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Oh, I like your comment Solar. Much to chew on regarding the odds. To think, I didn't believe Miami deserved to be in the playoff. I thought Texas did despite loathing the SEC. Texas scheduled to risk three losses. Miami didn't, and Miami lost to basic teams( though Texas did lose to Florida-sorry GatFlorida but Florida was extremely disappointing this year, given they were supposed to be very talented). Now imagine another Ohio State circa 2014 moment when a team blasts an equal so dramatically that they sneak into the playoffs while they are hot. Will that steal DL's thunder? Will Dan Lanning get some luck, or like Cignetti find ways to lesson the blow of talent gaps by flat out finding solutions to every problem lack of talent presents? Because in my opinon, boy oh boy did Lanning upgrade performance based on his team's talent versus really talented teams the past two years. Indiana crushed the narrative that coaching up isn't a possible method to win a title. Indiana didn't sneak in. They blew down little piggy and big piggy houses. Neither straw nor stone stopped the Hoosiers. And while they did catch some breaks after late game mistakes, those mistakes were very few all season-which is why they slayed teams like Ohio State and Oregon. Your premise is solid. It will take talent, massive coaching prowess, luck and momentum to win a title. Now that the playoff field has expanded, teams with enough talent like Cignetti's pre-season predicted Big Ten 17th talent laden Hoosiers can win a natty.

Thanks, Mike. It's always great to 'hear' from you, terrific articles and comments-wise. OBD is 2-for-2 in qualifying for the 12-team playoff. In 2024-25, OBD went 1-1 versus the team south of Michigan. Because of the screwed-up seeding format, OBD played Ohio State in the 2nd round instead of the winner of the Boise State at Indiana 1st round game. Against one of these two teams, Oregon shakes off the rust and wins the Rose Bowl. My guess is that no other No. 1 seed in the postseason history of college sports playoffs, team and individual, has ever been hosed over as badly as was No. 1 seed Oregon. The other seeding bad juju also involved the Rose Bowl. Joey Harrington and OBD, and not Nebraska, should have played Miami for the BCS title. However, was there a Rose Bowl opponent that could have defeated that Hurricanes team that embarrassed Nebraska 37-14? How about NO! There's bad luck, and then there's being screwed over so badly by the system in place that the rules are changed the following season. 🤬 Last season, a group of wounded Ducks lost its second game in a two-loss season to the champion Indiana team playing with the Heisman Trophy winner at QB. Had the 2nd loss been played in Bloomington, Indiana, instead of in Atlanta, 30,000 to 40,000 fewer Hoosiers fans would have been in attendance. This was the second occasion in 2025-26 that the Ducks had to travel thousands of miles more than their opponent. Under the current playoff format, Oregon is odds-on to be the 'victim' of geography. Call this 'bad luck' if you so choose, but you cannot Duck geography. Urban Meyer's Ohio State team that defeated OBD was loaded with future NFL players. Same for Ryan Day's championship Ohio State team. Both teams had and benefited from a roster advantage. Indiana? Even playing at home, Miami could not overcome the fickle finger of football fate that came up pointing at the biggest rebound in the history of college football; a history that goes back to 1895 when Yale went 16-0. So yes, to win it all, you have to be lucky as well as good. The Auburn and $cam loss was a referee's hose job at the hands of Big Ten refs who didn't have the foresight to see they were favoring the SEC over a one-day B1G brother. 😧 But the two champ game losses to Ohio State and the home and Peach Bowl loss to Indiana? The Buckeyes and the Hossiers had the better team, the better-coached, and better-prepared teams. Teams that also, for the most part, avoided the injury bug. Season five for Danno. It took Kirby Smart six seasons to win it all and six seasons for Ryan to win the Day. Let's hope that for OBD, timing will soon meet opportunity. This season is the only time under the current broadcast agreement that the playoff champ game will be played in the Pacific time zone. See you in Las Vegas? Can't win it all if you ain't playing for it all. No thrill of victory 😍 without the possible agony of defeat. 🥶 Thanks again, Mike!

