Oregon Strategy Session: Who Should The Ducks Play In The Future

It will always be difficult to get SEC teams to travel to the West Coast because they already have all the publicity they need. That is why they tend to stay in their region and play bad teams instead of giving themselves challenges.

Alabama is a top level program with tradition and recent success.

When the Ducks played their home and home with Michigan State, Saban was the coach, so it is likely that Saban and current Oregon Athletic Director Mike Bellotti have a relationship of some sort.

The Crimson Tide would only play the Ducks if they felt it would mean something to beat the Ducks. It is possible that this matchup could happen, especially if the SEC continues to get bashed by the media for their lack of tough nonconference games.

The Hokies are an interesting story. They are always in the top 15 in the country but seem to always be overlooked by college football nation. They have the third longest bowl streak in the nation, having made the postseason every year since 1993.

The Hokies have been playing “Beamer Ball” since 1987 and they, like Oregon, have a very intimidating home environment at Lane Stadium.

A very interesting matchup would be the Oregon offense against Virginia Tech’s always stout defense. The “Lunch Pail” defense would give the Ducks a good run and it would improve the strength of schedule for both teams.

Miami has been a bit of a sideshow the last five years, but with Randy Shannon at the helm, they look to be on the way up.

Miami is arguably the most powerful program in the last twenty five years, having won five national championships since 1983.

Miami has shown the willingness to travel, having played a series with Washington back in the early part of the decade. This would also increase the visibility of the Oregon program in the southeast, a part of the country Oregon is really trying to make a push in currently.

The state of Florida is a recruiting hotbed and Ducks football would really make a splash if those high schoolers could see the team play in person.

Who doesn’t want to play Notre Dame? If they are good, you want to play them to knock them off, but if they are bad, you want to play them to kick them while they are down. Oregon has played the Irish in the past and almost beat them back in the early 1980’s.

Although Notre Dame probably doesn’t believe Oregon has the prestige to garner a matchup, the Irish would benefit from playing the Ducks. The Irish have struggled the past few years, and a matchup with the Ducks would bring more national attention and a chance at a big time win.

For the Ducks, they would be playing one of the traditional powers in a nationally televised game. Everyone knows who the Irish are, and though they may not carry as much clout as they used to with the college football fan, they are a polarizing team that makes people tune in.

The Longhorns are at the top of the list for Oregon. The two teams have faced off this decade, with Oregon taking the 2000 Holiday Bowl against the Longhorns and quarterback Chris Simms 35-30.

Texas is another team that can live off of their name and doesn’t have to play big non-conference games, but every once in a while they will take on a tough opponent.

A series would bring back memories of the most recent matchup, as well as Texas’ matchups with other Pac-10 teams in the past 10 to 15 years. A win over Texas would be sterling almost any year and would also garner national attention.

What are your thoughts on who you would like the Ducks to schedule a home and home series with? Please feel free to comment below. The Strategy Session will be taking two weeks off but will be back and ready to start prepping for fall football in early August.