Jon Joseph

If the Ducks cannot fly to Trinidad, will Trinidad come to Autzen? https://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/football/2026/03/03/oregon-football-2026-cfp-prediction/88948266007/?utm_source=smg-duckswire-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SMGbaseline&utm_term=Content

You've got a Lot to be proud of 😁and another strong Men's basketball team that could go back-to-back.

Like the Men's team, OBD No. 11 seed Women's basketball team will have an opening round game vs. No. 14 Purdue. https://trojanswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/trojans/womens-basketball/2026/03/03/bracket-set-2026-big-ten-womens-basketball-tournament/88955456007/?utm_source=smg-trojanswire-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campai

Great stuff, but up to the final act, these are the days. Whoever has taken over for Willie S, someone please tell him that all of the heroes dying in the final scene is not necessary. SEE: The Hoosiers - Gene and Cig versions. Live from Las Vegas, will we be watching OBD hit The B1G Natty Trifecta Jackpot on 1/25/27? 👌👍🦆😍 Danno, get 'er done.

It won't be on a football field, but this Civil War should be a diamond 😁of a game. Oregon Ducks On SIOregon Ducks Baseball Lands on Three Different Rankings A...The Oregon Ducks Baseball team is off to a hot start for their 2026 season, with an 10-1 record, two sweeps over George Mason and Youngstown State and a Live Li

Spot on, Gat, thanks. Is it better to invest millions of dollars in a play-caller or in picking the portal? Ohio State won a title with a $6 million Chip. But Chip and the O no-showed in a close home game win vs. Nebraska and disappeared in the loss to Michigan, and only reached its potential when the players told Day to open things up. (Where were these guys before Brutus was blown away by the Hurricanes in the Cotton Bowl?) Again, I agree with all of your points, but how big is the football budget in Seattle? I imagine it's millions of dollars less than the budget in Columbus? I hope Jon Sumrall is the answer for your Gators. The schedule is not easy by any means. Whoever calls the plays for UF will not have to be all that wise to defeat the FAU Owls, or get over the Campbell Camels' hump, but then? At Auburn, Ole Miss, at Mizzou, South Carolina, and at Texas. Whew! After a needed week off, it's on to the Cocktail Party versus UGA, followed by Oklahoma, before playing Will Stein and Kentucky in Lexington, then Vanderbilt, and at FSU. Welcome to the SEC, Mr. Sumrall, and have a really nice day. 😁

Danno, Day, and Sark - No Natty, No excuses - At least according to When in (Nicholas)Rome? In the best of circumstances, these three will go 1 for 3. And I think the better wager would be on The Field. Saturday BlitzThese 3 head coaches have no excuses not to win the Natio...Heading into the 2026 season, every roster is seemingly set, and you can truly start to pick out which teams truly have a chance to win the National Championshi

Gat, how about your man, Steve Spurrier? OK, it was back in the 1990s and not in the 21st century, but Spurrier won many games, including the year of the messenger QB. Even more back, back, back, Paul Brown, who called the plays using a messenger guard. Lane Kiffin, although I think most of the plays are whispered in his ear by Charlie Weis, Jr. And also as you noted, Sark. Sark does not have a Natty, but he has many wins. Wherever he coached, the Pirate, Mike Leach, called the plays. And back in the dark ages, when I played, and through most of the 20th century, the QB on the field of play called the plays following the game plan crafted by his coach, including Jim Plunkett and many other successful QBs. And the best, experienced college QBs playing for successful programs, are allowed to audible. I don't think the person calling the plays matters more than the players executing the play calls. Jedd Fisch has called plays for college programs, including Michigan, and professional programs. I don't believe Fisch's calling plays is a detriment to his program. Is there a better Husky play caller? I don't know, and I don't care. Yes, play calling matters, but play calling success comes down to the Jimmies and the Joes.

Dante is 2026 B1G QB No. 1 - https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/big-ten-qb-rankings-2026-season-dante-moore-oregon/

Thank you for the info, H. Direct payments and NIL have leveled the CFB and CBB field talent wise. They have also reduced the depth and quality of the rosters. Amen on hiding mistakes. A basketball bench is much shorter than a football bench. And with the bigger NIL deals and direct payments being dedicated to football, once you have spent what is needed to take care of the starting five in basketball and maybe one or two other capable players, there is a substantial drop-off when starters are injured. Perhaps I'm just an old guy waving his cane, but today's players with better nutritional guidelines and strength and conditioning programs are more often injured than those of us raised by The Greatest Generation. And members of The Greatest Generation thought that starting both games in a doubleheader was no big deal. When basketball players competing in the NCAA and NBA today are dinged, many of these 'injured' players look like 'injured' professional soccer players who are at death's door and then back on their feet without going to the sidelines. When the guys who are being paid top dollar can't go, no matter how good the coaching, good luck. I think this disappointing season for Men's basketball has more to do with systemic issues than with Dana's coaching. The spirit is still there with this team, and the flesh is willing. But the flesh of healthy players is not ready for B1G-time ball.