Canvasback, you and I are on the same track for a workable two-Division structure without expanding the conference. Upon reading Jon Joseph's first response, #2 above, I had the same idea when he spoke of a flex-schedule at the end of the season. With nine teams in a Division, after the eight game round-robin, the ninth game would be against a team from the other Division, with the opponent based on standings after the eight games. I have a different take on home field. In the next article I willl propose that for the final game, in odd years. the home field is in the east and even years the home field is in the west. That will allow for schools to plan and sell tickets in advance for the final game. They will know the day and place, and the opponent will be determined the on the standings after eight conference games. Teams will know that they are going to travel, they just will not know for sure where. Ties within the Division would be broken in the usual way, with head to head deciding. A three way tie would be broken by comparison of results with other teams in the Division. For example if one of the three beat #1, that team would win the top place in the tie, and so forth. And, the conference champion will be the winner of #1 in the east vs. #1 in the west. This is a change that could be put in place for 2027, without waiting for a conference expansion. And, Jon, you underestimate us humans when you say that in-conference scheduling cannot be fair. I agree that computers are not the answer. Computers are no better than the humans that invented them, and in many respects not as good. We are getting closer to fair scheduling just by making proposals and discussing them.

I like Grandpa Duck's idea and have a thought on how to possibly make it work with the current 18 members. As stated in the article - two divisions based on geography but keeping major rivalries. Play all eight other teams in your division. The 9th conference game would be set up as inter-division play based on conference rankings (may be difficult to do). 1 in West Division plays 1 in East Division. 2 in each division play each other and so forth. The higher ranking of the two teams has home field. Maybe some other version of this system would work better. This in lieu of conference championship game. My thought is this would help in final rankings for the CFB playoffs. Anyway, a slightly different version.

I think that the larger the field the lower the probability we win a Natty under Dan Lanning. If the playoffs stayed at 4 teams, we would be basically guaranteed to win a Natty in the next 3-5 years. But it didn't. The field expanded requiring more near 50:50 probability games to be won cutting your odds in half with every additional game. And then there is NIL combined with the expanded playoffs that is levelling the playing field by spreading out the player and coaching talent. No matter the size of the playoff field, about 2/3-3/4 of that number of teams has a chance to win given enough years for boosters to adjust. It's just probabilities, and we can be in that conversation every year as contenders, but as one of 8+ that could win it all. I think we are going to win a whole lot of games next year and I plan on enjoying every single one, but I've decided the probabilities of winning a Natty are so poor I'm not going to get wrapped around the axle about it.

Great article to stimulate our thinking Mike, and I do want to encourage any readers who have something to say? Write it up and email it to me at charles@fishduck.com as I welcome guest articles, especially in the off-season. (I need articles for our backlink orders that come in to pay the bills of both sites.) You took me down memory lane, and what I and many Oregon fans feel is that...."it is our turn." We have been hosed, or cheated out of so many opportunities by injuries, bad calls, bad luck, etc. But while we are due, I also acknowledge what you wrote in your article in that...it is hard to win a 'Natty and we do need a little luck with injuries, with matchups in the Playoffs, with the bounces of the ball, or a replay showing grass blades touching a leg, etc. Dan Lanning has this program at an elite level, as we will always be in the preseason top-ten--my belief. Now we need that final "ooomf" to get us over the line. Will it be a special player that emerges, or some new tactic or strategy that a new DC or OC unveils at a big moment? That is what if fun to watch for! Thanks again for a fun article, Mike.

