HDuck

Game stat: 11 left on base by Oregon, 8 by GCU. But, out of that Oregon 11, there were 5 innings with 2 each LOB. GCU had just 1 inning with 2 LOB. Per Charles observation, 5 innings with two left on is a major missed opportunity....and frustrating for Charles.

The Moody Center at Texas seats 16,000. It replaced a facility that seated 17,500. The Moody Center has more multi-purpose events than MKA could even dream about and a strong partnership with the City of Austin. But, it was created with a design feature with obstruction panels which when deployed block upper tier seating views. Thus, for Texas basketball it is typically reduced to about 11,000 for Texas games, unless hosting a major opponent. In 2024, Texas averaged about 10,600 for home games. Austin and surrounding area seems capable of more than 10,600 but apparently UT's AD knows his market. Moody is similar to covering the seats at the Rose Bowl for UCLA games. Baylor went from a multi-purpose venue with about 10,500 for basketball to a basketball only facility at about 7,500. The donor financing for the new facility did not require the extra revenue that would come from a new multi-purpose venue.

11 seasons - Jonathan Stewart more?? Just like J. Stew, I assume there's some more I've overlooked? Nice to think back and remember some of these guys. And, a bunch at 8 or 9 like Cota and Geoff Schwartz.

There are guys who don't make the list below because they were under 10 years, like Chad Cota 8 years, but here is a list with 10 seasons off the top of my head: 15 seasons – Fouts 14 – Mel Renfro 14 – Russ Francis 14 – George Martin 13 – Haloti Ngata 12 – Van Brocklin 12 – Gary Zimmerman 12 – Patrick Chung 11 – Dave Wilcox 11 – Mike Walter 10 – Bobby Moore (Ahmad Rashad) 10 – Fred Quillan 10 – Max Unger others?

Must be a hell of a coaching staff. Michigan State's head coach and assistant were named coaches of the year in their respective categories. Michigan State had no players on first or second team all-conference. They did have on 2 on third team, but third team is noted as having 7 players rather than 5 due to tie votes.

As I recall, the design for MKA was as a multi-purpose facility. Not solely for basketball. Concerts, bull riding, comedians, Circque du Soleil, graduations, conferences, and so on. There was no other facility in the Eugene area with close to the proposed MKA seating capacity which could fill those needs. I don't know for sure, but my GUESS is that the dark background was an architect's priority for those other uses such as concerts. The facility is home to two regulation-size basketball courts and one regulation-size volleyball practice court. The floor level has spacious on-site athletic training and weight training facilities as well as a nutrition bar. A large flat concourse encircles the arena with 50 concessionaire stations, over 200 toilets and two Duck retail shops. Additionally the building has private club rooms and four loading docks. I suppose some of the older fans still have nostalgia of standing in a crowded Mac hallway waiting and waiting for stale popcorn, or wondering if they should use their soda container as an emergency bathroom. I believe it was Ernie who said that Mac was a liability in recruiting unless he could get a recruit on site during an actual game. Then, hope the kid wasn't overwhelmed by the player amenities in a modern arena at his next recruiting stop. “We got things done with what we had,” Kent said in a phone interview. “We split one court with wrestling, women’s basketball and volleyball. Our 7-footers could barely fit in the restroom stalls the season we went to the Elite Eight. You can build programs a lot of places, but there has to be enough there to build.”

West Four ranks 12, 13, 15, 18. I suspect West fans are more front runners than the Midwest fans? Though Iowa fans where attendance has dropped significantly may be a Midwest version of front runners? Available alternatives due to weather in Dec – Jan – Feb for fans of West Four vs Midwest may explain part of it, but only part of it. Having Indiana lead the league in attendance is not a surprise, I guess. But, sure makes it problematic when the Ducks have to face them 51 miles from their home court at 9:00 am PT.

Just win baby. Last season the Ducks were a 3 seed which meant a minimum of 32 teams were seeded above them in the 16 regionals. But, the Ducks won their regional Santa Barbara which fortunately was in the Pacific Time Zone. Home teams were 10-6 in the regionals. Of the 6, 5 were 3's, and 1 was a 4 seed. Home teams were 6-2 in the Super Regionals. One of the 2 was Oregon losing at Tex A&M. Seeding that allows home games are impactful, as is the SEC bias in seeding. The last B1G team with a home regional was Minnesota in 2018. They won, then got swept by Oregon State in the Super.

The women's final between USC and UCLA in Indianapolis had 8,358 in attendance. Two L.A. schools playing in Indianapolis. Last year, the Pac championship in Vegas between USC and Stanford had 5,526. A very good USC team, and Tara VanDerveer's last Pac game as coach of Stanford. Fan loyalty and attendance has many factors in play, but generally as compared to other regions of the nation the West Coast rides the last horse on the wagon train. The structural and amenity character of Mac made a move necessary. And, the fan interest and involvement in that era is much different today. The best Pit crowds we remember would not be replicated by today's fans. Nor do we remember Pit games that were half capacity - and there were. There has been criticism of home attendance this season which averaged above 7,500. The last full season at The Pit it was 7,100. My guess is that a bunch of that 7,500 wouldn't cram themselves into The Pit based on today's criteria for fan amenities.

No. 9 Oregon is currently the only B1G team in the top 25 at D1baseball. In the same ranking, same week, last year there were no B1G teams. The second week of April, Nebraska was the last B1G team to appear in a weekly ranking at No. 23 before dropping out. The final 2024 ranking had Oregon St, Oregon and Arizona from the Pac. None from the B1G. As I noted elsewhere, of the West Four that joined the B1G, Oregon is the only one of four that has a record in B1G conference play above .500 in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball this season. Will Oregon baseball join that list? The Ducks will still play Grand Canyon, Kent State, Portland, Georgetown, Oregon State, St Mary’s in non-conference. When it comes to tournament seeding, I imagine the Ducks are going to have to be dominant in those non-conference games as well as playing well in the B1G?

Ducks finish the regular season above. 500 in Big Ten standings in all 3 major sports: football, men's basketball, and women's basketball. Of the four programs from the West which joined the Big Ten, Oregon is the only one above .500 in all 3. 3-0 Oregon, 2-1 UCLA, 1-2 USC, 0-3 puppies

Interesting "home" season for USC. Their baseball stadium is under re-construction so playing off-site. Most weekend games at Great Field in Irvine, about 50 miles from campus. Mid-week games at Loyola Marymount about 14 miles from campus. Wonder what their attendance is like?

Looks like it will be Indiana. A bit of home cooking in the foul calls in Bloomington today in their win over Ohio State. So, Ducks men will join Ducks women in playing Indiana in Indianapolis.

And, a pretty quick update. BYU's Amari Whiting intends to enter transfer portal - On3 WWW.ON3.COM BYU sophomore Amari Whiting intends to enter the transfer portal, she told On3.

Not men's basketball news, but BYU has terminated women's head coach Amber Whiting. Amber's daughter Amari was an Oregon commit (2023 class) who flipped to BYU after her mother was hired as head coach. She was a Player of the Year in Idaho when she committed to Oregon. She still has eligibility remaining at BYU where she started all 30 games this season. May be interesting to see if she sticks it out at BYU or transfers. If her mom is hired as an assistant somewhere, maybe...