No. 12 OREGON DUCKS

Ducks look to Kelly to continue Bellotti legacy

Not much is really expected of Chip Kelly this season. He just needs to continue on Mike Bellotti's under-appreciated legacy, where the former coach won 116 games in 14 seasons in Eugene. The Ducks won two conference championships under Bellotti's leadership, and though they haven't been able to pierce through the USC dominance this decade, Oregon has continued to receive national respect.

While Oregon was becoming a national title contender at the end of the last decade, Bellotti's team slowly fell back as USC rose to prominence this decade. Outside of two 10-win seasons in 2005 and 2008, Oregon hasn't finished higher than a tie for fourth since 2003.

Of course injuries and bad luck hindered Oregon's chances to really make a huge splash on the national scene - the Ducks were jipped out of a chance to play for the national title in 2001 and a late season injury to star QB Dennis Dixon in 2007 ended a promising season.

But under Bellotti's watch, opponents began to fear coming to Autzen Stadium, and Oregon was rarely overlooked (albeit, that might be due to wearing some of the most hideous uniforms Nike could design). And it will be up to new coach Chip Kelly to build on the success that Bellotti did have. Of course, getting out of his mentor's shadow will be difficult, as Bellotti is remaining in Eugene to be the athletic director.

In 2009, the Ducks will be the team for all those fans pulling against "BCS Busters." In the first three weeks, Oregon will travel to Boise State and host Utah, with a home game against Purdue sandwiched between. Knocking out the out-of-conference slate by mid-September will allow Oregon to focus on the Pac-10 schedule for the remainder - notably home games against No. 13 Cal, USC, Arizona State and Oregon State. Within the conference, the toughest road game will be at Arizona. The USC game comes after three weeks off (well, technically the Ducks have to travel to Seattle the week before, but no game against Washington has constituted anything but an off week lately).

So the schedule lines up perfectly for a run at dethroning conference heavyweight USC, but the issue will be seeing how Kelly transitions from his offensive coordinator duties to full time head coach, all while attempting to live up to the legendary Bellotti.

CFN 2009 Preview | ESPN Oregon Page | CBS Oregon Page

Part of a two-week long look into the 2009 Preseason Southern Fans' College Football Poll. New posts released each day, culminating with the No. 1 team on September 2.