AndrewGreif

Andrew: There's no doubt the Ducks wouldn't be here without Knight, and Nike. The oft-told story is that after Oregon's loss in the Cotton Bowl after the 1995 season, Knight sat down with coach Mike Bellotti and told him, "What do you need to compete?" Within a couple years they had an indoor facility, which led to the locker room, which led to the uniforms... But Knight wasn't very interested in the program until the 1994 Rose Bowl season. Ever since, he's invested and UO's been on the rise.

Doug: Tressel was more into coachspeak. Both have great records on the field, but Meyer wins in the news conference. You might get more from Meyer in 5 minutes than you did from Tressel in 20. But that was all part of Tressel's plan.

Doug: Why? You don't think Barrett would have done the same if healthy?

Frankly, that logic could apply to Miller as well.

Jones has been great, but when all were healthy, the coaches deemed him No. 3.

Doug: I think there's a way for all three to come back. Braxton Miller's shoulder injury is serious, so he could certainly find another school, but he won't be ready to throw for a while. J.T. Barrett is the QB of the future, and while Cardale Jones could transfer eventually, I don't know that he'd do it right now. I don't think it's impossible for all three to be back and for the Buckeyes to have the best QB depth in the country.

Andrew: The welcome committee was giving out backpacks when we arrived. Some T-shirts were thrown out last night at a media party in downtown Dallas. I think the thing that most wouldn't know is that we're fed at major bowls breakfast, lunch and dinner in the hospitality room. It's pretty nice, especially when you're writing all day from your hotel room, to know you can pop downstairs for some food.

Doug: There was a rather accomplished country music singer performing at the media party last night. She seemed nice. Almost felt bad she had to sing for us idiots.