Another Claim For Oregon's Status As An Elite Program

My mailbag has been getting full with letters from SEC fan, questioning Oregon's status as an elite football program?  I'll explain it to you like this:  from 1994-2000 Oregon was the player trying to sneak into the club, from 2000-2007 Oregon was invited to sit at the kiddie table, from 2007 (when Chip Kelly arrived) till present day, Oregon is eatin' at the big boy table.

But people like stats and numbers.  They gotta see it in order to believe it.  That prompted me to do some research.  And what I found doesn't surprise me, the numbers back me up.

First lets take a look at the top programs, by winning percentage, from 2000-2007:

Oklahoma 82.0%
Texas 79.9%
USC 78.3%
Ohio St 78.3%
VTech 76.1%
Florida 73.7%
Georgia 73.1%
OREGON 73.0%
Auburn 71.4%
The U 70.0%
Wisconsin 69.5%
Florida State 66.7%
Nebraska 66.5%
Alabama 66.0%
Mich. 66.0%
OSewe 59.1%
Texas A&M 53.4%
UDumb 43.2%

 

What's impressive about this is, this was Oregon still as a program coming up.  They were doing it built off the momentum started by the 1994 Rose Bowl team, but it was still kind of a blue collar movement.  There were no flashy uniforms or offense, and no Chip Kelly.  And it was at a time when USC dominated the conference, and national landscape, and yet here Oregon was with a 73 winning percentage.

Now lets take a look from 2007 through this past year:

Alabama 82.1%
OREGON 80.3%
LSU 79.1%
USC 78.1%
Oklahoma 77.9%
VTech 76.8%
Ohio St 76.6%
Florida 74.6%
Texas 73.8%
Wisconsin 72.3%
Georgia 68.2%
Auburn 67.7%
Nebraska 65.2%
Florida State 63.6%
Mich. 55.6%
OSewe 54.0%
The U 54.0%
Texas A&M 51.6%
UDumb 36.5%

 

What this shows is that Oregon isn't going anywhere, AND, have only gotten better.   This is how college football programs become established powerhouses over the years...programs like Nebraska, Michigan, and more recently, Florida State or Miami:  they do it by building on the momentum of a good season or two, and are able to keep it going through good recruiting, and smart coaching hires.

Oregon made a smart coaching hire in 2007, by adding Chip Kelly to the staff as offensive coordinator, and future head coach in waiting.  

Now lets look at some impressive Oregon numbers since 2000, that will further back my argument up:

• 7 seasons with 10 or more wins 

• Back to back 12 win seasons

• 5 conference championships

• 3-2 vs. the SEC (thought I'd throw that in there for you SEC fans) 

   Another interesting thing I came across was that Oregon could potentially reach the 600 win mark with another 10 win season.  That also correlates with the numbers above:  it took Oregon less time to go from 500 wins to 600 wins, then it did from 400-500.