[ATLCard]

I also don't buy the 3-5 win regression-to-the-mean stories.  I think people are completely missing the fact that Oregon is now a national brand, not the Oregon of my memories.  I live in SEC country, and kids wear Oregon paraphenalia and say Oregon is their favorite team at a rate never seen out here for a West Coast school.  Not at all for UW when they were so good, not for Stanford over the past four years when we have been at least as good as Oregon, not even for S.C. during their Pete Carroll run (although S.C. is the only analogy even close).

I don't know how much of this is the style of play (which may very well regress) and how much of it is the Nike influence (which is here to stay and is a major factor), but I think the net in terms of money/facilities/exposure/attractiveness to recruits (and coaches) is not going to evaporate quickly and therefore Oregon is likely to stay at least a very good team for a very long time.  Their only negative is location, but is it significantly worse than Tuscaloosa or Columbus for example?  And as a national brand they don't really compete with UW, Oregon State, etc. for recruits -- their key recruits are not from the Northwest.  They are not going to stay a 10 win team forever, and I won't be surprised by the occasional 7-5 seasons they are going to have, but they are not going away soon.

[ATLCard]

I also don't buy the 3-5 win regression-to-the-mean stories.  I think people are completely missing the fact that Oregon is now a national brand, not the Oregon of my memories.  I live in SEC country, and kids wear Oregon paraphenalia and say Oregon is their favorite team at a rate never seen out here for a West Coast school.  Not at all for UW when they were so good, not for Stanford over the past four years when we have been at least as good as Oregon, not even for S.C. during their Pete Carroll run (although S.C. is the only analogy even close).

I don't know how much of this is the style of play (which may very well regress) and how much of it is the Nike influence (which is here to stay and is a major factor), but I think the net in terms of money/facilities/exposure/attractiveness to recruits (and coaches) is not going to evaporate quickly and therefore Oregon is likely to stay at least a very good team for a very long time.  Their only negative is location, but is it significantly worse than Tuscaloosa or Columbus for example?  And as a national brand they don't really compete with UW, Oregon State, etc. for recruits -- their key recruits are not from the Northwest.  They are not going to stay a 10 win team forever, and I won't be surprised by the occasional 7-5 seasons they are going to have, but they are not going away soon.