TUCSON, Ariz. — Here’s hoping SEC fans stayed up to watch Oregon beat Arizona Saturday night. They got to see a few things their league hasn’t had enough of this season.
Drama, bedlam, theatrics, tension, hilarity and near-riotous fun. And that just begins to describe the Ducks’ 44-41 double overtime win.
It finally ended as the clock struck midnight back East. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli slithered into the end zone to crash what would have been the biggest football party Tucson ever threw.
All of which settled one thing. The Pac-10 is the best conference in America.
Before SEC fans gag on their grits, allow me to clarify. Best doesn’t mean the Pac-10 has the most outstanding teams. It has the most outstanding competition, which is even better.
Out West, you never know what’s going to happen. Down South, you know what to expect.
Florida will win. Alabama will win.
All meaningful drama has been on hold until the SEC Championship Game Dec. 5. Otherwise, the season’s been a sideshow where fans just wait on Lane Kiffin’s mouth to rev up or Les Miles’ brain to freeze.
That stuff is amusing, but I prefer a death match for the league title. The Pac 10’s quality depth was never more evident than Saturday when California beat Stanford 34-28. That would have been the Game of the Day (Non-Charlie Weis Death Watch Division), until the Ducks and Wildcats put on their pinball show.
“It was just good, hard football with a lot of emotion,” Oregon receiver D.J. Davis said.
That’s what you’ve gotten all year in the Pac-10. That’s why four teams still had realistic shots at the Rose Bowl going into Saturday. And that’s why 57,863 fans showed up Saturday night, most of them wearing red.
I know, 57,863 Alabama fans would show up to watch Nick Saban eat breakfast at Waffle House. I’ve lived in the South most of my life. I ate Golden Flake potato chips because Bear Bryant told me to. I plan on naming my first-born son Tebow if he’s virgin birthed
In other words, you’d have a hard time convincing me anything’s superior to the SEC brand. Watching Masoli do his Doug Flutie impersonation melted my prejudice.
Masoli threw for three touchdowns and ran for three more. He led a fourth-quarter rally that led to one of the most satisfying and bizarre scenes of the year.
As the clock wound toward 0:00, fans spilled over the rails and flooded the sideline.
Cue LeGarrette Blount and Boise State flashbacks.
We all remember how Oregon’s tailback responded the last time the Ducks lost a close one on the road. The Most Dangerous Man in College Football has since been reinstated, though he’s stuck on the bench …
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