Jon Joseph

I hope Oregon will be hoisting the B1G Trophy; however, I do have some of Geroge Schwartz's hesitation built in. The schedule is difficult. Only once this season will Oregon have two conference games back-to-back in Autzen, 10/5 vs Michigan State and 10/12 vs Ohio State. Sports Illustrated (SI) ranks Oregon as having the 5th most difficult schedule in the nation. Ohio State's schedule is ranked as the 57th most difficult. Ohio State and Michigan play 8 home games. Oregon had 8 home games on the schedule but now has 7. Byes in week 4 and the penultimate week of the season is a bad draw. This results in 8 conference games in a row without a break. The last 4 of the 8 are a yo-yo: Illinois; at Michigan; Maryland, with the Terps coming off of a bye week, and, at Wisconsin, with the Badgers coming off of a bye week. SI ranks USC with the 2nd toughest schedule in the nation but this is due to the Trojans playing LSU and Notre Dame out of conference. Oregon has the most difficult schedule in the B1G conference in 2024. It's doable no doubt. But it will not be an easy row to hoe, including having to most likely match up with Ohio State again in the B1G champ game on 12/7/24 in Indianapolis, 175 miles from Columbus and 2262 miles from Eugene. I love everyone's enthusiasm and hope Danno and company will make it so.

Many Terps fans concerned about the move to the B1G a decade ago are now delighted. Slow and steady wins the race. Maryland in the Big Ten: From 'what are we doing?' to 'amazing decision' WWW.NYTIMES.COM There’s more enthusiasm for the Big Ten around College Park than there was during the school's muted celebration in 2014.

With Saban's retirement only 3 active coaches have won a national championship - Kirby Smart, Dabo Swinney, and Mack Brown. Today, these 3 have to deal only with 8 and not 9 conference games in the regular season. This is an elite company. Any criticism of a coach entering his third season for not winning a title is way off base. And winning a title is not getting easier. CFB has gone from the media deciding titles, a title could be won even if a team decided not to play in a bowl game, to winning one postseason game, then two games, and today, having to win three or four postseason games. Further, in the next two seasons, the playoff format and game venues provide advantages for teams located in the south. In 2024, Oregon is one of 16 schools with a Blue Chip Roster but the only Power 4 school playing eight weeks straight without a break. The Ducks' 2024 SOS is No. 5. Ohio State's SOS is 57. Keep up the good fight under Danno and titles will come. Not all schedules are created equally. This season Rutgers misses Iowa, Michigan, Oregon, Ohio State, and Penn State, and plays UCLA and UW in Jersey. In 2025, Oregon will play neither Michigan nor Ohio State. Kick the damn ball off! Vandalize the Vandals!

6 B1G teams currently reside in the 2025 recruiting top 25 - Wisconsin, Rutgers, Penn State, Michigan, OREGON and Ohio State. 10 of the 16 SEC teams are in the top 26.

Welcome to the New College Landscape: How Each Power Four Conference Stacks Up WWW.SI.COM The SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC each gain members as the great migration in college athletics officially begins today. Check out all of the NCAA titles won by the (New) SEC in 2023-24. WOW!

Phil Steele - Oregon WRs are a B1G Deal! Phil Steele: Top 25 Wide Receiver Unit Rankings ahead of 2024 college football season - On3 WWW.ON3.COM The college football season grows closer by the day, which means it's prediction season for college football magazine mogul Phil Steele. I wonder what Buckeyes fans think about this?

From Traveler's mouth. One fact shows how much Oregon has surpassed USC in football recruiting SPORTS.YAHOO.COM The numbers don't lie when Oregon and USC football recruiting are discussed. Nuck, nuck, nuck 🤣.

Bye, bye Pac-12 and you too Pac-2. As the calendar flips to July, the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 expand while the Pac-12 is officially down to two teams SPORTS.YAHOO.COM The Pac-12 is officially a two-team league.

