Jon Joseph

Did the Duck drink Champaign? If so, I hope Puddles did not feel ILL. (SORRY!)

It's getting B1GGER (and BETTER) all the time. 😍

A dozen newbies who could crash the 2024 Playoff Party. College Football Playoffs candidates to make the field for first time COLLEGESPORTSWIRE.USATODAY.COM These 12 teams could crash the CFP party for the first time in 2024. Ole Miss, Mizzou, and Penn State have Playoff-friendly schedules. Mizzou has the easiest out-of-conference and easiest-in-conference schedule in the SEC. LIberty's schedule is more than manageable. Once again the Flames flame out when it comes to playing a P4 opponent. An 11-2 or even a 10-3 Boise State would deserve the G5 spot over a 13-0 Liberty. Again CFB fans ask: Will strength-of-schedule matter?

The Buckeyes come up B1G with folks willing to risk a bob and a quid while the Longhorns are Dawged. 😊 NCAAF futures: Should you back this most-bet-on team in college football? WWW.YARDBARKER.COM With less than a month until the new season opens, college football is drawing bettors to their favorite sportsbooks at an exceptional rate. So who exactly is everyone backing in 2024? So, why the photo of Quinn Ewers and not Chip Kelly? Puddles is flying under the radar, which is nice.

Feeling BIGGER today? I don't mean to be Fickell but I hope the Badgers take at least one more season to "get it." Luke Fickell, Max Stienecker rapidly rebuilding football culture at Wisconsin WWW.YARDBARKER.COM After finishing their first season at Wisconsin with a 7-6 record, they face significant challenges heading into their second year together. To rebuild the once highly competitive program, many big moves...

The NFL is as of now, $4.7B better off. Will beer prices stay flat? (Oops.) Judge overturned $4.7 billion verdict in NFL Sunday Ticket lawsuit for curious reason WWW.YARDBARKER.COM The plaintiffs are likely to file an appeal, but for now, the case is closed in favor of the NFL.

Hang in there Justin. OBD Forum and all other Ducks are rooting for you and your 'new' Chargers. Justin Herbert injury: Chargers QB hurts his foot, but he's expected to be ready for start of regular season - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Herbert will spend the next few weeks in a walking boot He'll escape the boot and kick booty!👍👍👍

Huzzah! Athlon provides us access to an ESPN+ Paywall article. Although the author beefs about it, ESPN FPI has Oregon with the second-best odds of making the 2024 playoff, 76%, and decent odds of winning it all at 12.8%. Well worth a read. 11 Florida State would represent the ACC. 15 Kansas the B12. 22 Boise State the G5. The first two out are Oklahoma and Michigan. https://athlonsports.com/college/oregon-ducks/espn-fpi-predicts-oregon-ducks-best-big-ten-chances-national-championship

Coaches Poll = Sports Information Directors Poll. AP Poll as noted in Steven's post comes out on Monday, August 12th at 9 Pacific. Predicted Coaches Poll has only 9 out of 16 SEC teams ranked. Better call Paul!

CBS Sports ranks OBD No. 3 in its preseason poll of No. 1 Georgia through 134 UL- Monroe. College football rankings: Georgia repeats at No. 1 as SEC, Big Ten dominate top of Preseason CBS Sports 134 - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Familiar names are atop the rankings as the 2024 college football season approaches

Even if House is settled, there will still be lots of worms left in the can. Why revenue sharing with college athletes remains complicated amid antitrust settlement pushing forward - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Pay-for-play has nearly made its formal arrival, but athletes being left voiceless in the process has created confusion

Quacky, spot on. Direct payment will have to be disclosed. There will not be and like the NFL never be a cap on NIL. However, the P4 and G5 conferences have tentatively agreed to make players' NIL deals public to help regulate recruiting and poaching violations. Whether this comes to fruition remains to be seen.

Rivals combined recruiting and portal-picking rankings. Rivals wraps up the 2024 cycle with Comprehensive Team Rankings SPORTS.YAHOO.COM Alabama and new coach Kalen DeBoer finish the 2024 recruiting cycle No. 1 in the Comprehensive Team Rankings. Note, No. 4 OREGON has the same per-player average value as the top three teams.

