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I’m glad that Coach Stein took a HC job out of the conference. He would have been dangerous at Penn State.

The NCAA manages college football playoffs. The folks at ESPN are all about managing and broadcasting big-time bowl games, while making sure folks behind closed doors, using metrics hidden behind closed doors, when the stats support preconceived ideas, teasing college football fanatics five times before the final reveal. That this season's final reveal will happen on a Day of Infamy, December 7th, is perhaps prophetic as well as ironic. I believe this could be the last, or the penultimate 😁time, college football's poohbahs allow this subjective sideshow to continue. Thank goodness, 3-loss Texas and 2-loss Vanderbilt will not be in the playoff field. With the committee 'snubbing' two SEC teams, and the SEC going to nine conference games next season, I think the SEC, including Commissioner Sankey, the SEC ADs, the SEC coaches, and the kids' hydrating players on the sidelines, once upon a time known as Waterboys, may be ready to support (in Sankey's case again support) Big Ten Commissioner's Tony Petitti's automatic qualifier (AQ) Playoff (PO) Plan. ESPN was asked and agreed to extend the new PO format date from December 1, 2025, to January 23, 2026, for a reason. Using the PO committee's final rankings tease, below is today's 16-team Petitti field. 4 B1G and SEC AQs, 2 ACC and B12 AQs, 1 G6 AQ, and 3 At Large (AL) selections. A committee would determine the 3 AL teams, the G6 representative, and the PO seeding. The conferences would be responsible for submitting their AQ teams, and the committee would seed them in the order submitted. On selection and seeding day, there would still be many P-Offed fans. However, the teams in the field would be more objectively chosen, and conference championship and play-in games would be contested in the final week of the regular season. For those of you still awake 😴here's the field. 1. Ohio State - B1G 1 2. Indiana - B1G 2 3. Georgia - SEC 1 4. Texas Tech - B12 1 5. Oregon - B1G 3 6. Ole Miss - SEC 2 7. Texas A&M - SEC 3 8. Oklahoma - SEC 4 9. Alabama - SEC AL - no risk of a 3-loss Bama being left out 10. Notre Dame - AL 11. BYU - B12 2 12. Miami - ACC 1 - both Miami and Notre Dame are in, as it should be 13. Texas - SEC AL - the Horns are not hosed for battling the Buckeyes 14. USC - B1G 4 - No. 16 SC knocks out No. 15 Utah - SC's resume is better 15. UVA - ACC 2 - No. 17 UVA knocks out No. 14 Vanderbilt 16. Group of 6 6 SEC, 4 B1G, 2 ACC and B12, 1 Notre Dame, 1 G6 He wouldn't be happy about Vandy not being in, but with 6 teams in the field, and two AL bringing in millions of dollars, why wouldn't Sankey support this format? And looking at where the ACC and B12 teams are ranked, same for these two conferences and Notre Dame. Stay at 5 and defeat Tulane, North Texas, or JMU in Autzen! Go UGA and Texas Tech!

Dan Lanning said both Stein and Tosh will be coaching in the playoffs.

Thanks @Darren Perkins for the article. Re: your comment about the conference championship needing to go . . . I stumbled across this yesterday. I thought it was intriguing:

When I think about it.. Who else thinks Will knew he was leaving around game 6 this year? Austin stopped playing..Limar too. Hughes? I think his exit was known earlier than we saw. Def thinking Will taking these guys as he should

Indiana is sitting at 32 (24/7). They’ll still be a top 10 team next season.

Bryson Beaver’s talent, roots made him a priority target for Oregon QB Bryson Beaver's family, arm talent made him top target for Ducks With all of the success that the Ducks have had with Nix, Gabriel and Moore, it's clear that they don't mess around at the game's most important position. On Wednesday, Lanning and his staff saw four-star passer Bryson Beaversign with the program, potentially the next to step in among a string of successful quarterbacks for the Ducks. During Wednesday's press conference, Lanning broke down what the recruiting process was like in receiving the commitment from the 6-foot-3, 200-pound passer. "Quarterback is always a unique position," he said. "Getting to see him throw in person, I think, is always a big piece of that, trusting your evaluation skills. And this is a guy that obviously got really hot towards the end, and had a lot of opportunities in places that he can go."