There is no doubt College Football’s newly expanded Playoffs have changed the definition of success, as a handful of teams consider themselves annual title contenders. They expect to reach the Championship Game every single year. And so do we as fans. Ever since Bo Nix’s stellar emergence in an Oregon uniform, the Ducks have been considered a lethal threat on ... Who Do YOU Believe the Oregon Ducks Are?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2026 OREGON ATHLETICS | @OregonSB Ducks Upset No. 11 Texas A&M CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — No. 18 Oregon used timely hitting and another dominant pitching performance from Lyndsey Grein to upset No. 11 Texas A&M, 2-1, Thursday afternoon at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The win took some of the sting off a 10-5 loss to Auburn earlier in the day. Grein went 6.1 innings against the Aggies and allowed just one run on five hits. She struck out four and walked three to even her record at 3-3. Elise Sokolsky got the final two out of the game to earn her first save of the season. Elon Butler homered against the Aggies, while Rylee McCoy drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth. “I think it just took all of us to come together and have that team chemistry,” said Butler. “We were not going to lose. We worked so hard to get to this point. We just all game together like ‘we’re going to do this’ and it was a great job by the offense.” How It Happened – Game 1: Auburn (10-2) hit a pair of three-run home runs early, but the Ducks (6-5) rallied to stay within striking distance until the Tigers pulled away late. A three-run homer in the top of the first gave Auburn a 3-0 lead, but Amari Harper answered for the Ducks with a two-run home run, her third of the season. The Tigers hit their second three-run home run of the game in the second inning and led 6-2. Oregon then took advantage of a throwing error to plate two runs in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Stefini Ma’ake was hit by a pitch. Freshman Taryn Ho – in her first plate appearance of the season – beat out a bunt single for a base hit. Auburn then tried to get Ma’ake at third, but the throw sailed high and wide and bounced all the way down the left field line. Ma’ake scored easily and Ho raced around the bases and scored standing up, cutting Auburn’s lead to 6-4. The Tigers hit another home run in the top of the third for a 7-4 edge. Oregon mounted one final rally in the sixth inning. Ma’ake singled and Katie Flannery walked to give the Ducks two runners aboard with no outs. Kaylynn Jones then reached on a fielder’s choice when pinch-runner Presley Lawton was safe at third to load the bases. Harper flied out to left to score Lawton, but that was it for the inning. How It Happened – Game 2: Lyndsey Grein and A&M’s Sydney Lessentine waged an entertaining pitchers’ duel. The Aggies only got to Grein once, a solo home run by Micaela Wark in the top of the fourth. Elon Butler answered with her second homer of the season, a solo shot to center field in the bottom of the fourth. “Honestly it felt great,” said Butler. “I’ve been struggling a little bit at the plate, not doing the best that I think I can, but I just saw something over the plate, trusted myself and swung.” After the Ducks tied the game at 1-1, Grein didn’t allow a runner past second base over her final 2.1 innings. “My approach was just relax and have fun,” said Grein. “Softball is supposed to be fun. We work so hard on our craft, so just embracing that.” Rylee McCoy came through with the go-ahead RBI in the bottom of the sixth. Kaylynn Jones walked and Amari Harper singled to lead off the inning. After Butler struck out, Emma Cox lashed a single into left field to load the bases. That brought McCoy to the plate. She hit a ground ball into the hole between first and second. The Aggies’ only play was at first and Jones scored the eventual game-winning run on the fielder’s choice. “They made it easy,” said McCoy. “They were on base and I knew I had one job and that was to score one run for my team and it felt amazing. Everyone worked so hard during the game and it happened to land on me and I’m so happy I got it done for them.” In the top of the seventh inning, Grein got the first out before Kennedy Powell reached on a bunt base hit. The Ducks brought Elise Sokolsky in to close out the game. She needed just three pitches to finish the inning, getting a pair of ground-ball outs for her first save of the season. Notable: In three games against SEC teams this season, Lyndsey Grein is 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA in 19.1 innings. She has allowed three runs on seven hits and has struck out 24 … Taryn Ho got her first career start at shortstop against the Aggies and had a hit and a sacrifice bunt … Kaylynn Jones was 4-for-6 on the day. She had a hit in both games to extend her hitting streak to a career-best seven games … Elise Sokolsky’s save was the sixth of her career, tying her for 10th on the Ducks’ career list. Quotable Outfielder Elon Butler “Obviously were pretty upset after losing to Auburn and the way we lost but I think the biggest this is that we stayed together, doing our thing and playing our game of softball.” Up Next: Oregon plays two more games at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. The Ducks face No. 13 South Carolina at 3 p.m. and Cal State Fullerton – for the third time this season – at 5 p.m.

