The mental gymnastics of the national media

[bdkipe]

So, I’ve been hearing the last few weeks that Indiana is #2 because they beat a “great team like Oregon at Autzen.”

While simultaneously positing that:

“Oregon is not a good team because they lost to a team like Indiana.”

Then:

Indiana is amazing because Autzen is an extremely difficult place to play no matter how good Oregon is in a given year.

While also:

We predicted Oregon to lose at PSU because no matter how good or bad PSU is, Happy Valley at night is an incredibly difficult place to win.

But then…

Oregon gets no credit for that win because PSU sucks.

TLDR version:

- Indiana is legit because Oregon is good…
- …but Oregon isn’t good because they lost to Indiana
- Autzen is impossible to win at no matter how good Oregon is and…
- …Beaver Stadium is also an extremely difficult place to win during white-out night games regardless of how good PSU is however….
- …Oregon shouldn’t get any credit for the win in Happy Valley because PSU is not a good team.

Making sense of this narrative is exhausting.

[dthomas=ddixon]

Well if Penn St. holds on the Ducks are about to be good again.

[OregonFan4Life]

Well if Penn St. holds on the Ducks are about to be good again.

It’s Penn State…..


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[squintsdd]

Penn State this year is like Washington state in the pac12 days. They couged it

[QuackininBama]

Gotta give props to Indiana, bro, wow, that last drive was TEXTBOOK. Now, keeping in mind they haven't played Ohio State, but they are legit the number 2 team in the country.

[bdkipe]

How did we LOSE GROUND IN THE POLLS AFTER THAT?

We had to sit here all week and listen to how tough Kinnick is, how Oregon was going to get upset, how Iowa in November is impossible to beat and then we go out SHORTHANDED 5 starters (I count EStew) and beat the officials AND the Hawkeyes.

AND WE LOSE GROUND?

[OrTDuck]

It has seemed a bit odd recently.

For several weeks there appeared a narrative that Penn State has proven to be not good and that Oregon's "biggest win" now being much more questionable. Indiana pulls out a win late and Penn State is now still very talented and dangerous? Heard quite a bit of that in the college football wrap-up shows. No Oregon treatment for Indiana?

Oregon traveled across the country and beat undefeated Penn State then #3 in a hostile night whiteout environment with their head coach, starting QB, and starting LB (Rojas) who I think was leading them in tackles. Indiana gets them 3-5, coming off a big loss to tOSU, and now they are dangerous? Before their final drive they were sitting on 246 yards of offense (and still were outgained by Penn State). Still a good win for Indiana, but why not still a good win for Oregon?

Oregon travels across country and beats Northwestern at 9am 34-14 (after leading 34-0) and it generally gets little credit (and even a bit in some places a small amount of nitpicking). Ohio State travels 280 miles to 2-9 Purdue and wins 34-10 (leading 24-3 at the end of the 3rd) and the story is how tOSU dominates and makes easy work of Purdue. Now, tOSU does appear to make easy work of Purdue, but did Oregon not really do much the same against Northwestern? Northwestern is now still 5-4 and has a decent shot at 6-6.

It seems a bit odd.

[bdkipe]

To summarize:

- Indiana good because they beat Oregon
- Indiana good because they beat PSU in Happy Valley
- Oregon not good because they lost to Indiana
- Oregon not good because they beat PSU in Happy Valley (and PSU “not good”)

- Iowa tough, physical and impossible to win at Kinnick in November…
- …but Oregon not good because they barely beat Iowa

- And finally…Alabama really good even though they lost to FSU

It all makes sense.

[OregonFan4Life]

Ole Miss jumping Oregon for beating The Citadel is absolutely pathetic.


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[StevensTechU]

Ole Miss jumping Oregon for beating The Citadel is absolutely pathetic.


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It's the AP just trying to match the CFP rankings for who knows what reason. Group think prevails in all kinds of arenas.