In the history of the United States, there have been war-time presidents and peace-time presidents; leaders who are aggressive and ready to take action to protect the future of the nation, and leaders who are good at negotiating and offering comfort to all of their constituents.
Rob Mullens, John Karl Scholz — which side do you more align yourselves with?
For the University of Oregon, it appears that things are moving from a nice decade of peace into a period of war that will leave many teams behind and feinding for themselves while others jump ship for cushy spots in new conferences.
By all means it appears that the Pac-12 is a sinking ship right now, and the remaining nine teams in the conference have to be looking for a landing spot should they choose to jump.
For the Ducks, a perfect dismount would see Oregon as the newest member of the Big Ten, following a path blazed by the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins.
We know that the Ducks would desperately love to join that conference, but many think that the Big Ten might not want Oregon. Former commissioner Kevin Warren was interested in further expanding west, but new commissioner Tony Petitti has pumped the brakes.
I think that they not only should want the Ducks, but they may need them just as badly as Oregon needs the Big Ten. Let me explain.