College Football Bowl Projections: Oregon's Lord Ha Ha's Last Laugh

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Most of you watched Boise State overpower Oregon 19-8 to start the season. It was a Duck team at full strength bent on revenge for a loss in 2008 to the Broncos.

The Ducks failed. They were controlled by Boise State and sent packing.

So angry was one Oregon player at the failure of his team to live up to his pregame boasts that he struck a Bronco player with no warning following the encounter.

Oregon looked petty and weak. One thing was for certain, they were beaten by a superior team in front of all the world.

The Broncos have fulfilled their responsibility since then by disposing of each opponent placed in front of them. They have done nothing to cause any voter to retract their support of the Broncos.

To the credit of Oregon Coach Chip Kelly, he gathered his wounded troops, instilled discipline, and took them off to the wild blue yonder, or wherever it is that Ducks fly.

Oregon annihilated California and Southern California. Impressive, even more impressive would be a team that could take Oregon apart like Boise State did.

The unfortunate situation for the Broncos is TCU is passing them in the BCS and Southern California is likely to steal their "second non-BCS" spot.

The Trojans? How did this happen?

Because Oregon is in the driver's seat for the Rose Bowl and that makes the Men of Troy a very eligible choice for the Fiesta Bowl to play Texas Christian, provided Texas continues on its path to the BCS Title Game.

The BCS rankings are a funny group of numbers. Comedian Lord Hawley was fond of saying "everybody plays the fool."

In this particular case, Oregon appears to get the last laugh on Boise State.

At this point of the year a weekly newsletter aimed at the travel agency industry alerts of various trends for traveling.

In the southeastern and mid-atlantic regions there will be an emphasis placed upon SEC and ACC groups traveling to Bowl destinations.

For instance, the Tampa area is primed for groups from Tennessee and Wisconsin to visit their area around New Year's Day.

This places the Vols and the Badgers squarely in the Outback Bowl. That should be an interesting culture clash in the Bay City.

Recalling the legend of Davy Crockett, when a Tennessean gets a call from Texas, they do tend to take off to answer the need.

Auburn did whip the Vols earlier this season in Knoxville and should have a leg up in any beauty contest regarding a Cotton Bowl invitation.

Nashville will gird itself for a media event when Steve Spurrier and South Carolina hit town to take on his old foe Bobby Bowden and the Florida State Seminoles in the Music City Bowl. Sounds like a big time event in the home of the Grand Old Opry.

Dallas is preparing to receive a big crowd from Alabama. The Auburn Tiger variety.

All the while, the Auburn-Clemson-Va Tech industrial hotline is burning up the phones with promises of reunions in Atlanta.

So it seems the Cotton Bowl looks set with a Auburn-Tennessee beauty contest versus the winner of Nebraska and Oklahoma this week, and the Peach narrows its interest to Virginia Tech and Georgia.

Jacksonville turns green with Notre Dame and Miami for the Gator Bowl. The Orange Bowl will attempt to offset Ga Tech's small, although select, alumni base with the giant Penn State army.

Of course, if the Lions lose this week to Ohio State, South Beach will just as easily invite the huge Buckeye group. A Paterno win seems to send Tressel's crew to face LSU in the Cap One Citrus.

The Mid-South city of Memphis has it all for the accidental tourist or planned visitor, and the Liberty Bowl will sell out the projected Ole Miss-Houston confrontation. 

And Clemson? Let's be honest, Clemson has to go where the fanbase can drive. Not a slight, just a fact.

Look for orange dollar bills to notify the Orlando Chamber of Commerce how much the Tiger fanbase can pump into the local economy when they show up for the Champ Sports Bowl to play Minnesota. This habit makes Clemson a top choice for any city.

Just don't forget to send Boise State a fruit basket from the Las Vegas visitors bureau.

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