Looks like you have to win a Natty to tick off fan bases coast to coast. Alabama = The New York Yankees. IMO, along with many others, Notre Dame is and has been the most obnoxious program in the USA. Many Ohio State fans appear to be unspooled. Ryan Day has lost 3 B1G games since his hire in 2019. Unfortunately, all have been to That Team Up North. tOSU fans are the most obnoxious in the B1G. Although SC is close. Today, SC fans would vote Oregon as the most annoying. SC is losing recruiting battles to Danno far more than to Ryan Day. Come 2026-27 and it may well be Oregon that's at the top of the B1G - 'Take your ball Puddles, and fly home' list.'

College Football Playoff Announces 2024-25 Kick Times and Broadcast Schedule for 2024-25 Playoff on ESPN and TNT Sports - College Football Playoff COLLEGEFOOTBALLPLAYOFF.COM College Football Playoff Announces 2024-25 Kick Times and Broadcast Schedule for 2024-25 Playoff on ESPN and TNT Sports The above posting shows the critical dates for the 2024-25 College Football 12-Team Playoff. The Playoff Committee will release the Playoff field and seeding on December 8, 2024, the day after conference champ games are concluded. The B1G and the SEC will play their champ games on December 7, 2024. The Playoff's top four-seeded teams will consist of the four highest-ranked conference champions. The fifth-highest-ranked conference champion will also be in the field in addition to seven at-large teams as ranked by the Committee. The B1G and the SEC champs will likely be seeded No. 1 and 2. The ACC and B12 champs will likely be seeded No. 3 and 4. The highest-ranked Group of 5 teams (G5) will likely be seeded 12th. The top 4-seeds will have a 1st round bye and will have to win three games to win the Playoff title. Teams seeded 5-12 will have to win four games to win the championship. The first playoff game will be contested on the home field of a team seeded 5 through 8 on Friday, December 20th, 2024. The three other first-round games will be played on the home fields of the higher-seeded teams on Saturday, December 21st. A much shorter interval between Selection Sunday and the 1st-round games than with a 4-team playoff. The Fiesta Bowl will host a quarter-final game on Tuesday, December 31, 2024, with kickoff set for 4 PM Pacific time. (All other times are also Pacific.) The Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl quarter-final games will be played on January 1, 2025, at 10 AM, 2 PM, and 5 PM respectively. I have seen a good deal of confusion as to what bowl game a conference champion will play in. Unlike the 4-team playoff, the two highest-seeded teams will not have their choice of bowls in which to participate. The B1G champion will be in the Rose Bowl. The SEC champion in the Sugar Bowl. The ACC champion in the Peach Bowl*, and the B12 champion in the Fiesta Bowl. (See a possible exception for the ACC and B12 champs below.) For example, if Georgia is the No.. 1 seed, it will not have the choice of playing in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. The Dawgs will play in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. Now that that's been straightened out (kind of,) the semi-final games will be played on Thursday, January 9, 2025, in the Orange Bowl kicking off at 4:30 PM, and on Friday, January 10, 2025, in the Cotton Bowl at 4:30 PM. The highest-ranked team advancing to the semi-finals will have the choice of playing in the Orange or the Cotton Bowl. (I know, this is like three blind mice trying to describe an elephant!) The title game will be played on Monday, January 20, 2025, at 4:30 PM in Atlanta. This is a long grind for the teams that play in a 1st-round game a month earlier. [OBD friends, HELP! I have tried every way my tech-challenged person can come up with and I cannot find the date in August when the AP will release its 2024 preseason Top 25.] While not dispositive the Preseason AP Poll, which will be released sometime between the Ides (singular, when a full moon occurred in a given month in Rome, usually the 15th) of August and Kalends ( the date of a new moon in Rome, usually on the 1st) of September, has been very good at ranking the ultimate champion. From 2014 through 2022, the No. 1 team in the AP Poll made the 4-team playoff seven out of eight seasons. No. 1 Ohio State in 2025 was the odd man out. Teams ranked No. 1 to No. 8 in the preseason combined for 28 of the 36 4-team playoff games. In the 2023 preseason, in the preseason the AP Poll ranked Georgia No. 1, Michigan No. 2, Ohio State No. 3, and Alabama 4th. UW was ranked 10th and Texas 11th. This would be the playoff field using the College Football News and Clutch Points guess at the AP Top 25. Sugar Bowl - No. 1 Georgia vs. 9. Notre Dame at 8. Ole Miss Fiesta Bowl - No. 4 Utah vs. 12. Boise State at 5. Texas ............................................................................................................ Rose Bowl - No. 2 Ohio State vs. 10. Michigan at 7. Alabama Orange Bowl - 3. Florida State vs. 11. Penn State at 6. OREGON Note - And as noted above, the Rose and Sugar bowls are locked into the B1G and the SEC champs. The Orange Bowl traditionally hosted the ACC champ but is a semi-final site this year. Thus, if Cal won the ACC (😍) and West Virginia won the B12, the Committee would send the Golden Bears to the Fiesta Bowl and the Mountaineers to the *Peach Bowl. (Sorry, but I did not design this goobly-gook. In fairness when the format was designed there was a Power 5 with only the B1G and the B12 expected to extend from sea to shining sea,) Being seeded 5th is much better than being seeded 6th. In general, the above playoff field is not kind to the B1G and is most kind to the SEC. Texas, Alabama, and Ole Miss would host 1st-round games. Unlike Penn State at Oregon, there would be no 1st-round games between SEC teams, This format will lead to many disgruntled fan bases. and we will see format changes in 2026-27. Especially if Texas defeats the G5 representative in Austin, then defeats an underdog B12 champion in 'Phoenix,' and then plays its semifinal game in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Georgia could play in New Orleans, then Miami, and then Atlanta. Once the AP folks speak, I will update the playoff projections and continue to do so with the AP, followed by the Committee's first and subsequent rankings up to December 3, 2024. Let's Play Ball!

