Darren Perkins

8 or 9 wins is perfectly reasonable, I could meet you halfway though at 10 wins. I'm not afraid at all of BYU at home though, we'll see the real BYU this year against better competition and they won't look as good. The 5-0 against the PAc-12 was against a parade of the poor to mediocre (Utah before they got good). I'm so over the Chip "might do something this year, " thinking, he's not, especially since he floundered away last season after the LSU (who turned out to be not so good) win, so no fear there. Almost every team has a dangerous player or presents some sort of a challenge that gives them a chance to beat the Ducks, but the Ducks went 10-2 this year with poor coaching, i'm betting they'll have good coaching this year. Good coaches make sure their teams beats less talented teams, i'm banking we've made the right hire.

There is a direct correlation between success and having a highly rated class by the two big big recruiting sites, Rivals and 247. It's a numbers games, you amass talent, of course many highly rated guys don't live up to expectations, but many do. So the more high-rated guys you have, you simply increase your odds of producing top-notch talent on the field. The Ducks did go 10-2 this year, and I'm certainly not seeing a drop in talent, in fact, Oregon was a very young team this past season and now those guys have more experience, and Bo Nix may well prove to be a solid upgrade over Brown. Before this season, many people on this site were thinking that the Ducks were a year away, and that in 2021 they would win 8-9 games, but got to 10, they had their unexplainable slip up to Stanford. And sure, Oregon could get upset by the likes of the Cougs, but those type of games are ones we should definitely win.

Thanks for the post, had to look up Incarnate Word , so there is my learning something new everyday for today. Yeah, it's very hard to run the table, even the 2000's Trojans had a hard time doing that and were usually tripped up by a less talented team. 10-2 might be a little more realistic, but dang it, 11-1, let's just do it.

Yup, injuries certainly added up, but the loss to Stanford and the no-shows against Utah were dumbfounding.

If we had lost a close game at Utah, we could have lived with that, but the Stanford loss AND the no-show "Assault in Salt Lake" were inexcusable.

Just gotta avoid the "Stanford Surprise" type of games, i'm thinking the new coaching staff won't let that happen.

Completely not too unrealistic. Georgia should be very good, but could have at least a slight drop off on both sides of the ball, Bo Nix could have a magical game, the Ducks have a puncher's chance. But, if i was going to put money on it .... Going into 2021, the 11-1 prediction was mostly based on a loss in Columbus and then run the table. But, of course it didn't work out that, but it was only the meltdown in Palo Alto that cost the Ducks 11-1.

Ah yes, still keeping this old argument alive, I love it. Does anybody really think it was 100% on the WR's? While having mediocre WR's certianly didn't help things, MC's predictable and easy to defend offense was the greater culprit. So, I'll concede, the answer is both, I blame Mario more than the wr's, some blame the wr's more than Mario. But, 100% on the wr's? No way.

It's from 2017 when he was in the mix to get hired by CAL, some article hightlights: +++++ Wherever Lupoi goes, controversy follows. So does talent. Oh, and then there’s the small matter of Lupoi’s alleged NCAA violations. But Lupoi’s reputation as a recruiter is such that the Bears might consider taking the risk. “Big key would be if (Wilcox) brings Tosh with him,” said Greg Biggins, the National recruiting Director for Scout.com. “One of the best there is.” Lupoi knows the Bay Area recruiting scene like few others. He played for De La Salle High School and was a defensive lineman for the Bears. He coached the position during the Jeff Tedford era, experiencing highs and lows. A driving force behind some stellar recruiting classes, he was the Rivals recruiting service’s 2010 recruiter of the year. That same season, he instructed players to fake injuries against Oregon and was suspended for one game as a result. (Several Cal sources believe Lupoi was unfairly targeted by the scapegoat-seeking administration.) He left Cal for Washington in the winter of 2012 in controversial fashion: Lupoi was recruiting top prospect Shaq Thompson to Berkeley while in talks with the Huskies. He switched employers, Thompson switched schools, and many Cal fans called foul. While at Washington, Lupoi was accused of paying $4,500 for a recruit to take online classes. When Chris Petersen became the Huskies coach, he did not retain Lupoi. Alabama scooped him up, installing Lupoi first as a defensive analyst, then as outside linebackers coach. Will he remain in Tuscaloosa, or return to his alma mater? The answer should come in the next few hours and days

Well we're not going to drop anybody, we're not at that point in college football. But those big 12 teams you mentioned, they are second tier programs, they don't move the needle enough for the networks. Names like Texas and Oklahoma move the needle far enough. Again, the SEC knows this, and what's good enough for the SEC (ie, passing on the rest of the Big 12 leftovers) should be good enough for the Pac-12. Andy Staples wrote an article in the fall. The magic number is 4 million. As in 4 million viewers and over is considered a homerun by the networks.And by adding Texas and Oklahoma tbe sec probably added around 7-10 4 million viewer games a year. ..... The Pac - 12 adds the likes of Baylor and Ok State, they add zero 4 mil games. But in the alliance, there will several 4 million viewer games added. And that's what the Pac-12 needs.

