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10-2 Northwestern after five innings. Good Grief! Michael Meckna comes in and give up two homers, one a three-run shot. The entire Oregon pitching staff today is off, and they appeared to get progressively worse while the Wildcats are seeing the ball superbly. I do not sense a lack of effort, just some days--you get your butt-kicked. Coach Waz is waving the white flag early; he is already subbing the outfield, and true freshman pitcher Blake Crawford is coming in. (This could get even uglier)

6-2 Northwestern after four innings. EGADS! Our pitching staff is having a bad day, as Toby Twist comes in and gives up even more than Scolari. Whew! Michael Meckna replaced Twist to get the final out. And we can't hit-a-lick on offense. Lovely.

3-2 Northwestern after three innings. Cal Scolari got it done this inning, but he has a high pitch count with 70 pitches in just three innings. Nothing on offense...

3-2 Wildcats after two innings. Whoa! Cal Scolari lost control as he gave up a homer, a walk and two hits. Might not be very strong after his bout with the flu? Ducks strand Maddox Molony at second base...

2-0 Ducks after one inning. Cal Scolari was throwing 95 mph and even 96 mph, but adds a tough cutter, and a nasty curve-drop pitch to generate three strikeouts in just the first inning already! The opposing pitcher for the Wildcats has an issue with walks, and must have been nervous as he walked both Ryan Cooney and Jax Gimenez to start the game. Oregon makes them pay as Dominic Hellman nails a grounder through the right-infield to score Cooney. Drew Smith sacrifice-flies to score Gimenez!

What the Pac-10 needed was a litigator with Mike Witty's experience and moxie, and not the firm of Bend, Over, and Smile.

Purdue comes through! The U is Tournament MIA. Purdue 79 - Miami 69 Five of seven B1G teams advance to the Sweet 16, with a chance for two more B1G teams to go to the Sweet 16. How Sweet it is! 👍👌😍

Oram’s printed article today is about Beavis handling of Tinkle and commenting on Barnes since the melt down. New PAC would have been a very good hoops conference on paper 2 years ago…but it’s fading fast and not going to improve imo.

Oram column was about Mark Few? 27 seasons including COVID year. Tournament departure: Round 1: 3 Round 2: 10 - including 2026 Sweet 16: 8 Elite 8: 3 Title loss: 2 I didn't realize he had never lost a Final Four opener. Not sure I agree with Oram on his perception of the New Pac as being a competitive conference upgrade year in and year out?

I imagine the schools that escaped probably believed there would no longer be a Pac12 conference after their departure and under NCAA rules the Tournament shares are then handled differently. The conference did set a precedent with denying voting rights to USC/UCLA, but I don't recall they denied them revenue shares that came until their contract expired. I'm not sure Libey believed OSU/WSU would do what they have done in that regard in handling shares for the other 8 differently. The precedent was a policy, not a court ruling, and like so many judge interpretations based on policy the same circumstances can lead to different decisions depending on the judge. Different judges convey different sentences when circumstances are identical. Different circuits make different decisions on the same circumstances, reverse a lower court decision in one instance but not another for identical circumstances. It was apparent when the escapees gave notice, they intended to live up to the current Pac contract until it expired. They gave early notice, but were not leaving early. It is too bad OSU/WSU couldn't honor the same principle.

It seems like the exiting members panicked for some reason and didn’t legally think through the exit. As an outsider laymen, I assumed 10 members leaving at once would translate into the conference just going away, apparently the exiting members fumbled on this aspect, which if true, is inexcusable. Incompetence being obscured by falling into a pile of cash imo. That being said Beavis and company have taken one misstep after another since the panic attack of the exiting 10, and have at best, greatly tarnished their reputation with one petty act after another. Oram’s article today is spot on.

The arguments made by Charles and HDuck are based on the concept that the team that played the playoff game or bowl game from which some portion of the proceeds were paid to the conference. earned those proceeds by themself. If only USC left the conference should they have continued to share in the bowl and playoff proceeds for many years thereafter? If you look carefully at my post above you will see that I wrote "earned" in quotation marks. That is because I anticipated the subsequent arguments and meant that it is not the individual team that played the game that earned (deserves) the proceeds but the entire conference. The team that played in the playoff game or bowl game would not have been in that game if it were not a member of the conference at the time they were chosen. The bowl bids in particular belong to the conference, by written contract with the bowl. That chosen team that played the game, in every case, belonged to the PAC-12 with a reputation gained by decades of performance by all of the teams in the conference and therefore garnered the bowl bid or playoff placement in large part because they belonged to the conference. Even today playoff bids consider the conference reputations and histories in being parceled out. It only makes sense that if you leave the conference you leave the proceeds of the bowl games and playoff games that are paid over several years behind. This argument will not end with this post or this thread. But the reality is that the legal argument is long since over and OSU and WSU are the indisputable winners of that contest.

