David Marsh

Cignetti has a new problem in front of him. His schedule next year is probably tougher than this year's. He has Oregon and Penn State on the schedule. Beyond that he can't get 13 players from his former school who came in and were vets in his system. And even if he could that wouldn't help him. He was exposed in two big games this season. He didn't have the players to go toe to toe with thr schools that recruit in the top 10 in the country. He is going to have to recruit big time to get competitive. He proved he can do a lot with a little. But at the end of the day he needs the big uglies. As Duck fans we know this all too well.

The B1G has always had 1-3 teams that were top tier in college football and a whole lot of nothing else. The Pac-12 was competitive from top to bottom, the bottom team usually found a way to upset someone they shouldn't, but the top end was not as good as the B1G top end usually. This year in the B1G isn't much different. The top three teams are all pretty strong in Oregon, Penn State and Ohio State. Indiana got the invite and I think they deserved it because they played their schedule and their only loss was to Ohio State. Their schedule wasn't a strong schedule and they did precisely what they were supposed to do ... Win. I'm going to throw shade at Bama because they had 3 pretty weak OCC games and Wisconsin, who weren't very good but it was a decent team from a scheduling standpoint. But Bama didn't lose 2/3 of their games to ranked teams. They loss them to 6-6 Vanderbilt and Oklahoma. And I'll be honest... I don't think Indiana would have lost those games. Bama has a higher ceiling certainly... But they also proved this year they had a lower floor. I do believe Indiana needs to up their OCC schedule. However, they went from winning 9 games in three seasons to 11 games this year. They made a massive hire in Cignetti and Indiana has an OCC designed to get them some wins in a season... They weren't expecting to win this much in year one of Cignetti. Indiana deserved to be in this playoff. But what we'll soon find is that at least a third of the teams don't belong in the playoff as competitive teams.

Hmmm... Turns out playing a bunch of nobodies doesn't prepare a team too well for the big games. Notre Dame will be exposed before the playoff ends as well.

The culture around Oregon and Lanning is super strong. I'm sure if Lanning thinks he can be a strong edition to the team he'll shape up to play. If he doesn't he'll be gone before the spring portal window closes.

My bet... Tennessee fans. Ohio State fans bought up a TON of the tickets for the B1G championship game and then the Buckeyes didn't make it. Apparently the resale market had decent tickets going for very low prices. And Lucas Oil Stadium is much much closer to Ohio than the Rose Bowl is. So my bet is Tenn fans.

Good for Herbert. Nix had a pretty good game as well. A great display of what the Ducks can do for their stars.

The West Coast teams just aren't going to kick off at 9am if they are highly ranked because those fan bases aren't ready for a game yet. The structure of how games are distributed is problematic for Fox who absolutely killed the Pac-12. Beyond that... I do think the SEC being in complete chaos this year has helped ESPN greatly. I know I've tuned into more SEC games this year than I have in previous years. Watching Alabama lose to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma are absolutely worth tuning in for... watching 2021 Georgia roll over every team they came across? Not so interesting.

These came out after I wrote the article. As I don't do this full time sadly some of my points become less prominent as there is a delay from writing and publishing. But still... lots of people aren't picking the Ducks to win it all. I think Lanning is using that as fuel for the players.

Three transfers in one day. One TE and 2 OL Big haul.

And fun. Don't forget FUN!

I seriously doubt there are 12 legitimate contenders for the national championship. Granted the expanded playoff isn't about expanding the playoff to allow for more contenders to compete. The reality is that I think there are probably 4 maybe 5 actual conteders this year. Certainly not 12. The expanded playoff is about the money. I think so much of the excitement this year about the playoff has been about making the playoffs. 24 spots kinda loses some of that drama.

I am a sucker for listening/watching to anyone talk about USC falling apart. Also some nice talk about our Man Dan in there as a what if USC hired Lanning instead of Riley. Which never would have happened in a million years! Because... Lincoln Riley is a Perfect Fit for USC and That’s Their Problem |... FISHDUCK.COM It has been absolutely delightful as Duck fans to watch USC’s problems, not only this year but over more than... Enjoy!

Is it even the scrap-8 yet, don't they need one more football school? They have enough for basketball I know..

Closing paragraph got a laugh out of me... "While the rivalry between Sanders and Lanning might have been born from Oregon’s dominant victory, it is Hunter’s Heisman Trophy that will leave the lasting mark. The silent response from Sanders and his team is undeniable. Colorado’s “hype” was no illusion. It was a vision realized, one defined by talent, perseverance, and a player who truly changed the game" I think the "rivalry" here is one sided. As Duck fans we don't see any rivalry between the Ducks/Lanning and Colorado/Sanders. Do we enjoy watching Colorado lose? Yep.. but that's not unique to Oregon that's ALL of college football. Also the Heisman is all about hype! It's about gaudy statistics and highlights. And if anything this year's Heisman made a statement that of the 4 finalists only Dillon Gabriel played in the B1G or SEC. The Heisman statement was that be a high quality athlete and play bad competition and put up big stats. Would Hunter put up the same stats in the B1G? Absolutely not! This is not to say he isn't a quality athlete but he was certainly several levels above his average competition in the Big 12. As for a lasting mark... Whose in the playoff? Lanning and Gabriel were honored to be invited to the Heisman ceremony but that wasn't the goal of the season. The goal is to make the playoff and WIN a National Championship. The Buffs don't even have a playoff invite. Hard to achieve a National Championship without one. Colorado is still playing for clicks. The Ducks are looking to win it ALL.

In a 12 team field there is far more wiggle room. SMU would not have gotten into the playoff at all in a 4 team field but were given the nod in a 12 team field. Last year's FSU team would have gotten in in a 12 team field. Also the automatic bid system would have given FSU a spot regardless. If we were to judge Georgia getting in on a technicality then so did ASU and Clemson as both were clearly outside of the playoff field in terms of rankings but got in via autobids. Georgia deserves a spot.