DUH! USC is not going to restore Pete Carroll glories in one season SPORTS.YAHOO.COM USC is not in position to go all the way this year. Merely making the playoff would be amazing for the program. An obscure insight into the obvious.

Noah swallowed the SEC line and is off to College Station, Texas, not Eugene. Best of luck to the young man but he could be making a whale of a mistake. 😒 Amazing, it's now kind of surprise when Dan doesn't bring one of these B1G Fish on board.

Connor O'Gara continues with his take on the 12 teams that will be in the 2024-25 playoff field.Here comes The Portal King. Predicting the Playoff: No. 9 seed Ole Miss SATURDAYTRADITION.COM Yes, Ole Miss will have a breakthrough season and get into the first 12-team Playoff.

And missing!

Amen. I was surprised that before the 1st season in the SEC with one of the more difficult schedules in the SEC, which will be repeated next year in conference plus adding Michigan OOC, the Sooners gave Venables a bump in pay and a 6 year extension. Venables is 16-10 at Oklahoma, 10-8 in the B12. This season OK plays Tennessee, Auburn, Ole Miss, Missouri, + LSU on the road! Plus Texas in Dallas and Bama in Norman. Looking at these opponents I can understand why Riley wanted out. As many of us have asked about Mari(o), did any SC folks watch the OK play D when Riley was the HC? In the offseason, SC completely overhauled its coaching on the D side of the ball but these coaches are not recruiting closers. And Oregon has more $ than SC. Lanning can't coach, etc. Excuses won't bring the Blue Chip guys through the door. I've exceeded my Mr. FishDuck GIF laugh quotient for the day, I have to take a nap. (Something Riley does when recruiting?)