With Altman's tenure, is Rob Mullens prepared to force Altman into something that the coach doesn't think he needs? A lot of assumptions in this question, no doubt. Perhaps Dana asked for a GM, and Rob said no? Even without a GM, I cannot imagine that Dana is not receiving help on the direct payment and NIL fronts. I look at where Dana is in his career, and I think of Michigan State's Tom Izzo, another veteran coach who is not happy with the state of college athletics. While I am certain Izzo receives help on the transfer and NIL front, from what I can determine using a modest search engine being deployed by a guy with modest tech skills, Michigan State basketball does not have a GM. Thanks for another thought-provoking article, Darren. Are you or any of us certain that the money for a GM is available? The cash king is football. Rob Mullens says football ticket prices are going up in 2026 because the athletic department needs more money. This is happening at Oregon, one of twelve B1G athletic departments that is in the black. (Private schools USC and Northwestern do not have to file a financial statement with the Department of Education.) But dig deeper: many profitable programs, mostly due to football, student fees, and state support, are revenue-wise in the black but carry significant debt and debt service obligations. From a liquidation analysis, many of these 'profitable' athletic departments are functionally insolvent. According to Big Ten Network, across the Big Ten and its panoply of varsity sports, one team outside of Football and Men's Basketball is profitable. The Minnesota men's hockey team. The injuries are troubling. Are the strength and conditioning programs for varsity sports at Oregon and elsewhere across the conference operating at the top level? Perhaps it is generational, but athletes today seem to be injured and unable to play more than back in the day when boo-boos were cured by rubbing some dirt on them. GM or not, the majority of B1G Men's basketball teams have not had their full complement of athletes available this season, including OBD, UCLA, USC, and UW. You can bring players in with NIL, but with bigger bodies banging together at faster speeds, can you keep them healthy? A GM would likely help with the roster, but would be of no help with keeping the roster at full strength. Win the opening game in the B1G CBB tournament on Tuesday, March 10th, and advance. The team is down this year, but the team has not given up, a testament to Dana Altman. Thanks again, Darren, for the terrific and timely article. The cost of fielding varsity college programs is unsustainable. But can this problem be fixed?

The Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament starts on Tuesday, March 10th. The games will be played at the Chicago United Center. As of March 1, 2026, No. 16 seed Oregon would open against No. 17 Maryland. Seedings for the entire field as of March 1st are shown below. Oregon suffered a bad beat at Northwestern on Saturday. Down by one point, the conference's leading scorer, Northwestern's Nick Martinelli, overcame solid Oregon defense and scored the winning basket with 1.5 seconds left to be played. Martinelli's winning bucket came on Nick Martinelli Bobblehead Night. Martinelli leads B1G scoring and is odds-on to be only the 5th B1G men's CBB player to win back-to-back scoring titles. If Oregon wins six games in a row, the Ducks would win the championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament. So, you're saying there's a ... 😁 On32026 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket: Updated...With just one week remaining in the regular season, the latest seeds/bracket for the 2026 Big Ten Tournament in Chicago has been revealed.

CBS Sports' Brad Crawford has identified 26 of the college football (CFB) games in 2026 that will have the most impact on which teams are chosen for the 2026-27 CFB Playoff (PO). https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-2026-miami-notre-dame-ohio-state-indiana/ The folks at B1G HQ in Chicago should remind Brad that CBS is no longer an SEC broadcast partner. 13 games on his list are of the it Just Means More variety. Hmmm. Eight B1G games are on the list in the order of ranking below. The No. 1 game does offer Brad a measure of hope for absolution. No, 22 - 10/17 - Penn State at Michigan - A battle of experienced coaches new to the B1G. No. 13 - 9/12 - Oklahoma at Michigan - Payback for the Wolverines? No. 12 - 10/31 - Ohio State at USC - In year three of an 18-team Big Ten, these two teams that battled in eight Rose Bowl games, going 4-4, meet as conference opponents. No. 10 - 9/26 - Oregon at USC - Ranking this game above TOSU at USC gives Brad's list a modicum of credibility. No. 8 - 11/28 - Michigan at Ohio State - Will Ryan Day close his 2-4 gap versus the Wolverines? No. 5 - 9/12 - Ohio State at Texas - Unlike the 2025 opener between Texas and Ohio State in Columbus, the two QBs come into the game as experienced starters, with a Week 1 cupcake chomping: Ohio State vs. Ball State and Texas vs. New World 😁Texas State. This game will not kick off at Noon Eastern - Plan on watching the game on ABC at 7:30 PM Eastern, 4:30 PM Pacific, with Herbie and Chris on the call. No. 3 - 10/17 - Ohio State at Indiana - Both the Buckeyes and the Hoosiers brought in solid transfer portal hauls. 247 Sports ranks Ohio State as the 5th-best portal picker, with Indiana ranked 8th. Will transfer QB Josh Hoover approach the numbers Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza put up last season? Many of the players Curt Cignetti brought with him from JMU are out of eligibility. How will a younger Indiana team perform in 2026? Indiana is odds-on to be undefeated when this game is played. Ohio State is a +2.5 underbuck against Texas, but will be favored in the rest of its games. Unfortunately, this game will likely kick off at Noon Eastern, and draw millions fewer viewers who would watch the game in prime time. Number 1 - 10/17 - Oregon at Ohio State - Coming in at No. 1 makes 13 SEC games on Brad's list, a venial and not a mortal sin. Coming into this Week 10 game, even with Ohio State and Oregon having difficult schedules, there is an excellent chance for both the Ducks and the Bucks to be undefeated or to have only one loss. Ohio State will be coming off a Week 9 game against USC in Los Angeles. In Week 9, OBD hosts Northwestern. Both teams will be traveling from the Pacific to the Eastern time zone. Possibly a scheduling break for Oregon. But don't overlook a motivated Chipper and Northwestern. This game should have a significant influence on PO seeding, and will also most likely be a Noon kickoff on Fox. Nevertheless, an ESPN College GameDay Week 10 showing in Columbus is likely. Is it September 5th yet?

It's a looooong wait to 9/5/26, but spring ball has already sprung on some campuses, and on 3/12/26, Oregon begins Spring Practice. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/biggest-spring-practice-lane-kiffin-lsu-michigan-storylines/

Photo Caption: Why is B1G HQ bucking me like this! 🤬 YardbarkerDaunting Ohio State schedule could be toughest in Buckeye...After an undefeated regular season record in 2025, Ohio State will be going into 2026 with possibly one of its hardest schedules in the program’s history.