I know you want to win this discussion, but suggesting that Oregon is in a WAY better position that OSU geographically, really is a bit disingenuous. Perhaps Eugene is a bit bigger city, but by West Coast standards, it's a tiny little burg too. Those guys up north are all trying to recruit in California...that's the real target. As a person who grew up here in So Cal, let me tell you that the perception of Eugene, Oregon is absolutely no different to a California kid that the perception of Corvallis, Oregon. I live in an area that is technically considered part of the greater L.A. metro (even though we are 60 miles away from Downtown L.A.). Where we are, when you get on the freeway, you pass through one town with a population of 175,000 then another, then another...you pass through 10 of them on your way to Downtown and there is no space between them. The only way you know that you left one and went on to the next is the little sign on the side of the Freeway that says: Welcome to__________
So for any recruit who is being courted to head north to Oregon, I will tell you right now from experience, to that kid, Eugene is in the middle of freaking nowhere, just as much as Corvallis. So the only thing that has been drawing talent to Eugene was the way they were recruiting the kids. The whole Nike thing, the image, the system....Riley could have done that in Corvallis. I just don't think he cared enough, or he didn't know how.
But, if you still want to suggest that location and budget are such an overwhelming advantage for U of O, then consider this. Corvallis isn't anywhere near as isolated as Pullman, freaking, Washington. Yet, Mike Leech has turned that program around and they have made steady improvement since he got there. They have not won a conference title, the competiton in the North are Oregon and U-dub so Leech started with a built in disadvantage, partly because U-dub in in an ACTUAL large metropolitan city (unlike U. of Oregon) and that's Wash. State's biggest competition for recruiting. But they are improving and somehow Leech is getting kids to come to a school that is really, truly in the middle of nowhere...Pullman is half the size of Corvallis and the next biggest city is freaking Moscow, Idaho.
You can win or you can make excuses. I just don't think the "you can't win in Corvallis" argument is valid. When Riley first got to Oregon State (and when he went back in `03) it was prior to the University of Oregon being a winning program. Some people forget that Oregon has only been really good for about the last 7 years...before that they were a 6 or 7 wins per year team. Riley had a chance to establish his teams as the dominant teams in the state. But he was only able to put together one ten-win season. A good coach can win anywhere. Riley just isn't that good a coach. At least that's what his record would indicate.
