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War Room: Oregon at Rutgers PreviewDuck Sports CentralWednesday War Room: Oregon at Rutgers PreviewOregon Ducks football, Dan Lanning, Oregon recruiting, college football, NIL, Big Ten, Pac-12, Scott Reed, Duck Sports Central, recruiting news

TURN THOSE MACHINES BACK ON! In the outstanding comedy, Trading Places, Mortimer Duke may have foreshadowed SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. The SEC's move to nine regular-season conference games beginning in 2026 was, according to Sankey, based in part on the Playoff Committee agreeing to use 'advanced metrics' to determine a team's strength of schedule (SOS) and Strength of Record (SOR), and to rely upon both calculations when determining the 12-team Playoff field. In other words, 2024's 3-loss Alabama, Ole Miss, and South Carolina would be in the Playoff, instead of 11-1 Indiana and a second ACC team, SMU. To wit - How Strength of Schedule and Record Strength Will Impact CFP Rankings in the New CFP Metric The system used by the Committee in determining SOS and SOR is the product of SportsSource Analytics and is proprietary. The programming the Committee will use to determine SOS and SOR is not disclosed or available to the general public. So, SEC Commissioner Sankey was apparently given the inside scoop? If so, I do not know if the same information was provided to the other conference commissioners and the Notre Dame athletic director. To get a handle on 'The Machines,' I referred to the Massey Ratings, a widely referred to computer ranking, owned by Dr. Kenneth Massey and On3, and available to the public, to determine a putative Playoff field at the regular season's halfway mark. You can search 'Understanding the Massey Ratings on On3,' or search 'Massey Ratings' for the up-to-date ranking of the Power 4, Group of 6, and Notre Dame. The Massey Playoff Predicter through Week Seven, with a team's current SOS and estimated future SOS. 1. 6-0 Ohio State - 33/55 2. 6-0 Indiana - 20/43 3. 5-1 Alabama - 2/9 4. 6-0 Ole Miss - 32/29 5. 5-1 Georgia - 4/11 6. 6-0 Texas A&M - 9/7 7. 5-1 OREGON - 12/18 8. 5-0 Miami - 15/45 9. 4-2 Notre Dame - 6/36 10. 6-0 Texas Tech - 56/56 11. 4-2 Texas - 11/12 12. 6-0 Memphis - 105/86 (actual rank - 28) Memphis knocks out No. 12-ranked LSU. Sorry, Sankey 😁. I am not surprised by the SEC's current and future SOS rankings. I'm not surprised by B12 Texas Tech's low ranking. I am pleasantly surprised by Indiana and OBD's SOS ranking. In this Playoff forecast, Oregon would host Texas Tech in a 1st round game. The ranking for OBD's future opponents: 16. USC, 17. Washington, 24. Iowa, 51. Minnesota, 61. Wisconsin, 62. Rutgers. On Selection Sunday, December 7, 2025, which teams and conference commissioners will be shouting out - TURN THOSE MACHINES BACK ON!

I can handle it but still like some green and yellow somewhere. I guess it would ruin the look. I don't care if we flog Rutgers 52-3

Wow. The helmet is NOT white, but "white-marble." "The Ducks wills also wear a new helmet combination featuring a white marble base with black wings and black face cage." Cool! Kinda reminds me of gravestones?

I love two aspects of it: --the jersey number is black, but when the light hits it--it turns to green. Cool! --that helmet ROCKS! I may want to change my avatar to that soon! Leaving Huskies in the dust...

Amen Duck-Brother. Most of what they suggest is stupid-as-hell. The only yellow anyone has are T-Shirts, so suggest yellow EARLY in the season, when it is warm and the clothing fits the climate. Fans wearing black just drowns out the color in the stadium, and is just plain dumb.

I don’t understand why the AD doesn’t try to coordinate the fan’s color with the team’s uniforms. Fans are being asked to wear green again (just like the Penn State game) but the uniforms are white, black and silver). Doesn’t make sense to me. “Oregon's uniform combination is based on the "Warp Speed" all white (with black and silver details) jersey from the "Generation O" line released in 2024.”

