HDuck

70 percent Win percent after 2023 season, not counting this year 2024: 87.5 – Day 85.5 – Smart 81.5 – Lanning 80.4 – Riley 80.4 – DeBoer 79.8 – Swinney 73.3 – Heupel 72.9 – Kelly 70.4 – Freeman Would Ohio State want Heupel or Freeman? Would they go looking in the NFL? Mike Vrabel was born in Ohio, raised in Ohio, played at Ohio State. Been a head coach in the NFL, but never in college.

That CBSsports.com story link above takes a shot at teams like Texas, Oregon, SMU who didn't play "everybody" because of conference expansion. So, it made it "easier" to be near the top of the conference so quickly. Well, in the SEC with 8 games, and how they structure, it has always been that way. Oregon? Since the first year of a conference championship game in 2011, there are the six teams with be best record: Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State, Iowa, Michigan State. After the game in Indianapolis the Ducks will have played 5 of the 6. Maybe they weren't all great this season, but they are historically the best W-L. Of the 5, Ducks had two at home, two on the road, and 1 three time zones away "neutral."

Franklin re: Oregon's tremendous resources.... Uh, despite Franklin’s insinuations, NCAA financial data tells a different story. According to the latest report, Penn State outpaces Oregon in NIL funding and ticket sales. Penn State’s NIL collective generated $13.7 million, ranking 11th among FBS programs, while Oregon ranked 20th with $10.6 million. Additionally, the Nittany Lions earned over $44 million in ticket sales, nearly double the Ducks’ $25 million. Franklin’s narrative seems disconnected from these facts.

Northwest Rendezvous In North American history, a rendezvous was a larger meeting held typically once per year in the wilderness. All types included a major transfer of furs and goods to be traded for furs. Variations included a mix of other types of trading, business transactions, business meetings, and revelry. Fur trappers, mountain men, traders, frontiersmen, harlots, Native Americans, pioneers, explorers, wives, scouts, whisky merchants "Mirth, songs, dancing, shouting, trading, running, jumping, singing, racing, target-shooting, yarns, frolic, with all sorts of extravagances that white men or Native Americans could invent." The whole thing sounds like a tailgate.

Northwest Showdown

Ducks 'N Dawgs Duel

The last 7 Iowa vs Nebraska games have been decided by 3, 3, 7, 7, 6, 3, 3. Iowa is 6-1 in those games.

Nebraska at Iowa. Due to injuries, I think Iowa is playing their No. 4 QB who is a walk-on. No. 5 was a defensive back prior to last week. Just goes to show that depth while recognized as necessary is often undervalued by many college football fans. "Why do we have 5 QBs, they can't be happy. They'll transfer..."

When it's impossible to exaggerate the truth: Shedeur Sanders wins Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, for nation’s top QB who best exemplifies character, scholastic & athletic achievement

"I give him an O and he gives me the finger." Nah, I think he was just letting you know that he recognizes the Ducks are currently No. 1 in the rankings.

Any tips how I can get the hotdog and burrito cart franchise on campus?

I've been reading about this for the last several days. Actually since Oregon's inclusion was announced last May. Still don't understand the "per player" math. If the total NIL is $1.5 million for the winner (even 0-3 teams get $1 million) then that would be over 90K per on a 16 player squad - if the eligible recipients are players only and not staff. There are also NIL obligations while in Vegas that have to be met - such as attending a sponsor meet and greet, autograph session, participate in a golf tournament, etc. That's why they played Tues/Wed - then had Thurs/Fri off to allow additional time to meet NIL requirements. Assume that requires EACH player to meet those requirements. All 8 teams remain in Vegas for the 4 games on Saturday, even the 0-2 teams face each other on Sat. But there has been little disclosure from the Tournament or the media about what the specific NIL obligations are. Nor, any disclosure on the team's Twitter accounts. These games can't have very high attendance. Supposedly sponsors provide the largest portion of the about $9 million total pot for the 8 teams. And, team expenses are also covered. I understand some of the sponsors are used to peeing money away in Vegas, but still makes me wonder.

State Farm logo, and Allstate TV ad. Not sure how that computes.

The "dam things" don't even have a conference name on them... Oregon State 2024 Conference Championship Banner | Shop - Dam Nation Collective SHOP.DAMNATIONNIL.COM Celebrate the Oregon State Beavers football team defeating Washington State 41-38 in the honorary 2024 Conference Championship with this commemorative championship banner!•...

After a couple days off over Thanksgiving, the Ducks will play in Vegas again on Saturday at 6:30 pm on TNT. Likely opponent will be No. 9 Alabama which is scoring a bunch of points and has wins over ranked Illinois and Houston, and a loss to ranked Purdue. Alabama has to dispatch Rutgers this afternoon, or the Ducks would face Rutgers instead.

Two more points: 1-NCAA Basketball Tournament conference shares – the B1G will have more teams qualify, and even when revenue is split among more conference members it will still be more $$ per school than the Pac. 2-The CFP has two years left on the original deal with ESPN. Starting in 2026, the CFP will have a new contract that reportedly will spin off $21M to each B1G school. The B1G and SEC get bigger shares than other conferences.

Until such time as the bracket is re-seeded after each round it will often be that a No. 5 would be preferable over a No. 1 seed.

Interesting to contemplate what programs during the same time period have flirted with "Cool" but haven't been able to sustain it. Particularly programs, like Oregon, that did not enter the 2000's with a big winning tradition built in. TCU and Baylor had their moments when you look at their season by season W-L record since 2000. But, not sustained. Others? Clemson had a lot of seasons flirting with .500 since the Danny Ford years ended around 1990 before Dabo Swinney became coach in 2009. Others that come to mind in the 2000's?

The nice thing about that list is that I could make a favorable comment about ALL of them...no exclusions. Boetttcher balanced two sports. Tez stuck around when Bo left. Jacobs fought through injuries. All the 4-5 year guys who didn't transfer. And, so on. EVERYONE of them contributed.

Here is an older link about Nebraska and their walk-on program. Osborne's last squad had about 180 players. It was down to 130 in Riley's last season. Then went back up to 150 under Frost. Nebraska's football revenue allows them the additional expense. As the column points out, the walk-ons may not receive tuition scholarships but they get a lot of other financial benefits. Pretty amazing actually. NIL is not restricted to scholarship athletes, so that is how some programs attract players over the 85 scholarship limit. This column is 6 years old, but still interesting in light of today's environment. Will football roster climb to 150? Title IX presents a challenge NEBRASKA.RIVALS.COM Athletic director Bill Moos said a final plan on roster expansion could come before the spring game in April.

Ga Tech's head coach was the women's Olympics Team coach in 2000. Her winning percentage in college isn't fabulous but she's been in some tough places to win. Still she's had a lot of winning seasons, just not much opportunities in the NCAA Tournament.

Ga Tech beat Georgia 83-67 last week. Also handled S. Dakota St 71-57 this past Saturday. Ducks have to regroup...they play S. Dakota St tomorrow while SDSU has had two days rest. Obviously Ga Tech will be a team to track this season.

Which of these 8-3 teams should be considered for the Playoff? Alabama 3 losses: 9-2 Tennessee, 6-5 Vandy, 6-5 Oklahoma Duke 3 losses: 10-1 Miami, 10-1 SMU, 7-4 Georgia Tech

Idaho is 8-3 and playing for 9-3 this afternoon vs Idaho State. 3 losses to Oregon (11-0), Montana State (12-0), and Cal-Davis (9-2)