David Marsh

I would say teams like Oregon, Washington and Utah are going to get a lot of the network games or games on ESPN or FS1 as well. Good teams in the PAC will get plenty of visitibliy. This last year USC was relegated a lot to Pac-12 Network when Oregon was on a major network. Granted the B1G Network has way better distribution right now than the Pac-12 Network but I can see a bit of that changing in time. If the LA schools are on the B1G Network too frequently that doesn't help their recruiting. Granted, I think FOX will be happy to help the B1G out and make sure they aren't on the conference network too often. However, as ESPN has been left by the wayside in B1G media rights I can see them broadcasting more PAC games at that point too. I guess in the end we haven't got a clue what this is going to really look like... but it is fun to guess. But I do feel a presence in Souther California would be nice as long as it doesn't come at too great of a cost. With the new conference championship format why not just the Pac-11? Just add SDSU to keep us in Southern California and playing the waiting game on anyone else. No rule that says a conference must have an even amount of teams... well scheduling might get a bit annoying potentially.

The interesting thing will be how much of a recruiting pitch would USC and UCLA have when they are in the B1G? Come to USC/UCLA you will get to stay at home for half your games (same as right now) and then travel 5+ hours per away game and play in some COLD environments. You will also have to contend with Ohio State and Michigan to try and get to the playoff! I think that will become the narrative by 2027, they will need to be in the B1G for about three years for the missery to really set in. Meanwhile, Oregon and other PAC schools can say... stay close-ish to home for all your games and you don't have to travel as much. Also if you win the conference you get to go to the playoff... Done. Not saying this will be the case but it is certainly a scenario.

SDSU and UNLV are probably the best two to be honest. They will be bottom feeders in the conference for some time but they have the most growth potential. Boise State doesn't get the PAC a good media market and Fresno State also has a limited media market, even though both are better football programs than SDSU and UNLV. Remember... Utah had like three 5-7 seasons after joining the PAC because of growing pains and now they are a strong team. Colorado is still bad and they came from a P5 conference. SDSU and UNLV will take years after joining the PAC to become something good on the field but an injection of money by joining the conference will help them alinn the way. But in truth I don't think the conference needs to expand for expansion sake. The pie must grow over time to make expansion worth while or else we are just feeding more mouths with a smaller pie.

I heard that both McGee and Cardwrll didn't like the new coaching staff and coupled with getting fewer snaps led them out the door.

This is a significant get. I think Oregon fields a solid offensive line next year. Three or four from Oregon's roster... Conerly, Jones, Powers-Johnson and Harper (who started in Jones'absence this year and let's face it that was most of the year and the offensive line still looked good) Then throw in a couple transfers in Cornelius and Angilau and the Ducks have the makings for a solid line. And I haven't even mentioned the other linemen who have spent time developing who may seen the field at some point as well.

I would like to say this is an abnormal year but the truth is I haven't got a clue and no one really does. From what I can make of it, it seems like Lanning is doing a mix of things. One thing is having honest conversations with players who probably won't see the field for any number of reasons and those players are pushed into the portal to make room for new recruits. Two, rebalancing the roster. Defenses during the Cristobal era used 4 linebackers. Lanning only uses two on a regular basis. He has too many linebackers on the roster and many don't fit the mold. Building Lanning's Defense: The Linebackers FISHDUCK.COM Dan Lanning's defense this season did not live up to his standard, and it wasn't even close. Oregon's defense... And this goes beyond just linebackers but to edge players as well. Three, the culture change. Players have had a chance now to get a feel for the culture Lanning is instilling in the team. Some players don't want to buy into the culture and have left as a result. Seven McGee and Byron Cardwrll left for this reason and I suspect it is also at least part of the reason why Justin Flowe and Dont'e Thornton have entered the portal as well. I see players leaving every year for reasons one and three but probably not so much for two moving forward. Lanning's defense will persist after his DCs eventually leave. And I think Stein is here for a good few years as OC so I don't see factor two coming into play for the offense either... Granted I feel Lanning would just look for an OC who fits his offensive roster. I would think these are growing pains for a team and roster but I don't feel fully confident on that hypothesis.

The all whites still have green on them. They are a pretty clean looking uniform so I can live with it.

I'd give Lanning a B+ as well. If they beat the Beavers an A but that collapse was bad. I guess Lincoln Riley is an A. He fixed a few things about USC but the biggest benefit in his favor was his relatively easy schedule.