Mike fun tboughts and thanks for sharing. For many reasons the Duck offense needa to get a whole a lot louder NOW! Right now starting in NJ...... OBD's have 6 steps on their ladder to reach 11-1 and a berth in the CFP. They control their own narrative. So the offense needs to step up NOW against BIG 10 defenses. There may not be any soft defenses in the CFP? Any loss to Rutgers or Whisky would be viewed as a bad loss. A loss to either team would knock OBD's out of the top 11. They may fall to far to climb back in! Iowa is the place that offenses go to die, including their own. The Duck D needa to bring its A+ plus game because it could be a low scoring game. If OBD's offense doesnt get right a win will be hard fought. Wins over Minnesota, Usuck and the leglifters will require the Duck O to get right and stay right I believe that the Ducks can and will run the table and the offense will get very, very loud. If not we as fans will be crushed and disappointed. First step on the ladder, Rutgers. It all starts there. Go Ducks, get a whole lot louder NOW!

I love the stormtroopers! They should be reserved for our biggest away game every year, IMO. Since it didn’t make sense to wear them for the Penn State whiteout, I would have kept them for the Fusky game.

Mike, I thank you for the guest article, and the points you brought up about the track record of Dan Lanning after a rare loss. Lanning does not lose to teams he should not to, such as Cristobal teams playing down to their opponent. An opponent has to be GOOD to beat Oregon, and when they do--Our Beloved Ducks bounce back extremely well. Great to have those stats, and opinions of notable podcasters as well. And ANYONE can offer a guest article for FishDuck.com...just email it to me charles@fishduck.com and I will provide the pictures and publish. We have had many outstanding articles like this over the years from Mike, and new perspectives are always welcome here.

Wouldn't this be nice? A home game win over Notre Dame and a defeat of Miami in the Orange Bowl? Canes WarningCFB analyst Josh Pate predicts Miami to be upset by Orego...Josh Pate's midseason bracket projects Miami's road to the College Football Playoff running through Hard Rock Stadium — but ending there against Oregon. In an u

Mike, I don't mean to harp on schedules. OK, I admit to harping on. 😁 OBD's remaining schedule at Rutgers, Wisconsin, at Iowa, Minnesota, USC, and at UW is not easy, and SOS-wise will be more difficult if Iowa defeats Penn State, USC defeats No. 13 Notre Dame, and UW wins in Ann Arbor this Saturday. But compared to the Bruins, and Tim Skipper and Jerry Neuheisel's remaining six, OBD's remainder is 'manageable.' The Bruins' next six opponents - Maryland, Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio State, Washington, and USC. UCLA plays Indiana, Ohio State, and USC on the road. Five of UCLA's last six games could be played against Top 25 opponents. OBD has no excuse not to TCB. Get Right at Rutgers!

Like them but by all that is right in this world there should always be noticeable green. Maybe an irridescent green on the numbers or a thing green outlining the numbers or somesuch detail.

Built for recruits. Oregon Ducks' New Uniforms Are Built to Impress Recruits Nationwide

Three keys to the game. Oregon’s 3 keys to victory against Rutgers football What to expect from the Rutgers Defense What the Oregon Ducks should expect from Rutgers' defense

The numbers are mallard green if you watch the video.

Thanks for the uplifting take. All good points well made. How about A Little Different Now when in a time out? Byes have not been OBD's friend. Good call on the performance of the defense vs. Indiana. The defense also played well at Penn State. The offense has not hit on all cylinders against B1G competition. Even versus Northwestern, the offense seemed to be disjointed. But Northwestern is 4-2 and Penn State is 3-3. 😁 Obviously, Penn State was flat after the double OT loss to OBD, but the UCLA offense was terrific against Penn State and also against lesser (I think) competition against Michigan State. You get punched in the chops for a half, OK. But the offense of a team with the 5th best roster in CFB floundering for 60 minutes, not punching back, is concerning. A beatdown from a terrific Georgia team to open Dan's career was understandable. As Kirby Smart noted, 'Dan knows we have better players.' Today? FWIW, Montana State is ranked 4th in the first release of the FCS playoff committee poll. Thanks again, Mike. Get Right at Rutgers!