Thanks, Mike. Your analysis is solid, based on the forum to which the breakaway Pac schools subjected themselves. The Pac-10 should have gone to bankruptcy court and filed Chapter 7 liquidation. Bankruptcy court is a court of equity. The fact that two member schools argued they had the right to manage the conference's affairs would not have overcome 10 schools filing for bankruptcy. I have the same beef with the House settlement. Why enter into a settlement when you know the majority of the schools that settled will ignore the terms of the settlement, and every time you have tried to unilaterally tried to limit player compensation, you lost? File Chapter 11. The House settlement enriched the plaintiff's attorneys and did nothing for the good of the game. It simply kept a neutered NCAA in authority. The marketplace left Oregon State and Washington State behind, two schools that for decades benefited from the success of other conference members' media clout and tournament wins. Benefited while spending less money on athletics than the majority of the conference. As Charles notes above, the post-breakup behavior of Oregon State and Washington State has been the height of hypocrisy. Much of the Pac-10 money went toward breaking up the Mountain West, to what purpose? CFB now has a Group of 6 instead of a Group of 5. The Pac-12 reaped the whirlwind of pathetic, unfocused management, and the two-member schools whose leaders helped enable the mismanagement, the two with the least market power were left behind by Fox, ESPN, CBS and NBC. Oregon was supposed to hang in for a speculative streaming deal, perhaps backed up by CW? That would have been financial negligence, per se.

When USC/UCLA were "stripped of their voting rights" were they also informed they would no longer receive various revenue pieces from the conference? I don't recall that was part of what the other 10 did? If not, I assume it was because the Pac decided the true effective date was their departure, not the date they gave notice of their future departure. When Libey said it was the date they gave notice of departure, and if that is applied in other similar cases, it would simply incentivize any schools leaving a conference to never give notice until 12:01 am after the end of their current contract. That would not be a good faith effort and could harm those who stayed behind. OSU and WSU benefited via advance notice that the departees gave. They benefited operationally and they took revenue they did not earn.

Northwestern lined up their best pitcher today for their best chance to win. They will start Matt Kouser with an ERA of 2.57 vs. Oregon's Cal Scolari with an ERA of 2.37 who was absent last week because of the flu. This figures to be a tight, low-scoring game that either team could win. I give Oregon the edge with home field, and better batting averages. Oregon now has seven of their nine starters hitting over .300 and the Wildcats only have one. Cal Scolari Information I pulled from D1Baseball taken from their scouting of Cal Scolari at Oregon fall practices.... Cal Scolari showed as the top prospect for the Ducks. He’s a redshirt sophomore and 2026 draft-eligible who transferred from San Diego and was named the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year last season (over then-teammate Logan Reddemann, who is now the ace for UCLA). The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Scolari is a good athlete with a loose arm. His other starter-type traits include two above-average pitches for strikes, a repeatable delivery with a loose, high leg lift and above average extension out front (6-foot-6 for Scolari with 6-foot-2 the MLB fastball average). His fastball touched 97 and sat 94-95 for much of his five-inning, eight-strikeout start on 84 pitches on a hitter’s day. And it’s just not a garden variety heater. It showed riding life and some swing-throughs at the top of the zone and had good carry, holding its plane down in the zone which resulted in some called third strikes. His 78-81 mph downer curveball is an even better pitch with up to -15” IVB depth and spin rates into the 2600s rpm. It’s a pitch he threw to both sides of the plate with success. He also flashed a promising 86-87 mph cutter/slider. Scolari looks to be building into another Friday option for a spot that’s already a strength for Oregon with Sanford as the current Ducks’ ace. At this point the industry has Scolari evaluated around the fifth round, but I saw a higher round prospect on my look. Time will tell what he turns out to be, but Scolari impressed during week four.

I understand the legality of your summary, and fully understand the major merits of the OSU-WSU argument: "You ten schools...you broke up the conference." Then those two schools go about destroying another conference to fit their objectives. (Mountain West) "You left only because of money--it is all you care about." And the two schools then sued to received over 300 million from the departing schools...of which very little was earned by OSU-WSU. The real-life contradictions?

Good luck to Duck Noah Whittington in the NFL draft! Oregon Ducks On SIBest Potential NFL Draft Fit for Running Back Noah Whitti...The Oregon Ducks are loaded with talent entering the 2026 NFL Draft with many standout players expected to hear their names called after standout college career

