30Duck

We all forgot that. Even in "The Forum with Decorum" we became fanatics. Undefeated, B1G Champs, No.1, it wasn't hard to let reality fly away. Only to have it smack us in the face on Jan.1. But the reality also is Oregon is a championship contender. The reality is they are the defending B1G champs and will get that Natty!

Winning the conference championship is nice and cute, but it really does not mean anything. What you want to do now is lose to the conference champion, and not even play in the conference championship game. I believe this Buckeyes team would beat the Ducks 9 out of 10 times. The game in Eugene in October was Oregon’s one. Fool’s Gold: That October victory over Ohio State gave the Ducks the false belief that they were better than they were. The team that barely beat Boise State and played horrible defense against Penn State was the real Oregon team. All the other games were against inferior opposition who the Ducks could simply out-physical and out-talent. Oregon is still Tee Higgins.

Okay then, 12-0.

After his first 3 seasons as head coach at Oregon, Chip Kelly was 34-6, .850, after his 3rd season at Oregon, Lanning is 35-6, .854 Chip revolutionized the way football is played. He is the winningest coach in Oregon football history. But there was a lot of being a coach that Chip didn't like, mainly he hated recruiting. He loved coaching, but after a while, he wanted to coach in the NFL. That didn't work out as well as he had hoped, but now he seems to have found a great place at Ohio State. Lanning isn't revolutionizing football. But the sport is going through major transformations, and no other coach is handling them better than Lanning. Not only is he adapting to the new environment, he's got the basics down too. Recruiting? No.1 class. Portal? That's right up his alley too. It also has to be noted that none of this has gone unnoticed. Other college schools want him, so does the NFL. But so far, as he puts it, "I'm at Oregon, until they don't want me." Chip came at the perfect time for Oregon and probably left at the perfect time too. It took a while, some ups and bigger downs, but Oregon got the coach who will be perfect for this time at Oregon in Dan Lanning.

That nails it doesn't it.

The Ducks start, what will always be in B1G basketball, a crucial road trip, this one against Ohio State and Penn State. Everything Dana Altman said ahead of Oregon basketball's road trip to Ohio State and Penn State

Absolutely because of the fries!

Bart Starr was 9-1 in Playoff games; the one loss was to Philadelphia in 1960. The Eagles QB was. Once a Duck, Always a Duck, Norm Van Brocklin.

Of course, the Beavs are Conference Champion, have a banner & everything. Got to give Beaver Nation credit. Whatever happens They're there, leaf blower standing in for a chainsaw, they're there. Just give your nephew a pat on his back.

After splitting its last two games the Ducks dropped from No.9 to No.15. Off its wins over Oregon and Washington, Illinois jumped from No.22 to No.13. In NET, Illinois is 7 and Oregon is 20. 2024-25 Men's College Basketball Rankings - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Find the 2024-25 NCAAM rankings on ESPN, including the Coaches and AP poll for the top 25 NCAAM teams.

I can't go that far. I agree that Ohio State was frothing for the Tennessee & Oregon games. These were their biggest games, and their attitude looked like it really had a positive impact on their performance. I expect they'll be frothing for Texas. But I don't think they'll be frothing every week, and I don't want Oregon too either. Emotion can also take away from performance. We've learned and seen that along with the Buckeyes fervor, they carried out Chip's game plan to the letter and defensively took Oregon completely out of its game. "Leave it all on the field" is what I want. Oregon absolutely didn't do that in the Rose Bowl. But rabid doesn't have to go with intensity.

I have to consider the last season to be a very, very successful one. It could have been historic, but that wasn't to be. The move to the B1G could not have gone better, the way Oregon is perceived nationally is completely different now that it's in the B1G. Recruiting and the Portal will both deliver players that wouldn't have come to Oregon before. The reason the 2024 season ending the way it did is so sad is because it was so great. ASU is thrilled about their season, so is Indiana. I'm sure Colorado is with theirs. Winning a Natty is hard to do. Ohio State sure looks like the champion now. But it's not a sure thing.

I think it's possible that Klatt is right. The dominance that the SEC had for the last decade, primarily Alabama, but LSU & Clemson snuck in there, has come to an end. Saban saw this happening and left. The B1G and SEC are about even at the top, SEC probably stronger 5-10, but not by a lot. But don't fret too much SEC basketball is dominant right now. Tennessee, Alabama, who Oregon beat, Auburn & Florida are in the Top 5. Kentucky is No.10.

For the first time in NFL history two 14-2 teams played each other, interestingly they were both in the same division. The winner got the No.1 seed, and will play all its Playoff games at home, starting with the lowest seed, in the 2nd round, The losing team, goes on the road to face the NFC West Champion LA Rams, next Monday. The Lions defense has been ravaged by injuries, but it was the defense that stood out in the 31-9 win. The Vikings had 12 plays inside the 5 yard line and came away with 1 field goal. Meanwhile, the offense didn't quite reach its 33 points per game average.

Chiefs had absolutely nothing to gain by winning, No.1 was wrapped up. Broncos had every reason to win, and got it done.

The grey uniforms never looked better!

Former USC Trojans wide receiver Zachariah Branch and safety Zion Branch committed to transfer to the Georgia Bulldogs,

All of this and, going undefeated in the B1G got Oregon to No.1. Undefeated in the old Pac-12 would not have. No.1 recruiting class, B1G, wouldn't have happened in the Pac. Nix did come to the Ducks in the Pac, but the prestige of being in the B1G means a lot now. Pac-12 was Pac-12 After Dark as far as credibility.

GeoTechDuck pointed out a while ago that there are going to be a dozen or so Quad 1 wins just in conference play. I didn't think so much of it from afar, B1G teams getting in to "March Madness" with under .500 conference records, but now we're seeing how that happens. Home court wins are incredibly important.

Hope you're right!

Illinois just squeaked past Washington, 81-77. B1G basketball is going to be ridiculous.

He's not Peyton Pritchard, but Shelstad had a Pritchard type game in this one! 23 points, 8-10 shooting, 0 turnovers after a horrible game against Illinois.

Technical foul on Maryland, called a timeout, they didn't have, Shelstad hits both FT's, Shelstad 23. 83-79 DUCKS WIN!!!!!!

3 for Barthelemy, Ducks up 79-76. Maryland misses 3, Bittle hits 1 FT, 81-77.

Shelstad has 21, Ducks up, 76-74. Maryland out of timeouts.