McCallum
continued from page 7
tion of many polls — put this to an
end.
Meanwhile, fans are left to watch
“It’s a Wonderful Life” and non
conference college basketball.
What should we do with this lull
in football action? Add a champi
onship tournament.
Here’s the Robbie McCallum
plan: A five week, 32-team bracket
that begins at the end of the college
season in late November. Five
rounds follow, eventually leading
to a final four, which would be
played in a rotation of bowls (Or
ange, Sugar, Fiesta, Rose and Cot
I
ton). The national championship
game would be played Jan. 1.
The 11 conference champions
would receive automatic bids, an
additional 21 teams would be giv
en at-large bids based on overall
season records and top-25 rankings.
The tournament would probably
include every top-25 team, plus the
patsy teams from low-caliber con
ferences such as the Big West.
Although it sounds foreign to
college football, it is the answer to
all the problems associated with
the Bowl Championship Series.
Imagine the excitement that a
college football tournament could
bring: office pool brackets, five
weeks of playoff atmosphere foot
ball, bubble teams and Cinderella
teams. It would be everything that
March Madness is, only on the
gridiron.
In 1995, both Nebraska and Penn
State finished the regular season
with undefeated records. The Corn
huskers received the national
champion title based on the ever
important AP poll. Under the Mc
Callum plan, Nebraska and Penn
State would have possibly faced
each other in the title game.
Traditions can be hard to break,
but it’s time for college football to
get with the program and find a
way to crown the true champion.
Robbie McCallum is a sports reporter for
the Emerald. He can be reached at
coach_robbie@lycos.com.
Volleyball
continued from page 7
“In this offense, we have to be
more aggressive and more physi
cal.”
Still chuggin’ away
Oregon’s nine victories are the
most since 1997, and one more
win will post the Ducks’ first dou
ble-digit win total since 1996
(when the Ducks were 11-20 over
all).
“We’ve learned so much more
this year,” Chute said. “We know
we can play with these teams and
beat them. We haven’t won all the
games that we want, but at times
it is apparent that we can beat al
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most anyone.”
The Ducks’ sole Pac-10 win was
at Oregon State on Oct. 20. The
team is on its way to Arizona to
day to face the Sun Devils Thurs
day and the Wildcats Friday.
A block in the road
Coming into this season, the
Ducks knew their biggest deficit
was going to be their physicality
— or lack thereof. Senior Halie
Mazza has been the only consis
tent blocker for Oregon, although
sophomore middle blocker
Amanda Porter and freshman Al
isha Stevens have made major
contributions off the bench.
The Ducks are last in the Pac-10
in total blocks, averaging just 2.15
per game.
“Blocking is always a factor; it’s
the first line of defense,” said
Mazza, who leads the Ducks with
a 0.95 blocks per game and is sec
ond with a .315 hitting percent
age. “You can definitely struggle
without a good blocking game.
But we’ve worked on defense a
lot, and our attitude is that noth
ing’s going to fall.”
Who’s on top?
No. 3 Southern California and
No. 8 UCLA face off in a cross
town rivalry Friday in what could
decide the Pac-10 crown. With
three weeks remaining in the con
ference schedule, the Trojans (19
1, 12-1) are tied with No. 4 Ari
zona (19-2, 12-1), while the
Bruins (11-2, 16-5) sit just one
game back.
Earlier this season, on their
home floor, the Women of Troy
defeated UCLA 3-1.
“This game is huge,” UCLA
senior middle blocker Elisabeth
Bachman told the Daily Bruin.
“The top of the Pac-10 [standings]
rest on this game. They are our
cross-town rivals, which helps us
focus on wanting to beat them
more.”
Arizona will travel to Los Ange
les to face USC and UCLA in two
weeks.
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