Normally, there seems to be an abundance of smart people on this board. Today, many of you are missing the true point.
As a few posters have said, Oregon and the other DI teams at this meet have everything to lose, based on the way teams qualify for the National meet. It would be a setback for every school beaten by Adams in terms of the points system. This is not a knock on Adams, but they are a DII team. A team gains nothing by being beaten by a DII team, even if they could (not would) conceivably finish top 5 at the DI national meet.
I think we all agree that it would be good for the sport and as a fan and former DII runner, I would love to watch this meet. But this is not about being scared, about dodging competition, or about early season racing vs training through meets. It is about scoring at large points and having teams possibly decide not to retun to this meet in the future. Everyone here should be able to understand this concept.