OREGON ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2026 BASEBALL | @OregonBaseball Ducks Move to 5-0 with Impressive Win EUGENE, Ore. — Five games, five solid starts from five different pitchers on Oregon’s pitching staff. Toby Twist is the latest Ducks’ hurler to impress, allowing just one run on two hits over 5.1 innings in an 18-1 nonconference win over Youngstown State on Thursday afternoon at PK Park. Coming off a weekend where four Oregon starters allowed just two runs on five hits in four games, Twist added to the hot start for the staff while picking up his first career win. Twist (1-0) got plenty of help from an Oregon offense that scored multiple runs in four different innings. The Ducks had 6-run, 5-run, 4-run and 3-run innings while putting the game away early with 10 runs in the first three innings. Twist surrendered a second-inning solo home run and a single to lead off the fourth. On the single, he proceeded to pick off the runner at first. The Ducks’ lefty finished with five strikeouts and just one walk. How It Happened: Oregon did not waste any time getting on the board scoring four unearned runs in the bottom of the first. Ryan Cooney, who led off the first with a double off the top of the left-center field wall, scored on a Gabe Miranda sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. Maddox Molony followed with a RBI single to left field scoring Jax Gimenez, before stealing second and moving to third on a throwing error by catcher Caleb Hadley. Drew Smith drove in Molony with a triple to left before he scored on a Burke-Lee Mabeus base hit through the right side. Maddox Molony After YSU (0-4) got a run back with a solo homer in the second, Oregon answered in the third. Molony delivered a run-scoring double inside the third-base bag scoring Miranda from first. Mabeus picked up his second RBI driving in Molony on a fielder’s choice. Oregon (5-0) added a third run on a Cooney bases-loaded walk before Dominic Hellman made it a five-run inning with a two-out, two-RBI base hit to right field. Miranda added his second RBI of the inning with a base hit scoring Gimenez. Oregon put together another big inning in the sixth. Molony led off the frame with a home run off the left-field foul pole for an 11-1 lead. Three consecutive singles after the home run led to two more runs. Angel Laya, the reigning Perfect Game and Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week, delivered the third to drive in both runs. After a pitching change, Oregon added two more runs in the sixth. Gimenez legged out a double that scored Laya from second, before pinch hitter Josh Schleichardt capped the scoring with an RBI on a ground out to first. The Ducks put three more on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth inning when Josh Schleichardt belted his first career home run as a Duck. Box Score Notes: Molony made his 100th career start … Molony’s home run was his 27th, moving him into a tie with Guy Krause (1971-74) for fifth all-time at Oregon … Seven Ducks had multiple RBI led by Schleichardt’s four … Four Ducks had multiple hits with Molony finishing with three and Gimenez, Smith Mabeus all picking up two hits … Molony and Gimenez both scored three runs … Josh Hollis and Cooper Markham made their Ducks debut on the mound in relief of twist … Hollis tossed three hitless innings with a pair of strikeouts … Markham got the final three outs and fanned two. On Deck: The teams will play game two of the four-game series on Friday with a 2 p.m. first pitch. Quotes: Head Coach Mark Wasikowski On a win to start the series… “A good win, happy the guys played well. They pitched well. Toby Twist getting a start and handing it off to Josh Hollis’ first college outing. Cooper Markham had his first college outing. To be able to get those guys into the game, and to see them throw exceptionally well was really good.” On Josh Hollis’ performance… “Those guys have really good arms, the freshman, and you saw that today. (Josh) Hollis has been a guy that could easily be a midweek starter for us and will be this year. Then down the road he could easily be a weekend starter. Cooper (Markham) has a power arm and so getting those guys out there, I thought they pitched well. They threw multiple pitches for strikes and were in control of it.” On Toby Twist coming back to the mound… “He has worked really hard; he has always had good stuff. He has always been a good pitcher. Those guys that come back from arm injuries though, it usually takes them a little bit. Theres a hurdle that those guys have to get over. I feel like he was really clawing to get over that hurdle last year. It took him a few outings before he was able to really clear that hurdle and that’ what you saw today. It’s what we saw in our scrimmages.” On Malosi seeing the field… “Another talented freshman. Really good player. It was a game-knows moment he gets inserted into the game and the ball finds him, it happens a lot. A very talented player, he squared the ball up with his at-bat, so it was good to see him play well.” Maddox Molony On Josh Schleichardt’s first hit as an Oregon Duck... “Everyone in the dugout is waiting for that to come back in, and you take a peek at the flag, the winds blowing a little bit out to the right. That’s just meant to happen ... He works. He works really hard. I expect that that’s what he's going to be doing. He’s going to be doing that a lot for us this year.” On teammate Josh Hollis performance... “He looks like he’s been doing this for three years, and you can see it and you can feel it. That’s what we want out of him.” On today’s appearance after struggles at the plate last week... “It’s just a testament to the work I put in. The game has ebb and flows. It goes up, it goes down, but as long as you can stay steady, stuff like that happens.” Toby Twist On his journey throughout his collegiate experience... “It’s been great, definitely. Family and friends and teammates, just day by day, keeping my spirits up, but just staying with our guys next to us is the big thing. Just keeping their spirits high.” On Josh Hollis… “He just looks old, looks like he’s done it before. He’s ready whenever as well.” On his first career win, and being part of a pitching staff that has been so effective to start the year... “It shows you the depth that we have with this pitching staff. Everyone’s ready, and we all have a lot of belief in the next guy.”

I was born in CA. Lived in BC, Canada from age 11-21. Finished my college at Oregon where I met my bride. I have a lot of relatives in Canada still, but nothing makes me smile more (except a Ducks Natty) than seeing the USA beat Canada on the world stage at their own sport! C'mon men. Get 'er done!

Ducks win 18-1 as heralded freshman pitcher Cooper Markham got his inning, and he finished out the game with a 95 mph fastball, and a nice curve.

