SoutheastDuck

Welp. Dang. No reason they shouldn’t be a top end program and honestly no reason they shouldn’t beat Oregon and tOSU.

For Penn State to be top 5 and stay top 5, they have to have better receivers. Who replaces Warren? their WRs last year were abysmal, Harrison Wallace was salvageable, but that's all they have returning (aside from Evans who had 3 catches their last 4 games) unless they brought in new talent from the portal? That seems like a glaring weakness to me especially when Drew Allar is only an OK to good QB...

I agree, Freeman, Sarkisian and Lanning all were signed as HCs the same year. Now Sarkisian did have his failed years at USC and Washington, but I don't get the "longevity" excuse. My assumption is its more recency bias since ND and Texas made in farther in the CFP than Oregon... Oh well, not that this really matters.

On top of coming out flat footed... Ohio State was so ridiculously stacked last year, there is no reason they should have ever lost 1 if not two games. I think this is often overlooked, had they run the table, that team would have been in the conversation as one of the top 5 college football teams of all time. The ridiculous talent they brought as transfers that stacked on top of their already deep team put them into another echelon. Just look at the # of players drafted - 14, 2nd most for any team ever (4 of those were 1st rounders.), only the 2022 Georgia team had more with 15. As we all know the advantage of Autzen was at 3.5pts or something, not taking away from the Ducks last year, but it was truly a masterpiece of Lanning to pull off that first win against the Buckeyes. Oregon likely loses 4 of 5, or 9 of 10 to tOSU... Here's my Oregon bias; But I question if what Ryan Day did last year was really as impressive as perceived? You had one of the greatest rosters of all time, yet you lost 2 games? You won the natty which is a great accomplishment and testament to being the best, but did you really underperform? Was it Chip Kelly to the rescue?

Well, it worked...

I loved his speed, sorry to see him go, but you’re right, especially with timing in the middle of spring practice, it’s because he was jumped by someone better and hungrier.

Had to mention this dumb joke… Tennessee should have known considering his last name is; I Am a Leava… sorry… couldn’t resist. dang it @1Funduck beat me to it…

I hope Lanning doesn’t go for him… Oregon predicted as surprise landing spot for Nico Iamaleava after Tennessee fallout WWW.SPORTINGNEWS.COM Dan Lanning and Oregon could be in play if Nico Iamaleava heads back out west after Tennessee fallout.

USC may have taken a few recruits, but it is likely to make room for even better options... Oregon Ducks projected to land 3 of nation's top 10 football prospects by national expert WWW.SI.COM It's still early in the 2026 recruiting cycle and there's a lot still to be determined before the dust settles on December's early signing period. But Rivals na

Looks like Georgia is no longer the favorite. I'm pretty upset about this. https://athlonsports.com/college/georgia-bulldogs/college-football-news-rumors-recruiting-oregon-uga-dawgs-jared-curtis "He spoke highly of the Bulldogs this past week. But talking to several sources regarding this recruitment, I think it's trending Oregon."

Agreed. Ohio State doesn’t respect anybody, even their own coach…

I agree, while there are position groups that could be better, this wasn’t the issue. Ohio St has compiled maybe one of the greatest rosters of all time, this has been widely expressed, and fueled so much of their fan base frustration when they underperformed. Totally appreciate Lanning’s ownership mentality, but when the best teams are playing, little things do add up; injuries, a stolen possession, a blown coverage, momentum, there is so little margin for error. Big bowl games always have a hangover effect, it’s a huge hurdle to come out with energy and avoid digging a hole. Ohio st had 10 days off, so an extra long week to prep, Oregon had 24 days… Ryan Day called it right; Here are 5 things we learned from the Ohio State Buckeyes' 41-21 win over Oregon WWW.DISPATCH.COM Ohio State routed Oregon in the Rose Bowl on Wednesday to reach the College Football Playoff semifinals... Momentum is real, give up 5 TDs before you even know what happened and you’re done. Against a team who on paper is one of the greatest. Any other year and Ohio State wouldn’t be playing for a natty as they’d be on the outside looking in, playing in a non-relevant bowl. It sucks for sure, any other year Oregon would have to likely go through ND or Texas and Georgia to win our first title. Here’s some bitter truth, Oregon lost their last national championship showing in the first year of the CFP to a team that in any other year wouldn’t have had a chance to play for it… that’s right, Cardale Jones and the Buckeyes… …but we can’t focus on the what ifs.. Still a great season, and no, the bottom won’t fall out after this loss..

And have all the momentum…

Got to minimize the hole we dig as we get the rust off, need to shift momentum and get a stop. We knew this would be tough as tOSU is the best in the playoff field. Sucks to face them coming off 3 weeks…

38-24 Oregon.

To reiterate, it’s difficult to gauge how good Tennessee is, they lost to Georgia and Arkansas, and their only ranked win was against Alabama(they didn’t play South Carolina). To someone’s point earlier, they’re likely similar to an Iowa this year. Ohio st just played at home in a must win redemption game. Kudos to Ryan Day on his game plan and getting their mindset right, it’s gonna be difficult to do that again in Pasadena.

tOSU 31 UT 27 OhioSt trails deep into the 3rd qtr.

Jeanty and Hunter remind me of McCaffrey and Derrick Henry, Henry won the Heisman, yet we all know both have been absolute beasts in their NFL careers. I see the potential for both to truly be special at the next level. Best ever? Nah… As for Dillon, he had too many good, but not “great” games to be in consideration. He only threw for >300 yds twice this season, against Ohio st and Idaho. He’s a great QB on a great team, but that didn’t need him to pad his stats unfortunately.

This has to not be accounting for some $$$ right? How are we #19? Supposedly Uncle Phil’s unlimited funding is the only reason we are #1, keep getting great transfers and our recruiting class has the highest % blue chip recruits? Right? Does this kill the argument from huskie fans and others that say we just “pay” more than everyone else? Ranking the Top 24 Power Five Teams by Collective Funding | CFB NIL WWW.SPORTSGRID.COM The college football landscape has changed drastically over the years with NIL. Here's a look at the top 24...

Thanks for sharing. Penn State is the hardest matchup for sure, manageable path to 11-1 with a new QB. Good times.

And 8 straight weeks against a rested wisky team with everything to prove.

I believe it’s based on the record of opponents.

It feels like a distraction right now. Not to mention he was released from the program, seems like we don’t want that baggage. https://athlonsports.com/college/longhorns-country/texas-longhorns-reportedly-dismissed-former-five-star-wr-johntay-cook-ii

Agreed, what Penix did for that team, he saved DeBoer a couple times with his magic... I also think Penix had just "ok" games at the end of the season that hurt his perception (WSU and OSU), meanwhile to your point, Daniels kept throwing up ridiculous numbers.

Great synopsis. Thanks.