Jon Joseph

With Herm and Ray gone, no problema. Just don't don't get scattershot by Skattebo or let the swinging gate hit you in the tail feathers. Margaritas all around!

$$$ Bodacious! I heard he was going to sign with Apple but his agent, George K messed up and Apple lowballed him.

Not yet officially approved by the MW. The Sun Belt already turned down OSU and WSU's offer of an alliance. I'm not sure why the MW would approve this knowing down the road that the Pac-2 would likely try and poach MW teams. If this alliance is approved, OSU and WSU could not compete for the MW title which would leave OR ST, in today's 2024 playoff if it was a member of the MW, out in the dam playoff cold. And the state court ruling is not over and done with. The decision is on appeal and if sustained by the Washington Supreme Court will be challenged in other venues including federal court. OSU and WSU now owe a fiduciary duty to the Pac-10. Hold a board meeting and decide to split conference revenues down the middle. Good luck with that. One other curve ball that could be thrown by the Pac-2. Wazzu president Shultz represents the Pac-12 on the playoff committee board. Members of the committee have recommended that with the demise of the Pac-12 for all intents and purposes, the playoff go from a 6-6 model to a 5 champion 7 at large model in 2024/25. The vote to change has to be unanimous. Shultz on his own could crater the recommendation. Shultz has said that he is 'willing to negotiate.' Shultz holds this up and WSU and OSU will suffer the consequences come 2026. As alliance-only members of the MW, neither OSU nor WSU will be in contention for a playoff spot. I hope UW and OREGON blow up the Beavers dam and that Puddles post 11/24 never plays OSU again in any sport.

Great take. But a win over ASU does not guarantee a playoff spot if the Beavers defeat UW and OREGON. UW with a win over WSU would play the Beavers in Las Vegas.

Thanks, Ryan. This is an excellent summary of the current situation in a unique season with so many undefeated and 1-loss teams heading into Week 13. Florida is 5-5. UF is a decided underdog at Mizzou this Saturday. But the Gators have a chance to be one of the Ducks best friends on 11/25 if UF can find a way to take down rival FSU in Gainesville. Texas is down its top RB and plays 6-4 Iowa State on Saturday in Ames where the high is expected to be 30 degrees. UT has done its best to lose its last 2 games and Iowa State could really help Puddles cause. If UT wins on Saturday and defeats Texas Tech at home on the 25th, the best scenario would be for OK St, blown out at UCF last Saturday, to win on the road at Houston and defeat BYU at home on the 25th. Oklahoma State holds the B12 champ game tiebreaker over Oklahoma and a Texas over OK St champ game win would have much less impact than a redemptive win over Oklahoma. A 12-1 Lousiville with a loss at Pittsburgh would not overcome the Ducks even with an ACC champ game win vs. FSU. Louisville has a tough game at Miami on Saturday. Louisville goes on the road for only the third time this season before playing Kentucky at home. 9 home games! As you noted Ryan, OREGON needs UW to win in Corvallis and defeat WSU in the Apple Cup. With FSU playing NO. Alabama on Saturday a win vs. the Beavers will finally jump UW, unless the Committee is completely corrupt and dominated by NC State AD, Boo Corrigan, with what would be 4 top 25 wins, over an FSU team with 1 top 25 win over 3-loss LSU. But a 13-0 FSU even with a putrid schedule (no UNC and no Louisville in the regular season) and playing in a conference with 3 ranked teams will be in over the 12-1 Ducks and if this happens, the Seminoles will be blown out in the semi-final game. A 1-loss Michigan with its schedule is not a player. A 1-loss Ohio State could be a player but will not beat out a 12-1 conference champ OREGON. As you noted Ryan, a 12-1 Bama, with what would be the best win of the season, and a 12-1 UGA trying for a 3-Pete, unless blown out by Bama, would most likely lead to the SEC with 2 teams in. But other than for the B12 tri-champion mess in 2014, the Committee has usually had no-brainer Final 4 decisions to make. Upsets happen and late losses doom a team's chances at the playoff. There is one thing that is not hypothetical and 1 thing in OREGON's control, win on Saturday in Tempe, defeat the Beavers win the conference champ game, and let the chips fall as they may.

