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It takes a lot, but I'm actually being entertained by the NBA Playoffs, particularly the Knicks-Celtics series. The Celtics are going for a repeat and are the No.1 seed, the Knicks are No.6. But the Knicks are up 2-0, thanks to sweeping the first two games at Boston. Both games the Knicks were behind, by a lot. They won game 1 in OT 108-105, game 2 by 1 point, 91-90. Now the series switches to Madison Square Garden. Is the pressure all on Boston? You'd think. But it might be on the Knicks. Boston loves the 3. But so far, they're 25/100, 28/100, they might be up 2-0. If the Knicks win game 3, I think it's over. But what if the Celtics win? In the other Eastern series Indiana is up 2 on the Cavaliers, The Pacers won game 2, despite being down by 7 points with :35 left. In the West, Denver won game 1 in OKC, 121-119. But OKC won game 2, 149-106. Golden State and Minnesota are 1-1. Steph Curry is out for now with a hamstring.

Well deserved!

30, I'm in complete agreement. But ESPN and Fox will not pay the same money without a football and men's basketball conference championship game, and basketball games. Flex-scheduling in the final football regular season will shorten the season by a week and bring in more money than is being paid for football championship games. The B1G and SEC proposal to expand the field and have four teams each in the field also includes the B1G and the SEC telling the PO Committee which four teams are in. In 2024, 9-0 Oregon would have played Minnesota in Autzen. If the Gophers pulled off a huge upset, Oregon, Indiana, and Penn State would be the PO representatives, with the Gophers knocking out the 4th-place Buckeyes. With three at-large spots in a 16-team field, Ohio State would have received an at-large bid. Do I like the regular season, not counting for PO and bowl seeding? No. But then again, with so much difference in the strength of conference football schedules, a final regular season flex-scheduled PO does not bother me as much as single elimination postseason conference champions, where 12-seed Purdue can host the tournament. In football, in most, if not all seasons, I like the Ducks finishing in the top 4, playing another home game, and the money for OBD and Lane County that comes with a home game.

If ever an award should have been unanimous, it's this one.

SIDEARM Integrations GODUCKS.COM A league-best five Ducks were named to the All-Big Ten first team.

I don't know if Michigan helped themselves by being swept , Run Ruled in game 3 by Oregon during the season. Grein was off the last series of the season, Sokolsky came in, wrapped it up. Sokolsky got the start against Michigan, didn't have it, Grein came in, still doesn't have it back. Hopefully both will have it next week.

Irregardless of how this loss effects their regional/super regional draw, if it locks them into tournament focus, it was worth it.

Conference championship games need to be abolished. Talk about devaluing a season? The NBA has trouble getting people to watch until the Playoffs, so they even have a ridiculous Tournament during the season! Of course they also have a Play-in round. But it makes some sense because it lets teams at the bottom crawl in to the Playoffs, but it does not make them a champion!

CHAOS: Big Ten Coaches CLASH Over NIL Spending | Will a Salary Cap DESTROY the conference?

The first game and a half of the season the offensive line was in a complete mess. The second half against Boise State the offensive line started to look significantly better and then by Oregon State it was a pretty dominant force and it just kept rolling from there. There were several games and plays that they just didn't get the same amount of push at the point of attack. The line certainly was not as good as previous years but some B1G defensive fronts were physically bigger than what we typically faced in the Pac-12 (see the Oregon State game). I think the injuries played a greater role than Terry in the overall decline of the running game this last season. That and not having Irving who had a wonderful combination of vision, breakaway speed and balance that made him an explosive play waiting to happen. James had the power but he lacked the breakaway speed. Whittington had the break away speed but seemed to lack the vision and balance to get him into the open field. Those were problems consistent with these players going back to 2022 and 2023 and not indicative on this particular offensive line. If this year's offensive line starts off as poorly as last year's and there are no real significant injuries, then I'll go ahead and put more blame on Terry. I think the whole staff was put in a difficult position as two preemptive starters and rotational players in Iuli and Bedford were out due to injury so late in fall camp that they did their best to find a solution. The first game was awful and the second game was mostly awful. But by game 3 and 4 it looked much improved. As for the 2016 dreaded Alamo Bowl. The starting center went down for Oregon not long after Adams was out of the game. Helfrich and company had to make a decision. Put in Doug Brenner (who was actually the third string center) or burn the redshirt of Jake Hanson (the actual back-up at any other point in the year). They opted to preserve the redshirt of Hanson as burning it for the second half of a bowl game didn't seem like a good deal. Sure Brenner and Locke were not good... but also blame the defense for that game as well because they gave up the 30+ point lead.

I LOVE the 16 team format, so that nobody can claim that a team who was legit at the end of the season is left out. But I HATE the season-ending conference "Play-in" games. That is why we have a regular season, and as Oregon fans know...it is hard to beat a great team twice. At what point are we going to stop the nonsense for every last dollar? Softball had an incredible season tainted....because they got over the hump and won the conference championship with a full effort. But could not keep the intensity for the silly conference tournament. In Baseball? I would feel the same way if Iowa won the regular season championship and Oregon won the tournament. The champ should be Iowa in that case, as 27 games should not be negated by a couple of games in a tournament. Calm down Charles...

Is the B1G Baseball Tourney a single-loss and your out format like the Softball Tournament? If this is the case, why bother? Why risk regular-season success and possibly ding the NCAA tourney seeding? As I noted in the Softball post, Fox and Friends would not have offered less money if Softball and Baseball did not have a conference postseason tournament.

A single loss and you're out when you can run into a hot pitcher? Why bother? Perhaps an NCAA tournament outlier sneaks in, but at the cost of dinging the regular season's champ seeding? I don't believe the conference media deal would be a cent less if this tourney were not played. I hope the conference covered the cost of getting to and from Purdue.

