re: Why has espn wanted an Oregon-Alabama matchup so much recently

It would all come down to Mariota.

He missed 3 big early chances against Stanford last year to put Oregon up 21-0.

He was off.

Then Oregon went purely run and was stifled.

Mariota can be amazing...but he can also be very off. The guy has tremendous skill...he's just frustrating sometimes in big games.

Look Oregon will always be out-manned against Bama...like they were out-manned against USC...but because they seem all flash with their spread...the rest of the team gets over-looked. Wisconsin didn't bully them - despite trying to - and Oregon won the Rose Bowl...

The deal with Oregon - like TAMU - is they were never out of a game - even if they are physically dominated...just like the Stanford game.

If Bama ran, ran, ran and the game was still close at 21-3 - 4th quarter...Oregon is still in it...

Oregon can play weak but they can also score in a flash...and make up huge deficits in a matter of minutes...like the old wishbone - all it takes is one mistake assignment on D and - BAM - Oregon gone for a TD.

I think this is why Saban hates this stuff - you have to rotate players in - you can't call signals on D - and you always have to be perfect on assignment.