Oregon Consistently Gets Better, A LOT BETTER, After Losses The Facts from 37 months Under Dan Lanning You saw Penn State lose a close game to Oregon this year and then watched the Nittany Lions turtle their next two games, brutal defeats, coach fired, dreams obliterated, season over. In 2024, Ohio State lost at home to an unranked Michigan team. ... Lanning: Little Bit Softer Now, Little Bit Louder Now...

The all-white uniforms give me a feeling of confidence. When I was about thirteen I joined the junior firefighters because the local fire department had two regulation pool tables above the truck garage. The game we played was called “eight ball”. Of the fifteen numbered balls, 1-7 balls are solid colored, and 9-16 have a stripe around the ball with white on each side of the stripe. The eight ball is black. After the break the first shooter could pick between the solids (called stars) and the striped balls. Another name for the game was Stars and Stripes. The game was won by making all seven of your chosen balls, then making the black eight ball. It took us several turns to get to shoot at the eight ball, and usually not get that black ball in on the first try, or even the second. When I was fifteen the fire department put one of their pool tables up for sale and my Dad bought it. We kids knew our Dad had a misspent youth, poker, pool and so forth. All of that ended when he started dating Mom. But, there were stories that he was the county pool champion and occasionally some old guy would remark about his exploits at pool. He had the marble-topped table installed in the large room over the garage and had it leveled and completely refurbished with new bumpers, pockets and felt. Then Dad gathered my three older brothers for a game. Maybe I should say for a display of his skill. I was just watching while Dad would spin the cue ball off his target ball into position for his next shot, planning at least two, and sometimes three shots ahead. He would shoot, reach for the chalk and be moving into position for his next shot while the balls were still rolling. Always getting just the right amount of chalk on the tip of his cue stick. He could make that white ball dance around the felt. One evening I challenged Dad to play eight ball and after losing several games I asked him why it was so difficult for me to make the eight ball. He said: “Michael, when you look at something, what you see is the reflection of light. The color black doesn’t reflect much light.” So when I see OBD garbed in black I expect that the QB will miss seeing a few wide open receivers. Much easier to see them in white, or even bright yellow. Chrome?

Venting here. I have a B1G Beef with the B1G media deal. West to East travel - there should be no kickoffs before 3:30 Eastern. East to West travel - no kickoffs later than 3:30 Eastern. No Pacific time zone NFL teams play games in the East that kick off at 9 AM body clock time, Noon Eastern. Folks in the Central and Eastern time zones should be able to watch their teams play before 10:30 PM Eastern. Players should depart the West Coast before 3:00 to 4:00 AM Eastern Time. The biggest draws in the B1G, Ohio State and Michigan, should not be saddled with a host of Noon kickoffs. The most-watched game to date in 2025 saw Texas at Ohio State. This with a Noon kickoff. How many more folks would have watched in prime time? Millions. ESPN times the presentation of SEC games far better than the Fox broadcast group. Of course, it's easier for ESPN to deal with only two SEC time zones and reserve the late starts for the B12. One easy fix: the West Coast teams should be permanent opponents of one another. If it takes a season longer to cycle through the conference, so be it. This weekend's B1G, B1G Beef. Two of the hottest teams in CFB for different reasons are Indiana (sigh) and Penn State. These teams are riding waves of publicity, and folks want to watch both play ball. Penn State at Iowa, and Michigan State at Indiana, both on Peacock.🤬 Having both games streamed on Saturday is bad business. Millions more fans could and would be watching these games on linear TV. Watch Out For Waving Cane!

Pancho takes the blame for a six-pack of sacks. https://247sports.com/college/oregon/article/oregons-iapani-laloulu-on-six-sacks-against-indiana-i-take-ownership-of-every-one-of-them-257062543/?source=column&lctg=26140&eid=c7d8647c6247db8d08c59fe44bc30380a147aa90b9e33

Don't want to be negative, but these units give me a bad feeling. Not a bit of green or yellow. Oi vey!

I think the sports psychology message for this past week fell flat for that reason. Highlighting Secretariat with a 60 furlong lead at the Belmont Stakes had me puzzled. I know it was about the horse's heart being 3 times it's normal size, but it just fell flat with complacency.