Report: Oregon made strong push for Rhule

Hours before he was named Baylor's new head coach, Oregon attempted to poach Matt Rhule from Temple, two people with knowledge of the situation told Dan Wolken of USA TODAY Sports.

The Ducks reportedly made a strong play for the 41-year-old Monday night, but evidently were left still searching for a candidate to fill their coaching vacancy. Oregon fired Mark Helfrich on Nov. 29.

It's unknown how close the Pac-12 program ever got to consummating a deal with Rhule, but the Pennsylvania native accepted Baylor's offer Tuesday, after spending four seasons as the head coach at Temple.

Rhule led the Owls to a 28-23 record, including two division titles and one conference championship.