Following a civil war victory against the Oregon State Beavers, the PAC-10 champion Oregon Ducks (12-0) will fly south to meet the SEC champion Auburn Tigers (13-0) in Glendale, AZ to square off for a national title.
According to USA Today, Oregon Head Coach Chip Kelly’s civil war victory landed him $4.3 million in bonuses and future contract guarantees with an additional $250,000 riding on the title game.
"Band-wagoner" Reese Witherspoon was recently seen showing her support for the Oregon Ducks. However, just a year ago she was spotted supporting the 2010 BCS runner-up Texas Longhorns.
Kelly’s huge bonus has led me to ponder the impact a BCS championship has on a university. The UO’s supporters will no doubt see a surge in “band-wagon” supporters (example above) thanks to the added publicity and media coverage, but does the correlation apply to donors? Does a donor make a donation based on the success of a school’s football program? Some undoubtedly do, but in the grand scheme of things shouldn’t you donate because you want to help preserve/improve the quality of education this institution provides?
Perhaps I’m being a bit idealistic, but if the Ducks playoff berth means that the University of Oregon can continue to expand and attract the top professors and students from around the world to pursue opportunities here then let’s make it 13-0 with a win on Jan. 10, 2011.
Go ahead Ducks, we wish u the best for the game facing Tigers! Don’t even bother; they are only paper tigers, not real ones!