Solar

Judging by that recruiting board, it seems inevitable that at some point Danno will have to overcome his DeBour problem. I really wasn't expecting Kalen to do this good at Alabama. And this REALLY doesn't reflect well on UW's recruiting apparatus.

Didn't cross my mind that I don't have to worry about that. I'm not exactly itching to say something stupid, but it sure is nice around here! Thanks a bunch!

Okay, you made me check and you're right, we have merely officially left the PAC12, but not yet officially joined the B1G. So an interesting bit of trivia for future generations will be the Oregon was once independent! If only for a month in the off-season.

EDIT: We've only left the PAC12 and are independent until August 2nd when we officially join the B1G.

The numbers are the most traditional they have been this millennium. Not big, not small, a more traditional block font with a nice outline. I think this is good for entering the stodgy B1G. They'll be intimidated by us in these unis vs. looking down on us. Mixing the wings and diamond plate is well done as well. Maybe in future years after we establish ourselves at the top of the B1G we can get back to more innovative looks.

The no confidence field goal kicking was a major factor in those games as well and that has been addressed.

I don't think there is a future for 1 dimensional offenses without generational talent. The new multiple defenses are to easy to adjust to take away your strengths and make you play to your weaknesses. I don't think Michigan beats Georgia if they met in the PO last year for that reason. It's gonna get ugly on offense for many of the B1G teams we will play.

Agreed and this list is far better than it has been in the B1G for the past few years. Their mediocre passing games are what make B1G defenses look so good statistical. Can't wait to show them that their reference point for their greatness isn't that great.

OSU and M had great defenses, yet I think they would have given up an average of 3,-5 points per game more if they played in the PAC12. Iowa's incredible defense made a living off picking off the ball from mediocre QBs that can't read a zone, which applies to basically all of the QBs you mention above. Given the improved talent, our secondary is going to see a significant improvement in statistical performance this year.

Of course we'll improve on that. Our team is better and B1Gs offenses suck. I get sick of seeing that every B1G defenses is like top 20. Maybe they are just slightly above average, and their offenses suck on average. I mean look at what numbers the only two offenses that were actually good M and OSU put up against all of those "really good" defenses. We aren't going to face a single QB in the B1G that would even have been in the top half of the PAC12 last year. Think about that.

Yeah, but as I keep saying, it's irrelevant, because the probability of accidentally leaving out the team that would have won it all drops by roughly 2/3rds, which is what really matters. I mean Georgia, Oregon and OSU could have won it all last year in a 12 team playoff right? But we'll never know. That alone is reason enough to ignore the whiners next year, which is what I think will happen. It's media fodder but in general people won't be paying nearly as much attention to the outrage next year when the relevance towards outcomes is diminished substantially.

But that's the thing OSU and WSU were the lowest rung of the PAC12, so they would have had the most late games on the Pac12 network status quo. So I would argue they have benefitted as much if not more than any other former Pac12 team from the pack demise in terms of access to awake eyeballs. It's a win for the fans that don't care about ultimate success as much as just being able to watch their team play. A narrow victory, but given their position any victories should rightly be celebrated.

This is a win for OSU. Every beaver fan in the country CAN watch them play finally. And channel flippers sick of watching some blowouts could find OSU gritting their teeth against the G5, because CW is typically a channel not too far away from Fox and abc. Sure they won't have "this changes everything" viewership, but it beats the pants off limited access PAC12 after bedtime every week of the season like last year.

This list isn't that great. Too focused on blue bloods although somehow we snuck in there. I think Utah with the elevation and the fans is a crazy tough road environment and what about Texas Tech, and UF swamp? The interesting thing is it wouldn't be too hard to do a statistical analysis of how a teams fared at each venue relative to their point totals. I'm sure the Vegas professionals have that. It would be interesting to see. I'd be willing to guess our home field advantage is more like 4-5 points instead of the typical 3.

I don't know why I didn't think Flowers was a very big deal when he signed. He's a full step above any Safety we've ever recruited. And so far he's been playing above that ranking. Arik Armstead was an "Athlete"? What was his other position, TE? Who knew.

Hear me out here. They don't have to be accretive if they accept a reduced distribution in the short term. Oregon and Washington still joined on half a share of distributions, because it is worth it in the long run. Who's to say OSU and WSU won't join for nearly zero distributions and live off the several hundred million they got from the PAC12, in exchange for a big revenue share down the road?

Josh Pate keeps driving me nuts with his talk about the playoffs devaluing the regular season as such a massive negative. Maybe the proper rebuttal is it re-values it appropriately. It's stupid to require such perfection out of 20 year olds over the course of a season to even be eligible to compete for a national championship. I don't want every game all season to be a playoff game. I want to feel happy when the Ducks win, not relieved they didn't lose. Sports are about improving yourself and your team over the course of a season, and peaking at the end to be at your best to win it all.

The reason OSU really wanted him was because of Locklyn and Oregon's evaluation. Locklyn was recruiting him hard before and after leaving, yet Samples was able to close the deal on him for Oregon. A pretty impressive win for the Ducks.

From what I've heard, Ohio State didn't just offer him, they really wanted him.

Ok, playing football in the rain when it is 36 degrees is about the most uncomfortable thing I've ever experienced, perhaps only beaten by some 10 degrees and blowing trips from my car to the office in work clothes. You still have a point. I continue to think that the diversity of environments in the PAC 12 made road games harder than other conferences. Altitude and humidity are underrated factors. It isn't just the temp. I think playing in November in AZ or Wisconsin is s probably a home field advantage wash for PNW schools. That dry AZ air in November just puts the players to sleep.

I don't know about DL being the best recruiter in the nation, but I think it is pretty definitive that U of O as an organization and alumni is the best recruiter in the country. Recruiting at such a high level with such a dearth of local talent is extraordinary. A tip of the cap all the way around and especially for Marshall Malchow who is continuing to do what he did at TAMU.

JD only succeeded at LSU by getting away from the tough PAC12 defenses to go up against the pansie SEC defenses. That's the counter argument for those that say Nix thrived at Oregon because PAC12 defenses suck. The real question for us is the B1G defenses. Are they really that superior or are their offenses inferior, or is the weather just too crappy in the back half of the season for offenses to produce? The truth is probably in the middle of all 3.

USC's own reporters say their DL is G5 level right now with little depth. They need to send out the APB to current students to find potential walk ons that could be pushed above 300 lbs with a summer of gluttony. USC should be really good this year, but they face planted on the most critical position outside of QB going into the B1G.

And remember they only count Gabriel for pennies on the dollar because he only has one year left. He was the biggest contributor available in the portal, period.

More difficult, but less risk of missing who could have won it all. So not as critical. The bye is the only thing keeping the conference championships relevant, and I think that is the only reason the byes exist. If it wasn't worth a bye you'd see starters benching themselves if coaches didn't do it first. So if they dump the bye and go to 16 teams then they should do away with the conference championships