I saw now in the headline and was like... Yes I want to learn about it right NOW... But now you're telling me I have to wait??? I guess that's what I get for not reading the question mark. Or more importantly... Not wanting there to be a question mark and having both articles right now.

Saban might deplore the portal... But he still knows how to use it and he will take full advantage of it. I think 10 years ago coaches, including Saban, would be appalled by how coaches are pushing players out of their respective programs today. But this isn't 2012 ... It's 2022 and the game has changed so much that pushing players into the portal to enable new talent is common place.

I think that's the big deal here ... Building a roster that is reliably two or three deep is becoming harder to do. That talent that knows they'd be starting for other schools isn't waiting their turn on the bench anymore ... They're leaving to go start at another school. We just grabbed two of these players from Bama this cycle a reciever and DB.

Transfer Portal Will Be a Disaster For Student-Athletes FISHDUCK.COM College football is more complicated than ever, especially when it comes to recruiting and the transfer portal... And most will never find a new home and just lose their scholarships. Which does feel like it goes against the whole premise of college sports.

I have committed the gravest of Duck fan sins... I scheduled something else that over laps with the Duck game. However... It is virtual and I am just putting people on zoom in the correct breakout rooms. So I'll still be watching the game. But still...

It was discussed earlier this year to have unlimited official visits but 70 is still a TON. About ten years ago the official visit number was around 35 which was basically a recruiting class plus ten. Times are changing fast... but I suppose to compensate for the transfer portal the number of official visits needed to go up. Unlimited Official Visits Will Only Make College Football Worse FISHDUCK.COM College Football has always been composed of the "haves" and "have-nots" and that isn't going to change, but there is a desire to...

Assuming Oregon extended an offer to DJU it is because of his brother. I don't think we need him. We have a roster over the 85 scholarships right now so anyone we take better come in to produce. But if we do take him TT is gone... But I'm also convinced that if Novosad has a better camp, whether that is spring or fall he pushes TT out as it is. Only benefit of DJU is that it would give us a better backup.

Another site I saw was it is down to Oregon and TAMU. So who knows....

Great comparison. I do feel like we will see some things work themselves out before fall camp. I do think they will let the DBs fight it out because we need a soldi backend for this defense to work.

And the only reason it can't be more is because of crazy scholarship juggling. Those who enroll early can count to last year's class, if there are any unused scholarships.

This is Lanning shaping the roster the way he wants it to be. And as I talked about yesterday 3 and is about all a team can support scholarship wise these days. It will be interesting to see how Spring goes to see how it all shuffles out. The inside linebacker number at 6 looks about right for what Lanning may want that is a solid tree deep at least.

What some insiders were saying yesterday it was really about the player v family. PB wanted to go to Oregon but his family... From the sound of it mom... Wanted him closer to home. So sooners won out. Same sort of thing is going down between Hicks and his dad from the sound of it. It cant be easy for anyone.

Dicky has in th past said he didn't intend on signing during the early signing period. So I was hoping it was just him wanting to actually sign but who knows what is going on.

He is deciding and signing on Friday by the sound of it.

Yeah... Disasters can happen. Oregon still has a couple walkon quarterbacks on the roster and I feel they will continue to add walk on qbs for no other reason than to ensure there are quarterbacks for the practice squad. But to be honest... If Oregon or any other team goes through their starter and the back up in a single game or season... That season is written off. So I don't think coaches are too concerned about going through more than three quarterbacks in a season and still anticipating that season being a success. I think fans would also forgive a coaching staff for having a bad season that went through the first and second string qbs. These new rules have coaches increasing risk in some areas of the roster to ensure depth and success at others.

I don't think coaches want to keep that many quarterbacks on the roster because I'd that's the goal then they could find a way. Keep some lower star recruits on the roster would be one way of doing it. But I don't think the coaches want to hold four or five scholarships for quarterbacks. For each scholarship held by a QB who will never see the field in a game is a scholarship that doesn't go to a linemen or reciever or linebacker. Players that you need to have multiples on the field and in rotation to have a successful team. Developing quarterbacks is nice but no longer a nessissity as the transfer portal can make up for any prospects that don't pan out.

Dicky already said that basically... Committed before Moore and he is still committed. We lost a recruiter in Moore that's for sure but Oregon's coaches have been suring up the other commits all the same. Right now they get to sell that those guys will get to play with Nix this year. Anything more than one year out is unpredictable this day and age and anyone who says they know exactly who is going to be on any team more than one year out is just lying.