The biggest threat to college football’s power balance recruits Ohio State-level talent to play for an ex-Georgia assistant coach. It starts an Oklahoma transfer at quarterback and trusts a former Alabama coordinator to call defensive plays.

But despite the deep blue blood circulating through Oregon football headquarters, the Ducks insist that they bleed forest green, or highlighter yellow, or chrome silver.

The program’s oldest tradition — choosing new uniforms every week — bucks every college football custom. And coach Dan Lanning is trying to make it mainstream.

The Buckeyes play Oregon today in a playoff quarterfinal that, on paper, reads like your run-of-the-mill meeting between college football powers. These are two of 10 Power Four programs with 90 wins over the last decade, two of three with 90 wins and at least four straight 10-win seasons (the third: Georgia). But when the Rose Bowl kicks off at 2 p.m. (Pacific), this sport’s old guard is on notice.

Because if Lanning and the Ducks can beat the Buckeyes (again), they can debunk a long-held college football belief:

College football’s establishment is disruption proof.

Consider OSU coach Ryan Day — and the backlash surrounding him — as living evidence. At 67-10, Day enters today’s matchup with questions about his job security because he hasn’t beaten Michigan, won a conference title, or hung a national championship banner in four straight seasons. By Buckeyes birthright, the thinking goes, the program standard starts with 10 wins, raises until you reach the top, then resets even higher for next season.

Harsh? Forgive the fans. They operate on what history has taught them.

Ol’ Brutus Buckeye has witnessed just five seasons with single-digit wins during the 21st century — one of which (the 7-1 COVID-19 season) resulted in a national championship game appearance — in part because of the foundation laid by generations past. OSU produced one fewer national title (six) than losing seasons (seven) during the 20th century. Success snowballed downhill for a century. Oldest story in the sport. And to this day, it rings true.

College football has changed several times and by several degrees since 2000. But it still has not produced a first-time national champion this millennium.

Meanwhile, Oregon football bloomed as late as their bright helmets shine new. For its first 84 years of existence, the program never won more than nine games. Then the Ducks dipped their uniforms into a dozen different color palates in the late 90s, built momentum under former coach Mike Belotti, then broke new ground with a brazen offense designed, ironically, by current Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. Mixing Oregon’s style with Kelly’s substance produced a fresh football brand with which every recruit born during the Ducks’ boom can relate.

Since 2000, they’ve won 10.5 games per season (not counting their 4-3 COVID-19 season) and, on occasion, innovated their way into Old College Football’s rarified air. The Ducks have won three Rose Bowls and appeared in two national title games since 2010, not bad for a newbie. But both times they’ve stepped onto the big stage, Big Blue Blood has beaten them back.

First, the 2010 Auburn Tigers (15th all-time in Power Four wins) beat Kelly’s Ducks 22-19 with a quarterback (former five-star recruit Cam Newton) that, historically, only a select few football teams could acquire. According to recruiting data on 247Sports and Rivals, only 15 schools have signed a five-star quarterback and kept him from transferring since 2006. Eleven of those schools, including the Buckeyes, rank 19th or better in all-time wins among power conference teams. The other four — North Carolina (26th) Missouri (30th), Stanford (41st) and UCLA (47th) — still rank higher than 50. The Ducks, as of this writing (read: after their best stretch in program history), rank 31st.

Next, the 2014 Buckeyes beat Mark Helfrich’s best Oregon team 42-20 to claim the first College Football Playoff championship. The Buckeyes, blessed with bottomless depth, started third-string quarterback Cardale Jones during that game. The Ducks started future first-round pick Marcus Mariota and still lost by three scores. Perhaps the 35 other future pros — even Jones became a fourth-round pick — on Ohio State’s roster played a role.

This time, however, the pick-me program has more proof of concept. When Oregon plays Ohio State today, the Ducks will dress six former five-stars (most since at least 2017) in those shiny uniforms. Lanning will coach the sixth-most talented roster in college football (again, Oregon’s highest ranking since at least 2017) against the third. And Oregon already earned its first top-three win in program history against Ohio State in October (then their second against Penn State in the Big Ten championship game).