I wrote about the BCS championship game for the Monday editions of The National. Keep in mind, probably 90 percent of our readers are unclear on the concept of American football … never mind college football … not to mention the states of Oregon and Alabama. (How many Americans know where Sussex is? Or the state of Kerala? Or understand cricket or know a great rugby matchup when they see one? There ya go.) Which is why the column was almost entirely devoted to explaining why a reader in Abu Dhabi might be prodded into caring. Because, ultimately, this is a really good matchup.

And, of course, I would like to see Oregon win. And I know why I prefer that, and I assume most other fans think the way I do about these things. But perhaps I am wrong.

As a fan, my mental framework is organized into geographical circles radiating outward.

I want my preferred team (local to SoCal) to win. After that, I want any other team from the immediate area to win. Thus, a high school from my city if my favorite city team isn’t playing; a high school from my county if the other is from far away; USC, if UCLA isn’t available; the Chargers if, you know, L.A. had an NFL team and it wasn’t playing. A Pacific Coast team before one from another part of the country. A western team (this side of the Rockies) over someone else.

(And then we get into some “league” preferences” that generally include National League over American League and NFC over AFC, which might override my usual geographical considerations unless, perhaps, the Angels are involved.)

But the operative factors for me, here, are “Oregon, Pac-10, West Coast team” … and choosing a favorite in this particular BCS title game is already over.

It makes it even easier when the opponent, Auburn, comes from the Southeastern Conference, which I consider the most corrupt and cynical of all college conferences. I am pretty much convinced that whatever cheating goes on at USC or other college strongholds … well, that’s Just How They Roll in the SEC. That’s everyday life. They just don’t talk about it because they all do it.

Take the whole Cam Newton debacle, for instance, and his father apparently turning his kid’s recruitment into a cash-flow opportunity. Doesn’t that all seem so SEC? That he can be their player of the year (as well as the Heisman winner, which is just wrong) despite that history? I am convinced Reggie Bush is a piker when it comes to SEC-scale corruption.

So, yes, Oregon over Auburn. A decision that took about 0.01 seconds.

It helps that I like Oregon. Green and well-scrubbed (by nature). Rivers. Trees. Oregonians may not like Californians (we moved up there and wrecked the real-estate market, apparently), but they eventually get over it, usually, and it’s not like they have the market cornered on New Age goofiness, either. Oregon has more than a few “real” folks. In fact, just about anyone outside the I-5 corridor is likely to be as unpretentious as someone from Indiana or Kansas.

I doubt I could live in Oregon. The west side of the mountains gets far too much rain (more than Seattle, allegedly), and I probably would throw my soggy self into the Willamette within a few months. And the eastern side of the mountains, well, nobody lives there, and if I wanted that kind of solitude I’d have moved to Barstow years ago.

Plus, I like the University of Oregon. Been there many times, mostly for basketball, but also for football. And don’t you have to like the university where “Animal House” was filmed? (For you kids, “Animal House” was the “The Hangover” of the1970s.)

The Ducks are big up there, too. This is a state, remember, that has the Portland Trail Blazers and then … the Ducks or the Beavers. Unless you like Triple-A baseball.

I like the inventiveness of their offense, the way they just overwhelm you with speed and timing. I’m not so crazy about their uniforms, which they never wear twice. Too goofy. Sure, the kids love it … but I definitely prefer the USC/Penn State “we never change what we wear” look.

And, of course, I really don’t like Auburn and the SEC.

So, it’s easy. Go, Ducks!

Auburn is good, no question. You don’t go 13-0 through the SEC without being really, really good and really fast and physical. Auburn will be bigger than the Ducks, and probably just as fast.

So this will come back to the traditional “can the Pac-10 out-scheme the lugs from the East?” again. I like this. I like the idea of pulling for the side that is more clever.

Or they better be, or Auburn could win in a rout.

Oh, and one final thought. Not only will I not see this game (no TV, remember?, and it starts at about 5 a.m. Tuesday here), it will mark the first BCS title game in Arizona that I have not covered. The first I have not been at in person. Sigh. Not that I am a Particularly Important Person. It’s just a fact of geography that you can drive to the Phoenix area from SoCal in about 4-5 hours, see the game, turn around and drive back, and I did just that, three times.)

I saw the very first BCS title game, in Arizona, in 1999 (Tennessee 23, Florida State 16) with my colleague Mike Davis; I saw the 2003 game (Ohio State 31, Miami 24) with my son; and the 2007 game, Florida 41, Ohio State 14 all by myself. That ’07 blowout was the first Arizona BCS title game to be played in Glendale. (The first two were in Sun Devil Stadium.)

So, I suppose they can put on this thing without me. Who knew.

So Ducks … go make us proud of the West, the West Coast and the Pac-10.