Three lead for Bowen

Trophy Club (Texas) Byron Nelson Rivals100 defensive end Brandon Bowen entered the season with a top two of Baylor and USC. He even thought about making a preseason decision before deciding he needed more time to take some visits.

A few weeks ago, he took his first official visit to Oregon.

"It was amazing," Bowen said. "It was beautiful. It was a beautiful campus. They have a whole bunch of humble players. Actually all of them are humble, nice people. They're really nice. It was a beautiful community."

He was hosted by Gus Cumberlander on his visit, and he was joined by his mother on the trip. There was a lot to see and he saw it all while in Eugene.

"I went to the academic center and took a tour around the campus," Bowen said. "I saw all you could do around the campus. I went to the stadium, the training room. I went through everything on campus they wanted to show me. All the things I liked were about the academic center and how they're really you pushing for your academics. That's really the big thing that stood out to me."

The visit seems to have paid off for the Ducks.

"My favorites right now are still Baylor and USC but now it's Oregon too," Bowen said. "Oregon is on my mind. It really stuck out to me and I could see myself over there and being with their football family."

The Ducks have made up ground and he has "pretty much" narrowed his list to those three programs. Of the three favorites he does admit Baylor continues to hold the lead.

"Yes, it's my family school, so they're up there right now," Bowen said. "But Oregon is really fighting for that because I could really see myself at Oregon."

He does not have any other official visits scheduled, and there is a good chance he decides not to take any other official visits. He has mentioned Michigan and Arizona State as official visit possibilities. He did not think he would be able to take one to Michigan, but there is a chance he decides to take an Arizona State visit.

Unofficial visits to Baylor could be in his future, and he mentioned TCU, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M as possible unofficial destinations during the fall. However, he does not have any visits scheduled at this time.

In addition to his visit possibilities, he also has an idea about when he would like to make his announcement. After giving it some thought, he feels like a decision could be ready around the end of October.

"I want to make a decision before our senior night," Bowen said. "My mom told me before the season not to rush to commit yet so i'm taking my time and I'm really thinking over where I can be at at those campuses. So it should be around senior night for football. It's around October 30. It will be around that area. It might be on senior night. It might be a little bit before."

Bowen is currently ranked No. 55 in the Rivals100, No. 4 among the nation's 2016 weakside defensive ends, and No. 6 in the Rivals.com Texas Preseason Top 100.