This was exactly why I wished we had lost a game during the regular season in football. It certainly woke up the Buckeyes. Humbled them and forced them to bear down and fix their issues. Playoffs are a death sentence. Too many things can go wrong in a playoff game, and running the table in the regular season doesn't make a team feel the sting of one that got away (which is worse in the playoffs because that loss is the worst form of church bells-its final, and you can't do a damn thing about it). Imagine Ohio State had humbled us in the regular season. Especially because of lethargy. Duck Nation knows the Buckeyes absolutely benefitted from getting back to business a week earlier, and only off a two week layoff. Buckeye fans are crowing all over the internet the Rose Bowl was what was supposed to happen in Eugene. Hogwash. We would have played Ohio State better than Texas did if we had faced them in the CCG (as Penn State also found out, we have a pretty damn good offense). Now we have to wait until this year to silence that damn fan base like we did last October. Better yet, I'm looking for a sweep. It's time to put Ohio State in the same class as USuC and the Fuskies. I hate those fan bases, and nothing is sweeter than inflicting revenge. Losses make you or break you in the regular season. They are a necessary part of the game as far as I'm concerned.

I agree Notre Damne is the albatross because they will take a spot from a lessor conference (G6 included). Yet Notre Dame is salvaging, if not saving the ACC. I like the 16 team format because it is inclusive, and I am for that rather than going to a Super League and the 80 Dwarfs concept. Anything to prevent another NFL type league.

Notre Dame will continue to be the albatross but quelling the ACC & B12 is good.

More Fodder for Four Being the B1G/SEC PO Floor. It's Easy as ACC. The stat that shows just how horrendous the ACC has been in the 2020s - Saturday Down South WWW.SATURDAYDOWNSOUTH.COM The ACC has endured a historically dreadful start to the 2020s decade, but can that turn around in the latter half?

Holy Heisman! Mahki, not Dante, Kenyon, or a WR? Top Heisman contender for every team in CBS Sports post-spring top 25 ahead of 2025 college football season - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM With the top 10 2024 Heisman vote-getters off the the NFL, the door is wide open for a new crop of stars in college football

Ready for 4-4-2-2-1-3? This is what the College Football (CFB) Playoff (PO) format could be beginning in 2026-27. A field with 4 B1G, 4 SEC, 2 ACC, 2 B12, 1 G6, and three, not one, at-large teams, with one of the three most likely to be Notre Dame year after year. As noted in the attached article, the Power 2 are driving the PO bus. Three at-large teams seem to me to be a bone being thrown to the ACC, B12, and the G6. In theory, the Lesser 2 and the G6 would have a shot at placing another team or two in the PO field. In reality, and looking back at the final rankings before seeding the BCS, 4-team, and 12-team PO, the B1G or the SEC are more likely to take the additional spots. It also appears that play-in games could replace a two-team conference championship game. As to a 16-team playoff field destroying the regular season and the playoffs? We heard the same warning before the BCS and the PO field expanded. In 2024, CFB attendance and viewership both increased. If the field expands to 16 teams, what has to happen is for the regular season to end at least two weeks earlier than it does today, so Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, for example, is not competing against NFL postseason games late into January, and drawing fewer than the expected number of viewers. Dropping conference-champ games in favor of a flex-scheduled last regular-season game week is a step in the right direction. SEC, Big Ten reportedly in favor of another major change to College Football Playoff WWW.YARDBARKER.COM The Big Ten and SEC want more pieces of the pie. I do not see this proposal equating to the B1G and the SEC wanting more pieces of the pie, but as noted above, a move toward 'fairness' by giving schools outside of the Power 2, two (in theory three) more chances to make the PO. I see the proposed change to the format as allowing the ACC and B12 commissioners to save face, and to quell the bogus 'Little Guy' objections.

More College Football Parity Coming? Maybe in Ws and Ls. But the Quality Competition Resides in the Power 2. Season of major parity for college football in 2025? Deep contender field looks to break glass ceiling - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Only four programs have ranked as preseason No. 1 since 2015. That could change in 2025 as the contending class expands A Crimson Tide lifted all boats in the SEC. Clemson's Natties did turn ACC teams into Tigers.

I agree with you all about Beavis doing well this weekend to further boost the Ducks RPI, and respect for west coast baseball. I will say that I am impressed with the ERAs of Iowa's staff, but the knock was that they had not played many teams with a winning record. And the Bastard-Huskies did take two games off of the Hawkeyes this last weekend. Thanks for posting that, as it makes watching the results that much more interesting. While it is very hard--if Oregon could sweep.... Coach Hawk has turned the pitching staff around, and the emergence of Julian Hernandez is one I never thought would happen.

Oregon's Friday night starter, Grayson Grinsell has been awesome with a ERA of 2.77, but the Husky starter, Max Banks, has a superb ERA of 3.49 to counter. This could be a very low-scoring game, and Coach Waz may have to resort to some small-ball. No, Husky....you're OUT!

Rivals recruiting rumors Recruiting Rumor Mill: News keeps flowing on elite prospects OREGON.RIVALS.COM Four-star slot receiver Dequane Provo is committed to Arkansas but that could change after a recent ACC visit.

2 Mil for the recruit? Oregon Outbid By Miami In Race For Jackson Cantwell? WWW.SI.COM With five-star quarterback Jared Curtis committing to the Georgia Bulldogs, Oregon Ducks fans are looking for a win on the recruiting trail. Five-star offensive

Still in the running for the No 1 CB. 5-star Oregon Football target announces commitment date DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM 5-star cornerback Brandon Arrington, one of the top targets on the Oregon Ducks board, has set his commitment date.