Charles Fischer

I agree with the first four you mention, with Illinois being in the top 16 last year, and with good prospects for this year. I agree about Washington within three years challenging to be in the top B1G group. A sleeper we cannot overlook is Michigan State with Jonathan Smith there--he coaches teams up superbly.

Ducks added ANOTHER pitcher from a JUCO in Christian Bobzin with a 2.94 ERA.

Cooper Strawn, a 6’6 RHP from a JUCO in Texas, committed to Oregon on the 28th.

Baseball America just came out with their top 50 prospects who will enroll in college. Braden Jaksa (Oregon) was No. 9 on their list and the No. 76 prospect pre draft going in as a catcher/OF.

Incoming transfer Josh Schleichardt set the WCL single season HR and RBI records on this dinger recently in a Portland Pickles game.

And it appears that the bombastic Indiana HC chimed in--as he can do.... Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, known for making splashes with a microphone in his face, leaned into the controversy at Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday. Asked why cancelling the home-and-home with Virginia is good for Indiana, Cignetti took it as an invitation to fire off a shot at a rival conference. “We figured we would just adopt the SEC scheduling philosophy, you know,” Cignetti said. “Some people don’t like it. I’m more focused on those nine conference games. Not only do we want to play nine conference games and have the 4-4 Playoff format. We want to have play-in games to decide who plays in those playoffs.” Curt Cignetti

They surprised everyone at the B1G Media days with their agreement about conference scheduling.... (From a John Canzano article) Rob Mullens: “The hard thing about college football is there’s a whole difference in that some leagues play eight (conference games), some leagues play nine. There is not a ton of head-to-head. You’re left at the end to try to figure out seeding. Those last few spots with 6-7 (teams) in the end, it’s really difficult.” Mullens continued, “There was one year when I was chair, we had Georgia, Oklahoma, and Ohio State, and one spot. We went ALL… NIGHT… LONG. It was really hard to differentiate.” James Franklin: “Everybody has to play the same number of conference games,” Franklin said. “This ain’t this hard. Everybody should be playing eight, or everybody should be playing nine.” “You’re asking a group of people to get into a room and give us the best 12 or 16 teams, and you’re not comparing apples to apples,” Franklin said. “… then you get these media members that we know are not true national media members, they’re homers to certain conferences, we have them in the Big Ten, other people have them as well. And then they get on and pound the table about people’s schedules, you’re not comparing the same thing.” It is great to see the conference commissioner, a major AD, and a HC in the conference coming out strong about this, and it is crucial that we are united with this issue. James Franklin

Which game will be tougher for Our Beloved Ducks, and why? At Autzen: versus Indiana, or USC? and... Away Games: at Iowa or at Washington? Why?

I have two reactions...

"USC has basically become the other USC — a South Carolina-type program filled with big aspirations but average results." "Most folks think Riley is not on a hot seat because of the untenable cost of his buyout, reportedly in the neighborhood of $80 million." "Through 40 games, Riley is 26-14. Through 40 games, Clay Helton was 28-12 as a head coach."

Some pretty crazy stuff there....”didn't get or pay much for OL out of the portal?” We got the BEST three OL available out of the portal! Alex Harkey, No. 71, is not a small man...

One member of the Oregon media commented that... "Having spent the week with a bunch of Ohio State reporters, all really nice guys, they rank Autzen right around the top of the atmospheres they've experienced too."

Gee...ya think?

I'm glad they took it well...

