I get it now.
Not that I didn’t before, but it’s so clear after watching a day full of tradition come good in my third year of covering college sports: the more home College Football Playoff games, the better. Oregon’s postgame locker room may have been quiet, and the Ducks were frustrated after giving up 28 second-half points in their 51-34 win over James Madison, but the stadium couldn’t have been more alive.
College football history was made in December, and even without a competitive game at halftime, the holidays were well-celebrated in Eugene with tradition that goes beyond the scoreline and a good amount of fun football (the two teams combined for 18 explosive plays).
What the day proved was that there needs to be more of those games.
I’ll be totally clear here: I didn’t grow up watching college football. I remember watching Marcus Mariota against Florida State on TV with family, but that’s about it. I grew up in Seattle (saw Jake Browning a couple of times), and leaned more toward soccer and the Seahawks than I did college sports. The last three years at Oregon have been a crash course in what makes them special. I’d like to think that it’s been close to comprehensive (and pretty lucky).
The resume is this: Between covering the team and playing in the marching band, I’ve watched Oregon play 19 times at Autzen Stadium, and traveled to Husky Stadium, Beaver Stadium, the Pac-12 and Big Ten Championship games, the Fiesta Bowl, the Rose Bowl and the Orange Bowl. The first-round matchup in December was my last home game — I’m graduating in the spring. I decided to walk to Autzen with Sports Editor Jack Lazarus. It’s something I’ve done plenty of times.
I walked over the Willamette River three times a week during my first two years in Eugene, when I was in the marching band (it’s a lot longer when you’re lugging a large instrument). I walked to most of the home games this season, too. Forgetting why college football is special is easy to do when covering it becomes routine, and I found that walking and watching was a good reminder of why this game mattered.
On-campus postseason games were a major selling point of the new 12-team College Football Playoff. An expanded postseason built on the pageantry of school tradition supplemented one that had previously been rooted in the grandeur of the New Year’s Six bowl games and the promise of matchups between the best four teams in the nation.
The first-ever home playoff game in Eugene had less of the competitive draw, but plenty of tradition; Oregon (the fifth seed in the CFP rankings) and James Madison (the 12th) were separated by a three-touchdown spread at kickoff and 28 points at the half. The Ducks’ first postseason run since 2015 started a year ago at the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, California, where there’s arguably more college football history than anywhere else.
With a chance to head to the quarterfinal round for the second-straight season, they got a chance to show off Autzen Stadium — and make some history of their own. It’s not that it was new. It was intimately familiar, with a tinge of win-or-go-home anxiety (even if it wasn’t going to be close). It was an opportunity to spend one more Saturday with friends.
I’m writing this story en route to the Orange Bowl in Florida, where the Ducks will play No. 4 Texas Tech University on New Year’s Day. There’s tradition there, too. It’s a great matchup, and a beautiful place for fans to spend the holiday. But Oregon head coach Dan Lanning argued earlier this week that I should be headed to Lubbock, Texas, instead, to watch the Ducks and Red Raiders play on campus. He talked about the advantage that should, in his opinion, be afforded to the higher-seeded team in a Playoff matchup. That’s part of the discussion, too, but the part I can’t get away from is the feeling.
There’s no perfect solution to how that happens. Maybe it’s a 16-team playoff — but then there are questions over who should qualify. It’s difficult to exclude the historic bowl games in an era where the ones not in the CFP are increasingly fading from relevance.
After watching CFP logos flash on the giant screen at Autzen Stadium for the first time, though, I can’t argue against more of those games. It’s been a great ride. Like I said, I get it now.
