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INDIANAPOLIS — The season basically began for Oregon here in Indy five months ago. The school kicked things off by inflating a 1,600-pound Duck (capital D) that floated ominously on the White River during Big Ten media days in July.
The obvious message from the new birds on the block: Game on, Big Ten.
Its latest game ended Saturday night with a much more significant and ominous message for the entire country. These Ducks are built for more than floating. They can fly, too. Conference champs, swamping Penn State 45-37. New conference? No problem.
Now comes the hard part: Not only winning the waterway and the league, but winning it all.
With the victory, Oregon will go down as the first No. 1 seed of the expanded playoff era. Based on recent history, that and five bucks will get you a Panera gift card.
The No. 1 seed in the old four-team format won exactly four championships in 10 years. (For what it’s worth, all four have come in the last five seasons.) You can imagine how tough it will be in a 12-team field playing three more games over a month’s time.
Still, there is something to be said for surveying the landscape from the mountaintop at this point. And the rarified air Oregon occupies is thus: It is the betting favorite to be the first first-time national champion since Florida in 1996.
In a season of parity, Oregon was the best of the best. It won a shootout Saturday with the offensively challenged Nittany Lions, but who cares how it looked? Georgia had to survive two straight overtime games to make the field. Only three other teams in the discussion have even one loss — Notre Dame, Indiana and Boise State.
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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/no-1-and-not-done-oregon-ducks-set-sights-on-historic-college-football-playoff-run-after-blitzing-big-ten/
Author : Dennis Dodd
Publish date : 2024-12-08 06:32:00
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