As a beat reporter a few jobs ago I was charged with covering the Purdue University football team. Drew Brees was the Boilermakers quarterback. They'd finished with an 8-4 record, but won five straight to finish the regular season.

Purdue was fun and the Alamo Bowl snapped them up.

I thought about Brees and that Purdue team when Oregon accepted the invitation to the Alamo Bowl on Sunday. The Ducks are 9-3. They've won six straight and will play TCU. But like that white-hot Purdue team, I'm not sure it matters who shows up on the other sideline.

In 1998, Purdue's Alamo Bowl opponent was No. 3-ranked Kansas State. The Wildcats were 11-1 and had Heisman Trophy runner-up Michael Bishop at quarterback. But it became evident in the days before the game that Kansas State didn't want to be there. Kansas State had lost the Big 12 Championship Game in double overtime, knocking them out of the BCS title game, and so the Wildcats spent the week in a position best described as "pouting, arms folded."

Kansas State won the opening kickoff. Then called timeout. Everyone looked around. Apparently, Bishop forgot his helmet in the locker room.

Yeah.

Purdue dominated the first three quarters and after the Wildcats scrambled back into the game, won the game on a Brees touchdown pass. Afterward, Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said, "Tonight was the culmination of three weeks of disappointment." And I've never looked at a mid-level bowl match-up the same way.

Oregon is a nightmare draw for just about anyone this bowl season. They're motivated. They're on a win streak. They're better than the three-loss record. They're playing very much like a team that has something to prove and they have a gifted player at quarterback. TCU won eight straight to start this season before being derailed by injury and disappointment, and while they won't arrive with the same lethargy that Kansas State carried, I'm just not sure it matters.

Oregon is better.

Oregon has more to play for.

And anyone who picks against them hasn't been paying attention.

This isn't just a great bowl match-up for Oregon. It's a near-perfect one. One that will not only result in the Ducks being on Texas recruiting soil in a post-New Year's Day game, but a game against a beatable and inferior opponent. Coach Mark Helfrich is out to prove the offense won't sputter without departed offensive coordinator Scott Frost. Adams is in his final college stanza. The Ducks defense has been nitpicked all season, and there's the matter of an eighth straight 10-win season at stake.

What I'm saying is, the Alamo Bowl will matter to Oregon. In fact, if we had a dreamy 16-team playoff bracket instead of our current format, the No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 15 Oregon game would be a terrible draw for the second-ranked team. At No. 2 you'd expect to get a first-round gimme and the Ducks aren't playing like one.

I like Oregon to win. I like the Ducks to do so convincingly, and with style points. I haven't always believed in this team (See: 3-3 start, defensive woes, Adams injury, etc.), but after ripping off wins against Pac 12 South and North Division champions USC and Stanford in consecutive weeks I see the danger in the Ducks.

I remain uncertain about UO's future. They have questions to address on defense. They need to develop a quarterback and offensive coordinator for next season. A couple of good linebackers wouldn't hurt, either. But the Ducks bowl game feels like a great launching point.

Incidentally, when Kansas State called timeout, Bishop himself went sprinting off the field, up the tunnel at the Alamodome, back to the locker room to retrieve his helmet. Snyder made his quarterback fetch his own gear. One of the most surreal things I've ever seen in a bowl game. But the end result made complete sense.

--- @JohnCanzanoBFT