I'd be for that!!!

The nice thing about the alliance, from my understanding, is that games would be schedued on a year to year basis and not 5-10 years ahead of time. This way, they can schedule the top/hottest teams each year. Now, there's a lot of details to work out, but that is goal is to create matchups that the networks would like to throw money at. The big 12 had a good year, but I don't believe Baylor and Ok St are winning double digits games on a consistent basis. If the Bearcats were in the Big 12 this year, odds are they don't make the playoff. On top of that, there's a good chance they would have knocked OK St or Baylor out of the NY6. So the new Big 12 would have had 2 teams top, possibly only one in the NY6/CFP. I understand eliminating the competition, but with USC and the Ducks firing on all cylinders (and if UW and UCLA ever stepup) the Big 12 is really no competition to the Pac-12 (think current SEC to PAc-12 now). They have no top tiers programs, no blue-bloods, no new-bloods, and almost half the conference was a Group of 5 team within the past decade. They have some good second-tier programs, but none the networks are salivating over. I think if the Pac-12 steps up, then down the line, if it makes financial sense, they can maybe snag Oklahoma State and a couple/a few Texas schools. I get it and I agree, Texas is a valuable state, but I'm not sure any of those leftover programs offer enough cache.

Yup, and if Oregon and USC step and become serioius contender then all the more money. The Big 12 has zero blue-bloods and/or top tier programs. Almost half their conference was a Group of 5 member over the past decade. It's about big names and big matchups more than it is about expanding into new territories.

Good points. And, I think they keep Vandy and the likes around so they can guarantee some wins, don't want everybody to be too good.

Agreed...

Hey Jon, I totally respect your well thought out point of view, you might be right.... I dont think hoops does enough to move the needle since, what? Off the top of my head 85% percent of revenue is football., give or take. And yes, they did well this season just like the Pac-12 did poorly, but that's not every year. There would be plenty more to sell, but would that increase the pay out per school? That's a big risk, especially in the short term, and while it is more prudent to look long-term as you've suggested, that's just not how the world works, people want results, as in, yesterday! I think going the Alliance route is the prudent first step, and expansion could be something down the road, the book on that isn't closed forever. A strong Oregon and USC would make the PAc-12 attractive, and I think we're on the way.

Very true, and that's kinda what it took for a new coach at SC and a new commissioner.

And I respect that point of view. I do think it is possible that the PAc-12 could expand into Texas down the road. If USC and Oregon become CFP regulars, whick i think is very likely, then we can expand from a position of strength.

Yes, if we could get just 1, the folks in Seattle would not be happy. Here's to Lanning getting things right!

I think the new commish is off to a good start, yes action, hopefully we'll get alot of that this offseason.

Good point on Dixon, I was referring to the USC dominance from 2002-08.

Yeah, he's open to some cool ideas, such as not having all the alliance games be just in September, but spreadout through the season, which goes against tradition.

Agree, it's all about the marquee matchups, and honestly the Pac-12 just needs to play better, and I think the Pac is on the brink.

As far as expansion,? I believe the powers that be looked at that, but didn't feel it would generate more revenue per school.

Thanks for the comments. I do believe it as about quality and not quantity. The Alliance games will draw way more eyeballs than, for example, Washington State vs Texas Tech type matchups, of which there would be many, which networks don't get jazzed about. None of the remaining Big 12 teams bring enough name cache to get the networks excited and the SEC knows that. USC was a bit of a dumpster fire when Pete Carrol took over and by year two they were winning the Orange Bowl, It will be a quick bounce back, this is not like rebuilding Oregon State. USC has talent and Riley is bringing in more, the Oklahoma qb, williams, just entered the transfer portal, safe to say he's probaly looking at SC. Also, there will be a next round of expansion, serious talks seem to happen every 5-10 years, if down the road bringing in some of those BIG 12 teams makes sense then it could get donw.