Congrats to Oregon, and I would not foucs what they could have done w/o Biwott's 4:05 becasue every 4xmile relay alway has a guy run about the same time or slower. The law of averages say you are never going get 4 guys on top of their game at the same time.
Btw, I see no reason why Oregon could not have done this at Penn. And for the people who say they ran way better than the Penn teams, keep in mind, that at the Penn those athletes are doubling and tripling. Not taking any thing away from Oregon's CR, but Villanova, Arkansas w/o a doubt under the same circumstances had teams in the late 70s to mid-80s that could have run faster. I could probably throw in the Michgan and Stanford teams of the late 90s as well.
Keep in mind that Penn is two weeks earlier in the sesaon and at Penn, the 4xmile (4x1500/1600) was alway run for victory and the 4x8 and DMR had more emphasis on time. Btw, the Penn Relays is like Boston Marathon, it is really about winning. Franklin Field is not the best place for time, the track is weird and not partically fast, the stadium has swirling winds and the weather is unpredictable.
Those Villanova and Arkansas teams had lots of 4 minute milers and one or two world class milers. Guys like Don Paige, Mark Belger, Eamonn Coghlan, Sydney Maree, Joe Falcon, Reuben Reina, Joe Falcon would have walked Rupp down even with a 20 meter lead.
With that said, I think Oregon is capable of running faster as well and Oregon did it with with only 1 or 2 true milers. Oregon ran a great time especially under the circumstances, but they needed to get under 16 to end the debate and shut up guys like me.