No B1G Bowl for you! Greg, say it ain't so. Big step back? College football analyst Greg McElroy says these 3 Big Ten programs won't go to a bowl WWW.SPORTINGNEWS.COM The Big Ten is more competitive that ever. A few teams won't be bowl eligible. ESPN's Greg McElroy says these programs will miss out.

The B1G in 2024 has teams with difficult out-of-conference schedules (OOC), UCLA and USC, and a cornucopia of cupcake games, the Ohio State University. One Big Ten power has the toughest non-conference schedule and one has the easiest WWW.SPORTINGNEWS.COM In a new ranking of non-conference schedules, the Big Ten has the distinction of having a team with the hardest and the easiest.

EXACTLY. To my knowledge, the folks at On3 are not writing any checks. If the House settlement is approved, it is likely that all NIL deals will have to be disclosed.

Solar, I'm not certain about the conference champ game if you don't win it, helping or hurting? A 10-2 Oregon is almost certainly in the 12-team field with a good chance of hosting a home game as the 7th or 8th seed. A 10-3 Oregon? No one including the Committee itself, has any idea of how the Committee will treat conference champ gamers. Will a 10-2 Notre Dame trump a 10-3 conference champ game loser? How much emphasis will the Committee place on strength-of-schedule? Just two of the 12-team playoff unanswered questions. So many unknowns which is why come 2026-27 the B1G and SEC floated the idea of a 14-team field with the B1G and SEC champs having 1st round byes and a minimum of 4 teams from both Power 2 conferences in the field. The Lesser 2 and the 'We need you in to avoid litigation' G5 pushed back. But 2 seasons of a lower-seeded Lesser 2 champ(s) and a G5 representative knocking out a B1G and/or SEC team(s) will make the Power 2 more adamant about dictating the format of the playoff from 2026-27 to 2031-32 when the ESPN broadcast deal expires. As much as the Power 2 will be motivated to change the format, ESPN will be equally incented to have the most eyes-on-the-prize games and not the blowout we witnessed in last season's Fiesta Bowl. If this chaffs college football traditionalists; well, the NFL does not invite The Canadian League, USFL, and Arena Leagues to join in the postseason.

It's capitalism. When OK and UGA and others toppled the NCAA's broadcast monopoly in the 1980's it became every conference and every 'man' for itself. This young man has an agent. How many agents look at the long run, who best to send my client to the League as opposed to how do I get more bread for my man and moi now? This among other reasons including a messed up playoff format for the next two years, the Clemson and FSU suits vs the ACC, the fact we have a POWER 2 and not a Power 4, and the cost of meeting the House settlement 'direct payment' criteria od $20M+ per annum, is why we will have an AFL B1G and NFL SEC and a pro format playoff sooner rather than later. Pandora has left the box.

