Gordon Forgey

The always fashion conscious University of Oregon Ducks will play for the National Championship in the first College Football Playoffs Monday. Their opponent is Ohio State University.

These teams have legitimately won their berths. Their upcoming appearance in the big game was not decided by a bunch of sloppily dressed coaches or rumpled sports reporters as in the past. The now-idle BCS computers had nothing to do with the selection.

Four teams were named to the playoffs based on performance, results, strength of schedule and other considerations. A committee weighed the different factors.

Then, each team played a game against one of the other teams selected.

Oregon and Ohio, the winners of these two games, will now meet to determine the champion.

The mere fact that a PAC-12 team is playing for the national title under this new format is valuable for the conference. It gives the nation an idea of what the traditionally clad PAC-12 teams are faced with in the regular season.

Even if Oregon loses, it has already been good for the PAC-12.

Another outcome of the game is a given, too.

The Ducks will be more stylish than Ohio State. Oregon is the fashion leader of the NCAA. The Ducks are sartorial giants. This alone should have won them the chance to play for the title.

Oregon has more uniforms and combinations of uniforms than slot machines have payout possibilities. The Ducks always have a different look.

For the championship game, the team will be outfitted in sleekly tailored white and silver uniforms, designed by the venerated fashion designers at the House of Nike. Presumably, they will swoosh onto the field on a red carpet. No smoke or fireworks here to dim their impact. No banner to crash through to muss their uniforms. This is high fashion, not Hollywood.

In fact, for the first time in football history, fashion police will have a spot in the media booth.

If only Joan Rivers were still alive.

The lone drawback of this playoff system is that college football may be on the way to a sort of March Madness. Soon eight teams and then 16 teams and then more may have to run a gauntlet of playoff games to get to the championship bracket.

On the positive side, that could be the road to sartorial parity. Even the Oregon Ducks could not come up with that many different uniforms and eventually would have to wear a uniform twice. Then, they will be just like all the other teams.

Parity at last!

But, then again, they could always accessorize.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher