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Our OBD member, sports fan, posted this below in a separate thread and I thought I'd combine them into the same topic thread. This prediction is by Baseball America, while mine above is from On3... 2025 College World Series Predictions: Picking Our ‘Eight For Omaha’ (May 16) WWW.BASEBALLAMERICA.COM Baseball America's latest "Eight For Omaha" prediction includes a trio of new teams trending toward 2025 College World Series berths.

On3 released their NCAA Baseball Tournament Projections, and their predictions of what D1Baseball rankings will be in a day or so. First of all...they predicted the D1Baseball would rank Our Beloved Ducks No. 4 in the nation, and Beavis at No. 5. However--let's wait for the actual poll to come out, and D1Baseball is what the NCAA uses to assist their selections (along with RPI) for the NCAA Baseball Tournament. As HDuck reported last night, Oregon's RPI is the highest it has been all season at No. 12 in both ranking systems. This is crucial, as not long ago--our RPI was in the 50s, so I am grateful for the move. On3 NCAA Baseball Tournament Projections Granted things will change over the week with conference tournaments, but not too drastically. The actual NCAA announcement is on ESPN on May 26th on their usual selection show. But let's get to what On3 predicts... Oregon No. 7 National NCAA Seed: They predict that Our Beloved Ducks will make the final eight, and thus if we win the Regional, we would host the No. 10 tournament seed Clemson Regional winner at PK Park in a Super-Regional...if things continue according to form. UCLA is predicted to be a No. 16 Seed, and will host a Regional. Iowa and Michigan were predicted last week to be in the tournament, and today prediction has them out of the field of 64. USC is predicted to make the field, traveling to the Oxford Regional. Scheduling Works: At the beginning of the season, Coach Waz explained that many of our non-conference series were against teams that were predicted to win their leagues, and On3 predicts that both Rhode Island and Columbia (The 36 runs scored?) will win their conference, and be in the tournament. While On3 notes that the Ducks are "surging," they also remind us that even with winning 14 of the last 15 games, and the B1G... they say that, "Barring an early exit in the Big Ten Tournament, Oregon feels somewhat solid as a top eight." I believe we not only have to not exit early--I think we need to win the damn thing to be on the safe side. Field of 64 Projections: NCAA Tournament picture shaken up entering conference tournament week - On3 WWW.ON3.COM It's time to enter conference tournament week in college baseball, but not before some serious changes in our Field of 64 projections.

Here's a look at our 'Advisory Committee Buddies' portal rankings. Will the Portal King lose 3 games again? SEC Football Transfer Portal Rankings: Ole Miss' early work puts them in superb spot OLEHOTTYTODDY.COM It feels like yesterday when the winter transfer portal was opening, but now the spring transfer portal has also closed. This means that no more players can ent

Here's an update on PO format discussions. Report: Power Conference commissioners meet again to discuss College Football Playoff future - On3 WWW.ON3.COM Power Conference commissioners met again on Saturday to discuss the College Football Playoff's future, Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger reported. The Power 2 will decide what the final format looks like. The ACC, with eight conference games and its enabling of Notre Dame as an Independent, does not deserve three automatic places in the field. Going 0-2 in the PO last season does not help the ACC's argument. In a conference with ZERO Blue Chip Roster teams, the B12 should be happy to have two participants in the field.

Here are the final attendance results for the Big Ten Conference baseball games. I did not include non-conference games. Hats off to the Cornhusker fans. They really support their team. And what has happened to UCLA. I was shocked to see such low numbers for them. They were in a tight race with our Ducks for first place and nobody bothered to show up to watch them. 1. NEBRASKA 5,458 2. OREGON 2,962 3. IOWA 2.052 4. INDIANA 1,591 5. PURDUE 1,533 6. USC 1,417 7. MICHIGAN 1.394 8. WASHINGTON 1,217 9. MARYLAND 1,156 10. PENN ST. 1,083 11. ILLINOIS 1,029 12. OHIO ST. 981 13. MICHIGAN ST. 857 14. MINNESOTA 681 15. UCLA 660 16. RUTGERS 602 17. NORTHWESTERN 485

I remember way back when all Duck games (and I think most, if not all, PAC games) started at 1:00 pm., which I thought was great. (I know not everyone would be happy about that start time, but I loved it.) Yes, that was before all games were on TV, so there's the hitch. But still, I'd be happy with noon, 1 pm, 2 pm, 3 pm games and getting home before it is dark.

It's High Noon between the O-HI-O legislature and a Fox. You took the money, you spent the money, too bad you didn't read the contract. The Tennessee Legislature has passed a law telling the NCAA that the House settlement terms cannot be enforced in the Volunteer State other than for its share of House damages. According to the legislature, the Vols and Vandy can exceed the $20.5 million year one cap on direct payment to athletes with impunity. And, any and every NIL deal is kosher and cannot be found to be out of line with 'market value.' The above two pieces of legislation evidence the need for college sports to find relief from the federal government. The House settlement does nothing to curtail 'creative' state legislative activity. If I were Greg Sankey, I'd tell the Tennessee legislature it's all good, but Tennessee and Vanderbilt are not included among the SEC defendants settling with the House plaintiffs.

Oregon Ducks' Matayo Uiagalelei Reveals Recruiting Choice, USC Trojans' Tight End Plans Oregon Ducks outside linebacker Matayo Uiagalelei appeared on the "Ducks of a Feather" podcast with Oregon great Kenjon Barner, and Uiagalelei revealed that USC Trojans coach Lincoln Riley wanted him to play tight end at USC. In fact, Uiagalelei played some tight end in his first spring with the Ducks. Oregon Ducks Matayo Uiagalelei Reveals Recruiting Choice, USC Trojans' Tight End Plan WWW.SI.COM Oregon Ducks outside linebacker Matayo Uiagalelei led the Big Ten with 10.5 sacks in the 2024 regular season, but as a high school prospect, Uiagalelei was heav

Wow, what happens if 49 more states adopt such a rule? Ohio General Assembly member authors bill to prevent state schools from playing home football games at noon SPORTS.YAHOO.COM The bill includes an exemption that would allow Ohio State to continue to play Michigan at that time.

1 game at a time as the saying goes, win the first game today the momentum is back for the Ducks...of course who knows when Stanford will have Houston back in the circle.

Spotlight on NFLPA rookies features quite a few Ducks. Dillon Gabriel, Tez Johnson, Terrance Ferguson Featured In NFLPA Rookie Premiere WWW.SI.COM Three former Oregon Ducks were featured in the NFLPA Rookie Premier class photo shoot; Cleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Los Angeles Rams tight end T

For Penn State to be top 5 and stay top 5, they have to have better receivers. Who replaces Warren? their WRs last year were abysmal, Harrison Wallace was salvageable, but that's all they have returning (aside from Evans who had 3 catches their last 4 games) unless they brought in new talent from the portal? That seems like a glaring weakness to me especially when Drew Allar is only an OK to good QB...

I agree, Freeman, Sarkisian and Lanning all were signed as HCs the same year. Now Sarkisian did have his failed years at USC and Washington, but I don't get the "longevity" excuse. My assumption is its more recency bias since ND and Texas made in farther in the CFP than Oregon... Oh well, not that this really matters.

I'll give you Ohio State as they have the highest collective group of five stars and cumulative grading outside of the SEC. But Michigan has been right in the same neighborhood or slightly below Penn State. Oregon really hadn't recruited at the rate they have until Lanning. Under Chip it wasn't about five stars, it was about quickness and a style. Mario Christobal got Oregon into the Penn State and Michigan range which is top 15. Under Lanning it's jumped to Ohio State level, so I'll give you that as well. But Penn State has brought in top 15 classes nine times under Franklin. I don't look at that as a sisters of the poor by any means. Franklin should have more than one career win against Ohio State. He's blown ten point leads going into the fourth against them four times in this recent 8 game losing streak and only beat them the one time off a blocked kick six in 2016. That was an Ohio State team that lost by thirty and went scoreless against Clemson in the playoff. Mario Christobal is clowned on appropriately, but he took an Oregon squad into Columbus and beat them by double digits with a roster loaded with Penn State level talent. I dog on Franklin because he blows double digits games like he's mowing a field full of dandelions with those annoying white seeds. Notre Dame was at or below the Penn State talent level and Freeman was capable of beating him. Freeman led a Notre Dame team into a stretch where he beat Georgia, Penn State and made a comeback against Ohio State. When has Franklin done anything like that? Franklin is a very good coach, but he's known as an elite recruiter. Is he even that if he has considerably less talent every year? How do we judge him fairly if we can't hold him accountable for blowing big game after big game? Where does Penn State football's 2025 recruiting class rank on National Signing Day? WWW.YDR.COM See where Penn State football's 2025 recruiting class ranks across the country and in the Big Ten on National Signing...

Jon I think you’ve made a great point in your OP and I very much agree. While building a roster in this new era it’s even more obvious that a program’s success or failure is directly reflected by the financial strategy that is implemented and the ROI of said strategy. Furthermore, I believe that the O-line position group might best exemplify your point. IMO, the O-line is the most important catalyst for an offense. I have this opinion for many reasons, but for the moment I’ll attempt to touch on the reasons that most directly relate to the topic of this thread. O-line is most important bc fielding an elite O-line is the most sure way to attain a truly sustainable dominant offense throughout a season. The line is first and foremost one body made up of strong and talented parts that work so well together in a collaborative strategy that they perform as an elite unit in achieving goals. This elite unit can act as the heart and guide of the offense by creating the pathways that lead to greatness. So if one of the goals is to build an O-line that is capable of performing in such a way, what is the best strategy in the use of your NIL capital to achieve this goal? I believe that your estimate is likely somewhere in the ballpark and bc of that and a few other reasons, I think (especially in this case) that your type of strategy could prove the most efficient and beneficial strategy. As you stated, it’s highly unlikely that a freshman offensive lineman will be prepared to start in his true freshman season, no matter how talented or highly rated he is. To my knowledge there is no amount of NIL money that will magically provide him with the year or years of developmental experience that he will likely need to be the player the unit needs as it pursues greatness. Also, it’s possible that by the time he does become the right player, he may decide to hit the portal in an attempt to further maximize his earning potential. So it’s possible that you might pay him top $ just so you could develop him for someone else’s O-line. If so, this highly touted, highly talented, and extremely expensive recruit has given you a negative ROI, when you consider how that NIL capital might have been used. To your point, instead of taking this risk, search for linemen in the portal that have unexpectedly already developed into just what you’re looking for. Attempt to use your capital on 2 or 3 that look as if they might immediately fit right into your schemes and strategies. Players that you feel are already a few of those strong and talented parts that can become a part of that Elite Unit. Potentially maximize ROI as opposed to risking a negative return. This is just an attempt for me to think about this situation in a way that relates to your OP. I’m certainly not saying don’t go after those top recruits, but it might be worth thinking about it or considering what alternatives might be available or just talk about it. I certainly don’t know what is best but I do think it’s interesting. Some might say it would be very hard to expect an O-line to be able to work that effectively together that quickly, and perhaps that might be the case, but who knows? The right group might do very well together. I’m not exaggerating how strongly I feel about the importance of the O-line for an offense. I have similar feelings for the importance of the D-line for defenses.

When has Franklin had the same talent as the teams he consistently lost to? He has had a QB like Allar only once- the same year he claimed the conference. Franklin gets bashed as if he had top five talent every year. That absolutely has not been the case. The guy didn't have a WR that could stretch the field and that's why he lost a ten point lead to Ohio State last year. That's what Franklin's offenses have been-less than elite. For ten years. Franklin recruited a QB with Diabetes at Vandy, that went pro. That's how he got the PSU job. He's had three elite QBs his entire career. That Franklin beats up everyone but Ohio State, Michigan and Oregon with a B to B plus talent level speaks volumes. He wins the games he's supposed to, and loses the games he's supposed to.

The good thing about the House Settlement is those NIL deals will sort out value per position, and like the NFL the schools will be rated in their scouting and development prowess. Seeing the details of each NIL agreement will be good disclosure for players as well. The greedy ones will go to schools like Miami, who doesn't develop players, and the savvy players (or better yet, their representation) will start evaluating schools for the entire package. Hence, USC, Miami, Florida and Auburn will need to show they can actually develop these players beyond their raw talent. It is also why developing Dante Moore AND Novosad is critical this year. For once, QB recruits will see what Oregon really has to offer when experience is limited. I also happen to believe this is a critical year for developing the secondary. Two years of burnt toast is not a very good look (some of that was talent, especially at the nickel position - and I hope Theisen holds down the position as he is a talented player). DL and his staff still recruit well, but USC and UW are going to start imposing their brands, which will loom large until OBD earn a title.

Oregon is No. 12 in RPI as of Saturday night. They can't afford to slip up and lose early in the Big Ten Tournament. Likewise, UCLA is No. 15.

3 seeded home teams have to win twice on Sunday: Oregon Arizona Tex A&M Seeded LSU is already out.

As I stated yesterday, I was poised to watch the Ducks win and clinch the B1G title today and discovered that the rubber game of the Georgia-aTm series was ON AT THE SAME TIME! This happened all too often during last football season as well. So I was surfing back and forth, spending more time with Georgia as that game was much tighter that Oregon-Iowa. Oregon looked like a quality team today to be sure and is a most deserving B1G champ. The Dawgs, with the #1 RPI, exploded late in their game likely nailed down a top 8 national seed and home-field advantage all the way to Omaha if they can get that far. This is a big deal for the Dawgs as they did not lose a series at home where they were 29-4 this year. Hopefully the Ducks are similarly fixed to host a regional and super regional as well. So a great day on the diamond for both my teams whom we could well see play one another in the days ahead.

On to the attempt to beat Furd twice to advance. SIDEARM Integrations GODUCKS.COM Oregon beat Weber State in an elimination game to move on to the regional final Sunday at Jane Sanders Stadium.

Lombardi coached the Oklahoma battery to a combined 20 All-America honors, 37 All-Region accolades and 77 All-Big 12 honors over her 21 seasons at OU. Her pitchers racked up six Big-12 Pitcher of the Year awards.

As I recall, Lombardi was the pitching coach at Oklahoma - go figure.

I have the same past traumas, but our weakness is still pitching consistency. We have had it the last month, but....today's near meltdown of Cole Stokes was not pretty. Collin Clarke could be better, and problem is...when we face elite teams later--they will have stronger, deeper bullpens. But on a given day....our guys can rise to the moment. An aside--our best two pitching recruits of the past two years...have given us very little help. Toby Twist got injured, and had/has a high upside, and Will Sanford has slumped and not returned to even relieving duty yet. So thank goodness pitchers were being developed and improved. Jason Reitz has improved a TON over the last six weeks, and thank goodness he did as he replaced Sanford as the third pitcher. Yet a team with a Neville and Walsh do not come along very often, so let's make the most of it! Jacob Walsh deserves to hold the B1G Championship Trophy!

Not that it takes a genius to see this, but very classy for a coach of one of the premier football teams to speak about the issue. Very little has happened,” Smart said. “It just shows you how hard it is to make changes and correct things, probably when they’re needed, because … people have talked about Congress. That’s not easy. Not a lot gets done quickly there and where we are right now. Like, I think every coach agrees we’re in a good place with being able to compensate players. Call it pay for play, call it NIL, I don’t care what you call it. “We’re all in a good place for that. We just want it to be in a way that’s sustainable. I just want to be able to have a freshman come in and not make more than a senior, and I’d like for other sports to be able to still survive. We’re on the brink of probably one to two years away from a lot of schools cutting sports. What’s the pushback going to be then when you start cutting non-revenue sports? I don’t want that to happen.” l