It sure sounds like they are going to miss Pregnon! And talk about sour grapes? Whew! "Rewatching some highlight footage from last year and man, will his presence be missed. I know it’s not worth focusing too much on things that now in the past and can’t be changed…but I can’t help but feel like having him would have earned us 1-2 more wins next year due to his undeniable skill as well as the lack of depth at OL." "Absolute road-grader in the run game." "I will add that if DJ Wingfield is not available...OL play could be in trouble, so the wait for Fall Camp is almost here with The OL Job #1, while the defection of Emmanuel Pregnon to Oregon was a low-blow!" "Big loss. Felt that way at the time. Feel stronger about it now. When we are all gnashing our teeth about this OL in November it will be one of those things we all look back and wonder how Oregon got over on us." "Sucks that we lost him, and to a school we constantly go head-to-head in recruiting battles. It's even worse that the dude “replacing” Pregnon, might not be eligible and the depth is mediocre. And the guy who will likely be lining up against our inexperienced replacement when we play Oregon will be another dude we lost in the portal (Bear Alexander) who will likely try his hardest in that one game. "It is perplexing how big the NIL war-chest for Oregon is, but how little they invested in portal OL dudes. Shoulda tampered because another mediocre season is coming and the only people paying attention to the program will be the homers on here."

Hoo-boy! Trojan fans have their skirts blown up over a comment Lanning made at the B1G Media days... (The word is that Pregnon is the one who called Oregon--because he didn't want to play at SC anymore...) Trojan Fans Say... "Not sure if others saw the interview but DL is one weird dude. He just seems slow of brain power." "Isn't this the definition of the pot calling the kettle black?" "Translation: 'I’ll keep doing it until you stop me.” "LOL! Dan is funny." "Careful what you ask for Danny boy!!!!" "I agree that Oregon has always been shady and cheater mother truckers, and Lanning and his crew seemed to have taken it to another level. Only way to deal with that is for USC to get better at everything, and beat the living crap out of the Ducks on regular basis. Oregon has had free rein for a long time in the under the table, shady tactics with Nike connection. Hopefully, with the new NIL, it will level the playing field against these a-holes."

I cannot copy the whole article, but John Canzano interviewed Big-10 Commissioner Tony Petitti at the B1G Media Days and I learned two things; Canzano is against what we want in the B1G, and is folding in "put-downs" of Petitti and the B1G in his article very skillfully. This was not a factual interview, it was an Opinion-Editorial piece by John. The other item? Commish Petitti is fighting for his conference...to grow the viewership and attendance--to benefit the conference members. Below are some of his quotes... He mentioned the scheduling disparity (with the SEC) on Tuesday, noting, “We have more losses in our conference because we play more conference games.” Said Petitti: “We’ve got 18 teams now. We need more teams in the playoff.” Petitti argued on Tuesday that having four guaranteed CFP spots would cause his schools, particularly those with a 6-3 record late in the season, to feel like they had a path to the CFP. That would increase fan interest in the Big Ten regular season, he said, and boost television viewership. “More teams feeling like they have a chance,” he said, “means more interest in our games.” Big-10 Commissioner Tony Petitti I agree with his statements, and would take it further; if we get four in the Playoff for certain, then B1G and SEC teams would be more apt to schedule high-profile, high-payout non-conference games with each other. It would create a juicier season, more interest in all the games, and it would grow the conference viewership and payouts to conference members.

Yep, wait until you see the dollar figures when they separate later....whew!

With the Pac-12 adding Texas State, how about North Texas as well? "Nah," said Mean Green HC (and Lone Star State lifer) Eric Morris. "The Pac 12 is the old Mountain West now." Heartland College Sports - An In...Eric Morris Dismisses Pac-12 as “Old Mountain West” in Ex...North Texas head coach Eric Morris shot down the idea of joining the Pac-12 as a travel partner for Texas State, calling the league “the old Mountain West” and highlighting major travel concerns.

My understanding is that it applies with the force of law until the next President writes one to dissolve it. This was common as Biden wrote 160 Executive Orders, and Obama wrote 277 Executive Orders. Biden revoked 72 Executive Orders from Trump's first term, which again--is common. (Trump has written 171 Executive Orders in his second term) It does not solve everything, but I view it as a next step?

Right. And in the B1G...we get PAID more!

Bowman is a Rivals 4-Star, and he was offered by NINE SEC teams, and the offer list includes Oregon, Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia, Miami, Texas, etc.

In all marketing--there are hits and misses...

Jon, nobody does the research that you do! A super-interesting article that gives us a much better perspective than any of the 700 preseason articles by pundits with their uninformed, pithy predictions.