, yes. The Fl — Wait, the Liberty Flames? Right. OK ... The Liberty Flames of C-USA, who, on their path to undefeated gridiron glory, toppled such powerhouses as ... Middle Tennessee State and New Mexico State. I said, “Such POWERHOUSES as ...” Sam Houston State. Isn’t that an FCS school? Not since last year. You’re telling me that one of the undefeated Liberty University Flames’ Conference USA wins was against a team that was in the FCS last season? No, no. Oh, good. Two of their wins. There’s also Jacksonville State. Well, OK. I suppose they can only play who’s on their schedule. Even the Ducks lowered the boom on Portland State. I’m sure the Flames at least played some Power Five teams, right? No. Not even UConn?! Not even. But they’re in the Fiesta Bowl? Right. Against Oregon? That’s what it says here. All right, let’s move on. Liberty University, based in... Lynchburg, Virginia. Lynchburg, Virginia! Where the whiskey comes — That’s Tennessee. But in The Old Dominion State ... Oh, they played Old Dominion, too. ... established, no doubt, in the earliest days of our great nation ... 1971. ... by one of our Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson? Patrick Henry? “Give me liberty or give me ...” Jerry Falwell. No, that’s not how it goes. He’s the guy who founded it. The one with the ...? His father. Well, that’s good. At least ... Jerry Falwell Jr. ran it until three years ago. Oh. Oh my. OK. So, Liberty University, undefeated champions of Conference USA, with wins over a host of former FCS teams and not a single win over a Power Five opponent, is playing in the Fiesta Bowl against Oregon. Mmhmm. Oregon was good, right? Very. Could have made the playoff? Yeah. One win shy of a Rose Bowl semifinal against top-ranked Michigan? Probably. Good. At least I’m not hallucinating. So, how did they end up playing Liberty? Liberty won all of its games. Did anyone else win all of their games? Yeah. Michigan, Washington and Florida State. And they all made the playoff? Well ... Who decides this stuff? The committee. What rules does the committee have for making these decisions? There are none. None? Well, the best non-Power Five team is guaranteed a spot in one of the biggest, most prestigious bowl games, no matter what. And that’s the undefeated Liberty University Flames of Lynchburg, Virginia? Apparently. So Oregon’s reward for going 11-2 is playing the heavy against a lesser opponent who’s getting a token invite? You could say that. But if the Liberty Flames are the best Group of Five team, that means that they’ve been in the top 25 of the playoff rankings probably, like, all year. Since Week 12. Oh. Wow. But if they’ve qualified for the Fiesta Bowl, then it should be a close game, at least. What’s Vegas say? Oregon is a two touchdown favorite. Oh, so the Ducks will cruise. If their best players actually play. Huh? Some guys will probably opt out to focus on the NFL draft. Doesn’t finishing the season strong matter anymore? Eh. Fabulous. Anything else I should know? What happened to the rest of the Pac-12? Arizona is playing Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl. But we are ranked higher than Arizona. We’re eighth and they’re No. 14. Yes. And Oklahoma is ranked 12th. Yes. My head hurts. So the Ducks are playing Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl and the lousy Huskies took their spot in the playoff. At least the Beavers are probably playing some real bums. Notre Dame. NOTRE DAME? The Fighting Irish? Of South Bend, Indiana? Of Rudy and Rockne? The Golden Domers? Weren’t they one of the best teams in the country this year? They were. Nearly beat Ohio State? Heckuva game. And we beat the Beavs? By 24 points. So why is Notre Dame playing Oregon State and not us? Lost too many games. Were the Irish better than Liberty? Oh, no question. So, why do they still have these games if the results don’t matter, players might not play and a team as good as Oregon doesn’t face a more similar opponent? Nobody knows. This system stinks. Any chance they’ll change it? Yes. Next year the playoff field expands to 12 teams. Oh! Great! I can get behind that. So, something like this will never happen again? Um ... I just don’t get it. Why did this have to happen to my Ducks?Why didn’t somebody at Oregon do something?! They could have. What? Why didn’t they? Not sure. What could have been done? They could have beaten Washington. Get out. https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/20...IsoMAJZBoZmnDutXp0HGeMo0054O7515LvXu8oqU1guD4
I 100% agree with the last part. The new format will increase the odds that the truly best teams win, not the teams with the best resume win it all. I still disagree with your original point that a 11-12 seed can't beat a 1-2 seed.
Kris Hudson, Bryan Addison, and Daymon David have entered the portal. Oregon has shown interest in Wast St QB, Cam Ward... Wast St WR, Josh Kelly... Purdue WR, Deion Burks... Oklahoma QB, Dillon Gabriel...Texas A&M DL Walter Nolen (#1 player in the 2022 class)
Same as basketball.......Matchups Matchups Matchups For example, UM is a better matchup for the Ducks this year than UW. So I agree with you, a 12-seed could beat a 1-2 seed. Plus when you are talking about a 3-point loss, so many things come into play. (i.e one bad call by the refs, an interception by a player who was standing out of bounds when the ball was thrown, a missed FG.......) You never know what will happen.
the moderator of Oklahoma's 247 site talked about it in terms of the NIL deal Gabriel would command and specifically mentioned Oregon and here's the 1st half of the process: and: Oregon plays at Hawaii next season
I don't believe it's a done deal by any means. The bidding is probably just getting started for transfer QB's
But I didn't say it can't happen. I said I can't remember a 10-12 seed who had a chance in hell after mid November. The point was, it's almost impossible for a team like that to significantly impact a larger playoff. Where as, a 4/5 seed is far more likely to do so.
You don't think an 11 seed upsetting a 2 seed would impact the playoff? I'm real confused at what the bigger point you're trying to make is.
Seems that if they do they will indeed have a chance to win it all. Typically the top seeds play the lowest seed first and then they go from there.
So they have an equal amount of scholarships given to women as they do to men to meet Tile IX compliance. Since they're basically throwing them out to play at a park, with grass growing between the sand, the operational costs are very low.
Believe me when it tell you I'm just as upset as everyone else. This absolutely sucks as a consolation prize. I also already said I was out of line posting anything negative about the team that quickly after a tough loss. The Ducks are better than this. They should not be in this position.
Exactly... In the new format, #11 would play at #6's home stadium. The winner of that would play #3. With QB's getting hurt or discovering the backup is actually better, it's not crazy to think a team could lose 2 games by October, effectively bumping them down the rankings a bit, but they're actually good. Had Bama lost to Auburn two weeks ago (they should've), they would've been a 10-11 seed. You can't me that this Bama roster couldn't give Washington/Texas a game.
