Oregon represents in BCS / FCS

The college football playoffs are upon us, with a total 40 bowl games scheduled between Dec. 19 and Jan. 11, the highest total in NCAA history. There were just 18 bowl games only 20 years ago, so the heavy increase means that 61 percent of FBS schools will have an opportunity to take home some hardware.

The 9-3 Oregon Ducks fell just shy of earning a spot in the Pac-12 championship game on Saturday, needing No. 9 ranked Stanford to fall at home to No. 6 Notre Dame, which didn’t happen last weekend. The U of O kept its end of the bargain a week ago, winning its Civil War game vs. an aggressive Oregon State team to put the pressure on the Cardinal. But, Stanford will collide with USC at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., starting at 4:45 p.m.

With a conference record of 7-2, the Ducks will still earn a bowl appearance, just like most schools it seems, likely facing the TCU Horned Frogs in the Alamo Bowl played on Saturday, Jan. 2. Texas Christian will have a definite advantage, not just because of an extra win and a higher ranking under its belt, but because the site of the game: The Alamodome in San Antonio, Tex., is roughly 270 miles from its campus.

Of course, this is only a projected matchup, with the bowl-game directors announcing final bids this Sunday at 9 a.m. on ESPN.

The OSU Beavers finished their season 0-9 in conference play, 2-10 overall, to finish at the bottom of the Pac-12 North. With a very young and inexperienced team, OSU has plenty of room for improvement over the next several seasons.

Looking more locally, the Portland State Vikings have had a tremendous season, going 9-2 in the FCS (basically a second tier from the BCS) and finishing with a No. 5 ranking among qualifying schools. They will host Northern Iowa in the second round of the FCS playoffs Saturday at Providence Park in downtown Portland.

This will be the first time in program history they host a playoff game as a Division 1 team, and carry the No. 6 seed into that round. Out of the Big Sky Conference, only Montana is also still alive in the postseason and travels to North Dakota State this week. You can catch the Portland State game on Saturday on ESPN3 at 7:00 p.m.

At the national level, the stage is just about set for the “New Year’s Six” bowls on Dec. 31-Jan. 1: The Peach, Fiesta, Rose, Sugar, Cotton and Orange, with the last two hosting the playoff teams in the semi-finals. Barring a major turn of events or conference champion game upsets on Saturday, No. 3 Michigan State would take on No. 2 Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, while No. 4 Oklahoma will battle No. 1 Clemson in the Orange Bowl.

The winners move on to the Championship Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., on Monday, Jan. 11.