In the 2024-25 Playoff (PO) if the Ducks do not win the B1G, OBD fans should hope for the Committee to rank Oregon No. 3, behind the B1G and SEC champs likely to be PO seeded first and second. Being ranked third, with the ACC and B12 champs guaranteed, no matter their PO Committee ranking, a Top Four seed, and a 1st round bye results in a PO 5 seed for the PO Committee's 3rd ranked team. Why this mishmash? When this format was designed, college football (CFB) had five power conferences (offense intended, Pac-2), and a unanimous vote was required from the Power 5 and six G5 conferences and Notre Dame (?) to approve the PO format. The 5th-ranked champion is guaranteed a PO invitation to gain the G5s' approval. We have to live with 'this' for two seasons. The format will change in 2026-27. In many preseason polls, Oregon and Texas alternate between being ranked No. 3 or No. 4. Below are seven examples of why being ranked No. 3 trumps No.4. (The number below before a team is how a team would be seeded extrapolating a team's ranking to its PO seeding. SIGH.) Saturday Down South: 12. Memphis at No. 5 Texas 11. Utah at No. 6 OREGON USA Today: 12 G5 at No. 5 Texas (No G5 team in top 25.) 11 Missouri at No. 6 OREGON ESPN SP+: 12 Boise State at No. 5 OREGON 11 LSU at No. 6 Texas Phil Steele: 12 G5 at No. 5 OREGON 11 Ole Miss at No. 6 Texas 247 Sports: 12 G5 at No. 5 Texas 11 Penn State at No. 6 OREGON - With the winner to play Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. 😒 Sporting News Composite: 12 G5 at No. 5 Texas 11 Michigan at No. 6 OREGON This would be another all-B1G bracket with the winner off to Pasadena. ESPN Bet: In this example, let's look at the entire 12-team field. SUGAR BOWL - No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 9 LSU at No. 8 Ole Miss FIESTA BOWL - No. 4 Utah vs. 12 Boise State at No. 5 OREGON ROSE BOWL - No. 2 Ohio State vs. 10 Notre Dame at No. 7 Alabama PEACH BOWL - No. 3 Florida State vs. 11 Penn State at No. 6 Texas ESPN Bet would give us an all-SEC bracket. The PO Committee insists it will not rank to avoid first-round rematches or to limit conference vs conference first-round games, but we'll see, eh? A No.5 seed would give Oregon a home game vs. the G5 representative, instead of hosting Utah, Mizzou, Penn State, or Michigan. In this example, as with many preseason top 25 rankings, SEC teams would host three of the four first-round games. This is in addition to four of the six bowl sites being in Dixie and the Champ game played in Atlanta this season and in Miami next season. The first two teams knocked out in the ESPN Bet field would be Michigan and Missouri, each with +3500 odds to win the inaugural 12-team title. The Wolverines and the CoMo Tigers would be knocked out by Utah at +6000 and Boise State at +40000. Regarding the PO format being changed come 2026-27, in anticipation of the SEC and B1G furor, I hereby rest my case. Let's hope the Ducks win the B1G title and play the 16th game of the season and not the 17th game, in Atlanta on January 20, 2025.

If you do not win the B1G or SEC titles you want to be ranked No. 3 which equates to the No. 5 PO seed. No. 4 and the No. 6 seed, a much tougher row to hoe. The majority of preseason polls have either Oregon or Texas ranked at No. 3 and No. 4 behind Georgia and Ohio State. In the below projection by Athlon, 5th seed Oregon would play Liberty in Eugene and 6th seed Texas would play Notre Dame in Austin. https://athlonsports.com/college-football/college-football-playoff-12-team-preseason-projections-predictions-2024

Easy peasy for Texas. SEC strength of schedule rankings 2024: Florida faces brutal slate, Texas has clear path to playoff - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The SEC's newcomers face vastly different outlooks in their first seasons as league members

ESPN Takes a Look at 2024 Schedules. This article provides more evidence that CBS Sports' ranking of tOSU's schedule as more difficult than Oregon's schedule is dumber than Dumb and Dumber. College football's toughest and easiest schedules for 2024 - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Who is facing the iron and who is on easy street? Plus must-see nonconference matchups, potential trap games and more. Missouri with the SEC's easiest OOC and conference schedules deserves more criticism than it gets here. The only game I want the Gators to win is the opener against Mari(o.)

Hermits! Get your Synch together!

Mrs. Lanning You've got a Lovely Team. 😍 So Puddles Cross the Mersey, There's a Title Waiting There. 😁 A loss to the Buckeyes Is A Must to Avoid. 😵 Listen People, Get Out of OBD's Way. 😂 @ Midnight, January 21, 2024 - Atlanta, Georgia - There's A Kind Of Hush All Over Dixie Tonight. And Can't You Hear the Hearts Beat in Eugene! 👍👍👍

More Dan from the B1G's Saturday Tradition. Dan Lanning opens up on Oregon’s development ahead of first Big Ten season SATURDAYTRADITION.COM Dan Lanning says Oregon is bigger and deeper ahead of its first Big Ten season. Will that work pay off?