The only thing making Oregon elite really is Phil Knight pouring in a massive amount of his wealth into the athletic department in general and the football program specifically.
They don't have the talent instate or even regionally to compete on a national basis, even if they secured every one of the best players in the Oregon/Washington/Idaho/Montana region. There's not enough money in the state, or the alumni base. The student body is not massive, and neither is the alum base.
The area is geographically gorgeous. There's all kinds of mountains and streams. Outdoor activities galore. There's snow skiing. The beaches are spectacular, even if the water is too cold to recreationally swim in. Hiking opportunities.
Coming from Houston, the demographics are stupefyingly white. Especially in Eugene and the rest of rural Oregon.
The town itself is nice. The metro population is about 200k. It's very much a college town. It doesn't compare to Austin or any college town next to a sizable city, but it's also not a tiny burg. It's a similar population size to Lubbock, without feeling like it's out in the middle of nowhere.
Knight has thrown so much money into the athletic department, it's unbelievable. The Hayward Field has to be the nicest track and field facility in the world. It's absolutely gorgeous, and it's right in the middle of campus. The Matthew Knight Arena is a nice multipurpose sports facility for the basketball and volleyball teams. It's also right on campus. The football, baseball, softball, soccer/lacrosse facilities are all bunched together on the other side of the campus, about a 10 minute walk through a beautiful park area and over the picturesque Williamette River.
Their big problem is how do they increase their revenue? The stadium only holds 54,000, and they can't increase it a great deal without carrying empty seats for a lot of games and giving up tons of seats to visiting fans for the big name opponents. They have a real dearth of luxury seating, both in the football stadium and in the basketball arena - which has none. They're very much limited by the economics of the region, the alumni base, and the populations they're working with.
One thing they do have is culture. Athletes there are treated like royalty. I'd say it's a bigger deal to be an athlete at Oregon than it is at Texas. Whatever the sport. I don't know if their facilities overall equal Texas, but they come close in many sports. And there's no question who has priority on campus. They've torn down the science center this past year to build a brand new 170,000 sq ft football only facility, which should be completed in the next couple of years. The cost has not been revealed, but everyone knows who is paying for it.
They also have a problem keeping their coaches. Rich Brooks left for the NFL after a 17 year career. Mike Belotti retired and became the athletic director after 13 years, so he didn't go anywhere. But Chip Kelly left for the pros after 4 years, Mark Helfrich was fired after 4 years, Willie Taggart left for FSU after 1 year, and Cristobal left for Miami after 5 years.
It's so challenging finding the right guy to be the head coach, which makes it paramount to be able to keep them when you do. Dan Lanning already refused to listen to Alabama's overtures, so maybe he's there for the long haul. Dunno. I also don't know what happens to them when Phil Knight passes away. He's leaving a large largesse to the athletic department - at least, that's what he's told them - but suddenly it's a relatively fixed number being provided each year rather than Phil Knight being able to dip as deep as he wants to go into his vast fortune, and that will change things. Also, they're getting 1/2 the television funds of other Big 10 members, but that changes with the next contract in 8 years, or however long it is.