David Marsh

A 24 team playoff... Frankly I hate it. But this is one of those things that will move on with or without Dan support because at the end of the day we are all tied to our teams and we'll at least follow things for our team's sake. Just looking at this year's rankings so far I feel there are a lot of teams in the Big 12 that are not good enough to make the playoff but have received a ton of hype so far. The Big 12 isn't what it used to be and the ACC is pretty weak as well. As for the B1G and SEC any team that gets three losses on their record isn't in the top tier of the conference. But I suppose more games, even games with sacrificial lambs, make money so I'm sure this will happen. College football has leveled out in the transfer portal and NIL era. I mean... Indiana, need I say more? So the playoff expansion is warranted and 12 feels probably about right and 16 is pushing it but has merits based on fairness, everyone plays a first round game. But 24? Just make another tournament like the NIT... A lower bracket tournament for the rest of the spread of teams. Maybe a conference that isn't the B1G or SEC might actually win it. Might be a better and more exciting tournament honestly.

And we're on the West coast... So I guess that goes to Texas Tech.

That would be fun.... But I don't think that would ever really happen. There is a still a massive talent gap between the top and the bottom. Especially when it comes to the end of a season. I mean in the 2022 Rosebowl Utah went up against Ohio State which had some of their biggest players sit out for the draft... And lost. Yes they lost their star QB but I don't think that would have made a difference in terms of the final result... Maybe the score board would have looked nicer but OSU would have gotten the win regardless.

They did that before Wilcox... They had Sonny Dykes and that was a disaster for them. He has done better in the Big 12 where teams just don't believe in defense (well this year seems different on that front). Cal needs a competent head coach who understands the program, alumni and fan base. And perhaps most importantly... Recruit their own back yard to secure its best talent and go into southern California and grab some there as well. They haven't had that and that's what they need. Defensive minded or offensive minded doesn't matter. The right coordinators will help, but frankly Wilcox has actually don't quite well on the coaching hires from an X's and O's stand point... They just never had the jimmies and joes. At least not a complete roster of them.

Hampton is already co-DC. I wouldn't be surprised if they keep the co-DC thing rolling by either promoting or finding another young up-and-comer. Little surprised that Lupoi is diving into the HC thing because he would have had opportunities before but I guess he just wanted this job. Good for him.

Great example of what the pistol can and should do. It's about deception and flexibility. The Cristobal version used it like the spread offense version of the i-formation which it isn't. The pistol under Cristobal was predictable... It always sent the runner into the A-gap in a power run... But unlike the i-formation the runner is even farther back and the defense knowing it's coming could send someone around the side to stop the run from behind. Love seeing the pistol under Stein because it is a wild card... The play could go anywhere.

Came across this on the Bleacher Report app... I tend to like it better than the ESPN one... But it has Washington by 13 points??? What is going on with that?

Gotta beat the Huskies and it depends on who wins and loses in front of us... And then how things change with a win or a loss in some of these championship games.

On3College Football Playoff Top 25: Fourth Official 2025 CFP....Oregon is at no. 6 in the playoff rankings. Personally I think we are in the perfect spot. Though I think it is likely for us to move move up another spot depending on what happens in the next couple of weeks.

https://fishduck.com/2025/01/how-should-duck-fans-remember-chip-kelly/ Wrote this last year... Perhaps it's worth a revisit.

I doubt it... He didn't like that idea after a couple of practices with Oregon. Now... he may change his mind but I think Dante Moore's decision to come to Oregon and sit a year is by far the outlier and not the rule. I would be shocked if Lanning pulls off that recruitment a second time this decade.

Absolutely! Pac-12 football was a completely different beast than the B1G. You always knew the other team had the ability to put up points with fantastic quarterback play and skill positions. I was under no illusions that we were going to keep the Trojans under 20 points going into the game, I didn't make a formal prediction but I thought they would get 21 which is still less than what they actually scored. Oregon's defense is good but good offenses always find a way.

It's the injuries right now and an away game that have set that line. Unless / until we know who is out and who will play that line will stay lower. Even though our offensive line was mostly back-ups and we ran the ball well we still ran it less efficiently than if we had our starters in. It's little things like that which takes points off the betting line. If we get word that Poncho and World are back at full strength I would imagine that that line ticks up. If we get word that Dakorian Moore is going to play, I imagine that again the line goes up in our favor.

Depends on the objective. Maybe he didn't plan on leaving ole Miss and this is all about leverage. Maybe he doesn't care as much about the end money but wants more resources. Let's get real. The money all these coaches are getting paid is more than enough to live on and leave a substantial nest egg for multiple generations.

If they get less than 8 wins next season he's out. Otherwise.... 2 seasons. Let that recruiting class become sophomores. He is going to have to kill it in the portal. But with Lanning and Cignetti around.... Portal hunting is even harder.

All comes down to ONE big question. Does Lupoi want to be a head coach? I don't think he does, if he wanted a HC gig he could have had one by now and probably one that would at least be equal if not greater than Cal. He might take it but I'd be absolutely shocked if he did.

I don't think he was the right fit for the Oregon job. But if he had the job he would have done far better than he did at Cal. The resources and support at Oregon is completely different. Just look at what happened to all our previous head coaches who left.... They did much worse. Wilcox would have kept Oregon where we were and nor elevate the program. He'd probably be getting 8-10 win seasons (including bowl games) ... Which wouldn't cut it for where we want to go but would be far better than Cal. Lanning has elevated the program.

On3California fires head football coach Justin WilcoxCalifornia has fired head football coach Justin Wilcox toward the end of his ninth season in charge of the program, On3's Pete Nakos has learned.Not all that unexpected. Cal hasn't been terribly good under Wilcox and well they haven't been very good under any head coach in the last twenty years really. Cal and Stanford are both looking for new coaches now. It will be interesting to see who they go after and if they decide to try and take football more seriously. Wilcox will probably go off and be a DC somewhere again for a while and get another shot at a HC job. Cal just doesn't have the resources to be all that successful. I don't think he was the right fit for Oregon but I don't harbor any ill feelings towards him. Just another coaching vacancy to watch.

Or maybe they recognized that the refs were letting their offensive PI's go uncalled and instead called defensive PI's? Hahahhahahahha no they would never admit that the refs called something in their favor and it be the wrong call. Speaking of Oregon's defensive backs though they did a pretty good job. They kept USC receivers in front of them and there were few yards after catch. I don't know how Oregon's defensive backs could have covered some of those receivers much better or those PI calls any better as USC receivers were pushing off against them. Loads of slop to go around but the better team still won.

I don't want to get in the conference championship game. Right now we only get in if Ohio State loses which would mean a rematch with Indiana which I think would be fine as I think we could cook something up for a rematch. But I would rather have time for the team to get healthy for a playoff game at Autzen.

Well... I think the curse was passed on to Harvard. They all called Harvard to beat Yale and Yale won.

Felt like the Pac-12 where breathing on a receiver resulted in a flag. I think several of those PIs the coaching staff looks at and will shrug off because those flags haven't been thrown for the majority of the season. I think it was just this ref crew.

We will have to wait and see on the injury front. Pickard played well enough that risking Poncho probably wasn't worth it. Looked like Poncho was seeing if he could make a go of it at one point. World I think had a few snaps but they didn't want to risk him. Harkey went out and came back in. I think we'll see many players back next week.

The refs were definitely calling things like we were on the Pac-12 that's for sure.

Battle of the backups... So who has better back ups in that matchup?