All Activity

Thanks again for the great article to ponder. I don't believe in a conference with 16 or more teams that in-conference scheduling can be 'fair.' In 2023, I don't believe any human or any computer programmed to make in-conference scheduling equal could have predicted that the college football program with the most losses in the history of the sport would qualify for the playoff in 2024 and win the whole darn thing in 2025. The NFL does all it can to achieve parity among the 32 teams. Besides Bo being injured and a new head coach with a clue, the Pats were in the Super Bowl because New England stunk the prior four seasons, and accordingly, played the easiest NFL schedule in 2025. It just so happens that Ohio State plays the most difficult conference schedule in 2026, plus a game at Texas. But do you want your top brands and the two teams that played for a conference championship the year before to have the most difficult schedules the next season? That would be putting multi-millions of dollars in your gun and shooting your conference in the foot. There is a solution, and it's a solution that reflects the state of today's game, including the teams that have qualified for a 12-team playoff the last two years. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti's 16-team, 4-4-2-2-1-3 automatic qualifier format in 2025-26 would have had one fewer G5 team, but one more B1G, SEC, ACC, B12 team, and Notre Dame would also have been in the field. Playoff play-in games would help with scheduling symmetry. Wisconsin had a brutal schedule last season. A sixth-place Badgers team may well have been better than a third-place team that had a lightweight schedule; settle it on the field. 1st and 2nd place are in the playoff field, 3rd and fourth place teams are rewarded with flex scheduled home game in the final week of the regular season. The 5th and 6th-place teams have a shot at the playoffs, and more fans would be involved and invested in the entire season. The price of attendance for Oregon home games next season, and for home games coast-to-coast increase significantly in 2026. Flex-scheduled playoff play-in games would bring in more media dollars. And with an AQ playoff format, a B1G/SEC out-of-conference football challenge could be played every season for bigger B1G/$EC media money. Much of the PO Committee's subjectivity would be eliminated. More money for the ACC and the B12 helps stave off further consolidation and keeps millions of ACC and B12 football fans invested in the great game of college football. No need to further shuffle the CFB conference deck. Your Honor (if you are still awake), I rest my case.😁 [Oops - If and as I expect will happen in 2030, B1G teams keep the playoff money they earn, and media revenue is based at least in part on the number of folks watching the games, adding Cal and Stanford, with a floor for annual investment in athletics for all conference teams, might make sense.]

Open Range isn't just my favorite Duvall movie. It's one of my favorite movies hands down! He was pretty dang fun to watch in Deep Impact as well!

One of the best, if not the best. It would be a good comparison to the 2024 squad...

with our current history of roster retention and who will be Juniors along with the 2026 recruits.. it might be safe to say Raiola will be playing with the most talented roster in the history of Ducks football. No?

Jon Joseph explained it well to me why the two bay area schools will not be added to the Big Ten. They do not add to the revenue stream, and in fact, everybody would have to take a haircut in the conference, if they joined. I agree that scholastically they fit the Conference perfectly, but if everybody has to take less money? This goes back quite a ways, but it was announced by the B1G that they have passed on those two schools permanently.

I'll cheat and say his best supporting actor role is in Godfather. As lead actor, Lonesome Dove. BTW, Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall were the spot-on perfect casting for McMurtry's LD characters. I re-read the book a few years ago and it is impossible not to hear and visualize those two in your head while doing so. His best line though is in Apocalypse Now, and it isn't the one you think about napalm. It's: "Charlie don't surf!"

Go thoughts, Feather. I miss playing Cal and Stanford. I wonder whether the experience that schools in the B1G before bringing in OBD, fuskies, UCLA and USC are having with the expanded conference as is would cause them to object to two more from the west coast.

Another vote for Open Range.

If expansion and a new alignment means only 2 schools are to be taken (without ND being a possibility) I say Stanford and Cal. This seems like a no-brainer to me. They are among THE finest private and public, respectively, schools in this land. I believe that their fan support will skyrocket with membership in the Big-10 after their few years of purgatory traveling to Clemson, SC. Gross. If ND is in the mix? ND and Stanford.

It may be a tired question to some, but these are important questions about the Playoffs. In the end, what the B1G wants is less SEC bias by the committee, and we can't count on that. So the less input by the committee, and more that is already agreed upon up front...the better. Perhaps this is Pettiti's way of asking for the world, and getting compromises? SEC gives up committee power, and B1G agrees to 16 teams?