Oregon's program-best class is currently No. 2 nationally with path to top-ranked classThe Ducks have the nation's No. 2 ranked recruiting class. It's the best in program-history, and there's a path to No. 1.

The biggest 5-star recruits still unsigned after Day 1 of the Early Signing Period Chris Henry JrThe Ohio State Buckeyes lost Offensive Coordinator and Wide Receivers coach Brian Hartline on the morning of Signing Day. The news seemingly came as a surprise to 5-star wide receiver Chris Henry Jr who was expected to sign, but he is now weighing his options. Oregon and USC will both try to flip Henry, but Ohio State will hope to keep him in the class. Kendre' HarrisonWhile some schools are on high alert for a potential flip, Oregon isn't on alert with 5-star tight end Kendre' Harrison. The plan for Harrison has been to sign on Thursday which could give Dan Lanning his 5th 5-star in this class. Jalen LottLike Richard Anderson, the Oregon Ducks haven't officially announced the signing of 5-star recruit Jalen Lott. On Wednesday, Jalen Lott had a ceremony where he announced he was signing with the Oregon Ducks, which means it should be official sooner rather than later. Saturday BlitzThe biggest 5-star recruits still unsigned after Day 1 of...On Wednesday Morning, the most chaotic three-day period in college football recruiting kicked off with the start of the Early Signing Period. While this period

Possible, but Penn State has a reputation of not firing coaches. I think Penn State was viewing their situation as similar to Georgia, under Mark Richt. The problem is Georgia was willing to hire an assistant, and Penn State wants a proven head coach. I think Penn State is just too picky. Oregon and Ohio State were open to hiring assistants, it's worked out pretty well The era of using an Indiana or Vanderbilt, as your coaching farm system, are over.

The biggest 5-star recruits still unsigned after Day 1 of the Early Signing PeriodChris Henry JrThe Ohio State Buckeyes lost Offensive Coordinator and Wide Receivers coach Brian Hartline on the morning of Signing Day. The news seemingly came as a surprise to 5-star wide receiver Chris Henry Jr who was expected to sign, but he is now weighing his options. Oregon and USC will both try to flip Henry, but Ohio State will hope to keep him in the class. Kendre' HarrisonWhile some schools are on high alert for a potential flip, Oregon isn't on alert with 5-star tight end Kendre' Harrison. The plan for Harrison has been to sign on Thursday which could give Dan Lanning his 5th 5-star in this class. Jalen LottLike Richard Anderson, the Oregon Ducks haven't officially announced the signing of 5-star recruit Jalen Lott. On Wednesday, Jalen Lott had a ceremony where he announced he was signing with the Oregon Ducks, which means it should be official sooner rather than later. Saturday BlitzThe biggest 5-star recruits still unsigned after Day 1 of...On Wednesday Morning, the most chaotic three-day period in college football recruiting kicked off with the start of the Early Signing Period. While this period

The defensive line is much better.

Six foot six inches and 345 pounds with great strength and size. Coach Lanning said, "...he's got some of those rare traits that are really special, and athleticism on top of that." Oregon Ducks On SIWhat Dan Lanning Said About Oregon Five-Star Recruit Imma...The Early Signing Period has started in college football, and the Oregon Ducks have one of the top 2026 recruiting classes with several recruits signing their l

Thanks Darren for the article. I like when you said "Fans are upset about losing both coordinators. Just remember, losing coordinators is a sign of a healthy football program.” This is a true statement. A healthy program won’t lose any recruits either, case in point, our recruiting class stayed intact. Dan Lanning has built such a culture at Oregon with recruits and coaches alike. Oregon will not take a step back, but a step forward in improving this culture.