This thread has wandered far from the original topic. My response here to that original topic is tardy because I have been away from my desk. I considered starting a separate topic to give what needs to be said more prominence than this statement will receive at the end of this already way off topic threat. If Charles wants to move it to a separate topic, so be it. Even so, the other side of Judge Gary Libey’s ruling deserves to be told. The reason Judge Libey’s decision was not appealed by OBD and the other departing schools from the PAC-12 is really very simple. The departing schools would have lost the appeal. They did not leave multi-millions of dollars behind without good reason. I say this as an attorney who practiced over 50 years, much of that practice being in the Oregon State appellate courts and the United States appellate courts. The departing schools never had a case. There are two reasons supporting this opinion. First, the one Judge Libey states in his opinion, that after USC and UCLA gave notice that they were leaving the PAC-12 the remaining ten teams voted to strip those two teams of their voting rights. There is a principle in the law called estoppel. A party cannot take contradictory positions on the same issue. In short, sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. OBD and the other nine schools voted that USC and UCLA lost their voting rights upon their notice of departure from the PAC-12. When OBD gave notice of their own departure from the conference they no longer had a right to vote on conference matters. Second, in 2023 the PAC-12 Bylaws stated that upon “notice of withdrawal” from the conference the departing school would “automatically cease to be a member of the Pac-12 Board of Directors” and lose all voting rights. Bylaws are made by the Board of Directors. In short, you made your bed so now you will lie in it. Quoted from “AI Mode”: “In the legal battle over the Pac-12 Conference's future, Whitman County Superior Court Judge Gary Libey ruled in November 2023 that Oregon State (OSU) and Washington State (WSU) are the sole governing members of the Pac-12 board of directors. This decision was a critical victory for the two remaining schools, granting them control over the conference's governance and assets as the other 10 members departed. Key Details of the Ruling Board Control: Judge Libey determined that because the 10 other schools (Arizona, ASU, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah, and Washington) provided notice of withdrawal, they forfeited their right to vote on the board. Financial Assets: The ruling gave OSU and WSU control over hundreds of millions in conference assets, which they intended to use to rebuild the league. Protection for Departing Schools: While losing voting power, the departing schools were still allowed to participate in board meetings to offer input and ensure they were "treated fairly" regarding their final year in the conference. Reasoning: Libey famously stated, "Conduct is what counts and words don't so much," referencing how the conference had previously stripped voting rights from USC and UCLA when they first announced their departure for the Big Ten.” You can argue forever that because OSU and WSU did not contribute much to the incoming funds from past conference playoff results principles of equity require that the schools that “earned” those funds on the playing fields and courts deserve to share in them. That argument will always fail when confronted with written Bylaws and your own contrary behavior. Just for a moment, difficult as it may be, put yourself in the posture of the remaining two schools. How much money would it take for you to be where they are, with two years of no scheduled conference games other than one another, and half empty stadiums and arenas? Add in where they will be, with a new conference of teams with far lesser reputation than they were accustomed to having. Most certainly, had OBD been left behind, you would expect to have the money that the law states the remaining schools are entitled to have, and as they currently expect to have. In the opinion of this writer, they deserve it.

Good luck to Duck Gary Bryant in the NFL draft! Oregon Ducks On SIIdeal NFL Draft Fit for Oregon Ducks Receiver Gary Bryant...The Oregon Ducks are loaded with talent heading into the 2026 NFL Draft with a wave of starters expected to hear their names called after standout college caree

A Tourney update from CBS Sports - https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/march-madness-scores-winners-losers-duke-michigan-texas-a-m/

Thanks for the correction, I can't believe I made a missed State? 😁 How could I have forgotten that the um, er, ah, Aggies have taken Gonzo's place as the bouncing ball leader of the Pac? Unfortunately (🤣), the Tourney dinero earned by the Logan Utes will stay with a conference that the Pac Men are suing. Perhaps justice is served?🤑

"Pac 8 + Gonzo kiss the tournament Goodbye." Well, I guess Utah State is still in it with a game vs Arizona on Sunday. But, will Coach Calhoun still be in it (Pac) by the end of next week?

The B1G goes 4 for 4 on the day. 3 Illinois 76 - 11 VCU 55 4 Nebraska 74 - 5 Vanderbilt 72 - Nice to get a win over the SEC tournament runner-up. With the Michigan and Michigan State wins earlier today, 25% of the Sweet 16 is B1G. Tomorrow's B1G games: Noon/ 9 AM - 2 Purdue vs 7 Miami in St. Louis, MO. - CBS - 7 PM/ 4 PM - 9 Iowa vs 1 Florida in Tampa, Florida - TBS 8:45 PM/ 5:45 PM - 7 UCLA vs 2 UConn in Philadelphia, PA. - TNT Purdue is a -7.5 favorite. Florida and UConn are odds-on to win. Both the Gators and the UConn Huskies will have far more fans in the stands. UCLA big man Tyler Bilodeau, who sat out the first game with an injury, is expected to suit up for the game against the Gators. Look for Purdue to come through, and maybe we'll see a B1G upset or two. 🙃

I had picked Texas. My pre-game concern was that the Zags just don't have the depth they have had in some recent years. No great picker accomplishment, just explaining my logic. We've seen the same thing affecting the Ducks in the past. Especially if you get one of your main horses in foul trouble or injured early. If you don't have depth, you can be in real trouble in a one-and-out scenario.