It's gameday here in the desert. Here's a story to get you ready, the one I wrote for our sports page in the paper:

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- For weeks all Oregon has heard is how the big-bodied brutes from the SEC are going to push it all over the field, driving home the point that Southern-style football trumps all.

For weeks all Auburn has heard is how the fleet-footed fliers from the Pac-10 are going to run circles around its plodding defenders, once and for all proving that West Coast speed is king.

The great debate -- Auburn’s power and size vs. Oregon’s speed and elusiveness -- will be settled at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., tonight, when, after 37 days of preparation, the No. 1 Tigers and No. 2 Ducks meet in the BCS national championship game.

“It’s hard for everybody. I think that’s the nature of the sport,” Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. “We can’t simulate Cam Newton. No one can. … I think it is difficult on both sides of the ball just because no one has scout players that are good enough to really give you exactly the speed and tempo that we practice at.”

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