Poor Beavers! Women's basketball improve to 10 - 0. Ducks blast Beavers

Thanks Darren! Many good points to consider. My favorite: They have a loss, a good reminder “this is the consequence” if you don't bring your best. The lead picture is a good reminder that the Ducks buried the huskies!

Maybe how they treated James Franklin, after he turned the program around after Sanduski and the sustained success, scared off the top tier coaching candidates? The job is not as good as Penn State fans and boosters believed it was, which sadly they are finding out the hard way.

It is that time of year, here are a few reasons why the Ducks are in a better position to make a run at the national championship than last year… They Have a Loss Having a loss creates a built-in reminder to the Ducks of what will happen if they do not bring their “A” game. Indiana gives Dan Lanning ... Oregon Enters Playoffs Better Off Than Last Year

The A.D is looking for someone that will win a national title in 3 years. They weren't looking at any assistants, or G6 programs. I don't know what their plan was, there wasn't a slam dunk guy out there. I think they thought they were just going to get Cignetti. I can't think of anybody else, they can't have believed they were going to get Dan Lanning, Ryan Day, or Kirby Smart.

Dan Lanning's recruiting angle: Multi sport athletes! 14 of those 20 signed are multi sport athletes. That's no coincidence. It's VALUE! You can get a multi sport athlete that is a 3 star or lower like say Justin Herbert or Bryce Boecher, with a really high ceiling. Most dual sport athletes are underdeveloped by virtue of not focusing on their football skills year round, so their stats and skills lag those that have the year round focus that are 4 and 5 stars close to their ceiling. So these lower rated athletes are like wow an Oregon offer! They aren't necessarily getting offers from other big time programs which improves our success rate in getting them to sign. Multisport athletes probably have a different mindset that they play sports to enjoy them moreso than the one track mind of I have to compromise everything else to make it in this one sport and be the absolute best. I think that those people are probably more appreciative, better teammates, and build better relationships which is part of Dan Lanning's culture. It's a very shrewd angle to approach recruiting, or if you want to grab life by the dodgeballs: "It's a bold strategy Cotton, let's see if it pays off.".

It should have been at the big10 just because Indiana is such a cinderella story, and it would be a true test to go up against Ohio St, who crushed them last year. SEC game is just another game. One team will win, but who really cares? It is just an exhibition game before the playoffs.

Outside of playoff games, signing day is the most important day in college football - everything is based on what happens today for each and every team. Chip signed some great ones, but not the whole roster. Clearly a case of quality over quantity. But not enough quantity. Chip also got guys not super highly rated who turned out to be studs. Mario had some super stars: Kayvon and Sewell, but a lot of overhyped that did not fill their big potential. Dan Lanning is and has gotten the big stars and filled in a roster full of talent. On top of that, he has picked and chosen the portal very wisely and not lost top talent to the portal either. There are still some good players out there who can be flipped.

All reports out there indicate that the parents (especially mama) were all Dawg. They love their son and will get behind him, but mama was impressed with the care Mike Bobo took in developing a #1 NFL pick (Matt Stafford) and was confident that he could do it again with Jared. Part of that development had been easing Matt into the starting role late in his first year and not immediately throwing him to the SEC wolves. Jared had better be ready because he will get baptized early without the benefit of all those senior Vandy starters that Diego enjoyed. Given all the hero ball Jared got to play against inferior high school competition (much like Arch Manning) Jared may believe he is ready to handle anything. I guess we will see how that will work out.

Apparently WS did interview for the Penn St gig. 🫢 https://www.newsweek.com/sports/ncaa/penn-state-passed-on-top-head-coaching-candidate-after-interview-report-11145661

I think it’s mostly about the broadcasting rights. ESPN and Co. are going to promote the SEC at every available opportunity, just as FOX will promote the B1G.