18-1 Ducks after eight innings. Freshman Josh Hollis blanks them for a third inning, and gives us confidence in him as a relief pitcher in bigger games. Freshman Owen Morgan walked, as did Jax Gimenez. Then transfer Josh Schleichardt comes in and hits LF BOMB for a three-run homer!

15-1 Ducks after seven innings. Josh Hollis pitches a second scoreless inning, and really looks impressive as a freshman.

Both good, book best.

15-1 Ducks after six innings. We got to see a highly regarded true freshman pitch in Josh Hollis, and he went 1-2-3 with a 92 mph fastball, and a nice offspeed curveball. Maddox Molony got a powerful homer off the left field foul pole, and Drew Smith singles into shallow LF. Burke-Lee Mabeus hit deep to RF, and Smith moves to third. A wild pitch moves Mabeus to second. Angel Laya (a beautiful swing-whew!) hits deep to RF and scores Smith AND Mabeus who jetted from first. It is a perfect time to see some of the other freshman and transfers play as Elijah Cook hit a screamer at the pitcher and got a base hit out of it! Jax Gimenez hits a LF blooper to get a hit and scores a runner, as did fellow transfer Josh Schleichardt scored a runner on a groundout.

Breaking down which schools have signed the most 5-stars in the last four recruiting cycles https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/breaking-down-schools-signed-most-192019791.html

Five freshmen who hardly played in 2025 who could be big in 2026Here's a list of freshman who carried small roles in 2025 who are capable of becoming major players for the Ducks in 2026. https://247sports.com/college/oregon/longformarticle/five-freshmen-who-hardly-played-in-2025-who-could-be-big-in-2026-274915367/

A great day for Toby Twist--only giving up one run in five innings and 67 pitches....

10-1 Ducks after five innings. No scoring for Oregon, but Toby Twist went 1-2-3 thanks to an incredible catch by Left fielder Jax Gimenez. He jumped up against the wall and got the catch!

10-1 Ducks after four innings. No scoring by Oregon, but pitcher Toby Twist got a great pick-off at first base, and kept them scoreless!

I concur with Jon Joseph. I would add end the season on Jan 1 in the ROSE BOWL. I also believe the Group of 6 need their own playoffs. That would kill the bowl system pretty much. The bowls are actually killing the opportunity for on campus home games, which should always be part of the playoffs. Besides, 24 teams may tick off the elitists, but it sure would keep the entire P4 fan base involved with what basically has been the destruction of tradition in college football.

10-1 Ducks after three innings. Toby Twist gets in jams, but works his way out when he creates a grounder to 3rd baseman Drew Smith, who fires it to second for one out, and then Jack Brooks hurls it hard to just get the batter out. Double play! Gabe Miranda walked, then Maddox Molony hit a screamer down the 3rd baseline that hugs the LF wall, and get snagged up in the corner. It is a double for him, and Miranda scored from first. The big guy can MOVE! Drew Smith bunts and doesn't beat the throw, but the 1st baseman lifted his foot too soon, so safe! Molony moved to third and Burke-Lee Mabeus hits a sacrifice grounder that scores Molony. Angel Laya walks, and Ryan Cooney gets plinked...so bases loaded! Jax Gimenez walks to score a run, and the Dominic Hellman got jammed inside with a fastball, but muscled it to shallow RF to score two! Gabe Miranda hits to deep RF to score Gimenez. This was done primarily on a relief pitcher, so Coach Waz's strategy in starting Toby Twist was correct; get him playing time and experience because we will outscore the 'Guins. (Penguins) He was right!

Having been "away" for nearly a month, I would like to add how much I will miss 30Duck. I was blessed to have chatted with him several times. It was great "knowing" him for the short time we talked. That being said. Grandpa Duck, what a thriller article. You presented us with the FishDuck version "what can the B1G do better"! I would prefer an 18 team with no expansion and some type of Divisions with competitive balance to allow the best opportunity to slot four teams in the CFP. I would hope Play In Games would be included as that would certainly boost TV Ratings. Especially if you had two weeks of the most watched teams in the Conference battling it out for the title game (with the losers playing a consolation game to feature their prowess even more for the At Large spots (of course the coaches wouldn't want that, but what's a conference to do to raise its profile even more?). Who knows? There have been so many changes to the game that it just might turn off more fans in the end.

4-1 Ducks after two innings. Toby Twist gave up a homer and finished out the rest although he was assisted by mistaken base runner who thought it was two outs and kept running on a fly...when it was one. Double play!

Secondhand Lions is my favorite.