"Paranoia strikes deep. Into your life, it will creep." Buffalo Springfield. Honey, pass me the smelling salts! Yuck, Yuck, Yuck. 🤣

I understand and respect your POV. Jesse Owens medals won in Berlin are just as meaningful and perhaps more so toaday than the medals that will be won in Paris this summer. Past triumphs fade but they are never irrelevant. Sign enough of these young recruits and very soon Oregon will be what USC once was. Dan has the Ducks on a championship path. Greater the glory when Troy is passed by on the field. [Goodness, enough philosophy! Honey, where's the Scotch?]

Minnesota won 3 (whatever) in a row in the 1930s. Hall of Famer coach Bud Wilkinson was on those teams. That's 3 skins on the wall. Ski-U-Mah! I mean no disrespect when I say, I am tired of watching the bridge be lowered instead of the river being raised. Your record is what you are. No team or person in any sport who came close but did not grasp the prize is a 'Blue Blood.' Any more than a team that wins two titles in a row is a 'Dynasty.' We live in an age of hyperbole and pumping steam into everyone's self-esteem. Win the Day! Great. But win a title to be in the echelon. Anything else is no offense whatsoever, attempting to explain why 'Close' is 'Elite.' My Dad waited 70 years to see the Sox win another one. OBD will win one and probably more. Patience is required amid persistence. Danno is on track. First, how about Dan's Ducks win a conference championship? Perhaps on the way to a title this season? Love you, Sir Jabba. OBD will get there and there will be The Trophy in the case and not a list of reasons why 'we deserve to be there.' Let's Play Ball!😍

"And other college blue bloods, Alabama, Michigan, and Oregon." 😍 Ohio State misses out on four-star running back SPORTS.YAHOO.COM Ohio State misses out on four-star running back #GoBucks I love the love for OBD but for me, you have to have a Natty to be a Blue Blood. Danno is closing in. Please forgive the duplicate post but I wanted to post the Buckeyes logo along with the bad for the Buckeyes news.

Predicting the Playoff. Courtesy of Saturday Down South's Connor O'Gara. We have our first B1G team in Connor's Bracket; Iowa. I agree with Connor that with its schedule and 9 guys back from a great defense, Iowa will contend for a PO spot in 2024. Predicting the Playoff: No. 10 seed Iowa WWW.SATURDAYDOWNSOUTH.COM How will the Hawkeyes fare in 2024? By getting to that all-important 10 wins. To date, Connor has Memphis from the AAC representing the G5 and earning the 12 seed. He has Utah seeded 11, so he will have at least two B12 teams in the mix with the conference champion (OK ST, K ST?) joining the Utes.

This is great recruiting. But I am always tempted to come with the cross-fingered wish-it-happens symbol before a young man's name is on the dotted line. Thanks, Charles and the other Forum friends for keeping us updated on players, their backgrounds, and star ranking, including the service doing the ranking.

I hope this article will add to your discussion between CFB Then and Now. There has always been roster turnover in CFB but not on the level we witness today. Recruiting thoughts: Ohio State's dominance, Kalen DeBoer's statement, Texas' expected surge WWW.NYTIMES.COM How many programs are still looking for a quarterback? Is it time to panic in the Sunshine State? Fasten your seat belts.

Lots of Ducks will be flying to Paris. Ducks Soar at Olympic Trials: Mays, King, Hocker, and Teare Advance WWW.YARDBARKER.COM Thursday was a successful day for the University of Oregon track and field alumni, who continue to compete for a spot to represent the United States in Paris.

THIS may move Oregon ahead of ... RUTGERS! Seriously, way to go Dan and Crew; Oregon will finish top 10 or better come December.

The boys aren't happy in Troy. EA Sports publishes an interesting rating for USC football in new video game REIGNOFTROY.COM EA Sports has released their top 25 teams in the new College Football 25 video game. We are a bit surprised at where the USC Trojans landed in the rankings. "We have decided to buy new coaches instead of better players. What could go wrong?"