Predictably, Jon Joseph presents some enticing arguments that provoked my mind to consider different directions for reply. That’s a good thing. It is exactly what I hoped for while writing the article, and more. Jon does not really ATFQ of which two schools the B1G should consider for expansion because he gives us six! And not two divisions, but three. I struggle to understand how three divisions with four cross-over games can ever be symmetrical. Of necessity, there is no way the teams will be playing comparable opponents in the cross-over games. The Socratic question to you, Jon, is: “How is that symmetrical?” Hence, is it fair? I have considered the flex schedule at the end of the regular season before, but Jon gave me a new twist that I will address in the next article. Hint, maybe there is a way for the B1G to achieve symmetry with only 18 teams and not expand. Thanks for that. Notre Dame is an obvious candidate for expansion. Charles and I have discussed this possibility and he believes that the Irish broadcasting deal with CBS will keep them independent. More to discuss there.

I love what Mike Whitty is proposing, as sometimes you try things, (like removing divisions) and then realize things were better the way they used to be. His proposed movement of teams every two years is quite interesting as well. And WHO would be the final two teams added to the Big-10? Great stuff...

Seems like the B1G talking point this off-season is going to be centered on getting an expanded playoff for the 2027 season. Much consternation has been made of Petiti being dead set on getting 24 teams, and a fixed number going to each conference. The SEC wants 16, and thought going to 9 conference games was the key to getting there. I know how most SEC fans feel, they feel like Sankey is getting pushed around. But in all reality, the SEC has gotten the benefit of the doubt with multiple years in the BCS, four team, and now twelve team eras. There were two all SEC BCS Title games, and one in the four team. The SEC got almost half the field of a twelve team field, and failed to beat another P4 team outside of each other. I know this is a tired question, but I would like to hear from my Duck friends if 24 is too big, or if 16 is good enough with a proposed automatics for each conference. Also, what to do with the G6 and Notre Dame. It's going to be a long wait till we get our football fix, but there's a lot going on right now to keep some topics alive.

I really like him in Colors as Officer Hodges, but this scene from Four Christmases was pretty funny.

Love this article and thanks for the velvet hammer. My great reply did not get a pass from you, Professor. I get it; been there and velvet-hammered before. For the most part, all hammering was well deserved. Chancing a deserved critique, might I suggest the following B1G add-ons, with the understanding that the next media deal will see B1G teams keeping the majority of money they earn in the postseason, and media revenue will be shared by eyes on the prize; how many people are watching you play ball. Cal, Stanford, CU, Utah, UNC, and Duke. (Notre Dame, if amenable, would take the place of one of these six teams. If ND agreed to go B1G, perhaps add UVA with ND.) Three eight-team divisions. Twenty-four-team playoff. Flex schedule the last two weeks of the regular season for playoff play-in games. Seven division games. Four cross-over games. One OOC game. PS - Two trips to the Eastern time zone in November of 2026 is cruel and unusual, but usual for OBD.

Recently on the FishDuck Forum there was a thread started by iubhounds titled “Having To Fly East For Games”. In the thread, I poked the bear and said, in effect, “there’s no evidence that travel and unbalanced schedules with random bye weeks impact the results of the games. OBD wins regardless of travel.” Jon Joseph wrote an outstanding reply that ... Is ‘Flexible Symmetry’ the Answer to Big-10 Scheduling?

Great minds think alike. Even though I'm not really much into westerns, Open Range is one of my favorite movies. Robert Duvall was great in it.

Tender Mercies

Being a cantankerous old man, I can most relate to Duvall in Secondhand Lions.

He was in many very good movies, if you like Open Range, then you have to like the Lonesome Dove mini series. I always laugh during the Open Range gunfight scene. Charley Waite’s (Costner) Colt revolver has a seemingly endless supply of ammo. Seems like he racks off 16 to 18 shots without reloading, fans about 8 to 9 rounds into one guy. I will generally rewatch it I have the time. Another good role was in the Great Santini. He definitely is an unlikeable character, but in line with his characters hard nosed style as a leader of men, he performs a selfless act of heroism at the end. A bit of an emotional rollercoaster.

Saw this in the theater when I was 12. Double bill w/Dirty Harry. Fifth avenue cinema in Portland. It never gets old. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atMdf0rhbpI

Thanks, Charles. So many terrific movies - The Apostle was one of his best.

Open Range is pretty good. I like watching old movies from before my time. The practical sets, and massive cast to make Ben-Hur, and Wizard of Oz will always beat the CGI slop of today imo. As for Duval, I liked that movie he did with Paul Newman. It was a western, but I can't think of the name of it. There's that famous scene where Newman low blows Ted Cassidy. True Grit is a great movie as well. *My bad. That movie was with Robert Redford, not Robert Duval. It was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We lost Robert Redford a few months ago, and now Robert Duval. RIP gentlemen.

He died at age 95, and has been in so many great roles. Most like his performance best in Apocalypse Now, or the Godfather series, which I can't disagree with. Others point to the Lonesome Dove series... I liked him best in the western, Open Range. Which is your favorite?