And if Bama defeats Georgia in the SEC champ game both would most likely finish 12-1 and Bama would be the SEC champ and have the season's best win. The B12 has 4 teams ranked this week. 21. K State plays at 25. Kansas on Saturday so one of the Longhorns top 25 wins should go away. Oklahoma, at BYU Saturday and then versus TCU, should finish 10-2 and be a big brand opponent for an 11-1 Texas with Texas having the chance to redeem its sole loss. So it will be best for the Ducks if OK St., blown out by UCF last Saturday, but with the conference champ tiebreaker over UT, can win at Houston on Saturday and defeat BYU and take the shine off of the B12 champ game. This season like the first playoff in 2014 could stress the Committee but things usually work out in the Committee's favor.

For UW to go 13-0 it has to defeat OSU and WSU and win the Pac-12 champ game. As of today, it's odds on for 12-0 or 11-1 UW to play 11-1 Oregon in Las Vegas. Oregon State Saturday versus Oregon State and on Friday the 24th at OREGON has a chance to muck things up in the Pac-12. If OSU wins both games and UW beats WSU, 11-1 UW, would play the 10-2 Beavers in Las Vegas. #1 Georgia plays at #20 Tennessee on Saturday; the Vols ranked #20 for some reason have no top-25 wins and lost to 5-5 Florida. Texas plays at 6-4 Iowa State where the high is expected to be 30 degrees and Texas has lost its 1st string running back for the season. #5 UW plays at #11 Oregon State. #22 Utah plays at #17 Arizona. Alabama plays Chattanooga on Saturday, NL, and FSU plays NO. Alabama, NL. Other tough SEC games on Saturday: Ole Miss -37.5 vs. UL Monroe; MISS St - 14 vs. SO. Miss; Auburn -23.5 vs. NM St.; Arkansas -29.5 vs. FIU; LSU -31 vs. Georgia St. (will Daniels put up 500+ yards?); and A+M NL, versus Abilene Christian. Yes, OREGON played a bad Portland State this season but traveling to Tempe to play P5 ASU is far more difficult than playing Chattanooga or NO. Alabama in Autzen. Come 2026, all P4 conferences should play 9 conference games or be penalized for playing 8 and Notre Dame should be required to play 10 games vs. P4 opponents.

When it comes to assistant coaching hires I'm leaving it up to DL. He knows the type of coach he wants and every coach he recruits will be a recruiting zealot. The coaches on Chipper's staff have not been in the recruiting mix like the folks on DL's staff. I don't believe that Bruins boosters and the university itself have the money to kiss Chip so long. Who is the guy better to replace Chip for the money being paid to Chip? Compared to Mora, Chip's record is not better and Mora was a far better recruiter. I think UCLA made a mistake letting Jim Mora go. UConn is having a bad season but overall Mora has done a heck of a job at UConn. As posted before I am far more bullish on OREGON being ready to head into the B1G than UCLA, USC, and UW.

I have no problem with the football team traveling. Piece of cake. The players are young men. Think they would rather play Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State or ASU, Cal, and Stanford. Ann Arbor for what will be a must-watch CFB game is 922 miles farther than Eugene to Tempe. That's less than 90 minutes in the air. Dan and the training staff will have the Central and Eastern time zone travel figured out. And the players Oregon recruits all believe they will be in the NFL where this kind of travel is routine. Even trips to Maryland and Rutgers will be shown, at worst, on the Big 10 Network. The BTN is closing in on 70M subscribers. The money to travel will ease a bit in 6 years when Oregon becomes a full B1G member. The conference has done a great job of making certain that after coast-to-coast travel, a team will have a home game or a bye week after going not three but two time zones away. Being a member of the Power 2 even with being a junior partner for 6 years is far better than rolling the dice with Amazon. OREGON will be featured CFB TV and in sight of top-drawer recruits. And next season the stud QBs who have lifted the Pac-12 this season for the most part will be out of eligibility. Puddles is in the Power 2 money. Far better than what could have been a Pac-9 plus SDS, SMU, and a player to be named later. Far better than being in a conference with vapid leadership.

Great take! Now the rubber has to meet the road with more Ducks guys going NFL. It will happen and rightly or wrongly, is more likely to happen as a member of the B1G.

Friend David, the money and fan enthusiasm is there no doubt. However, this team except in the COVID Year of the Witch has done nothing. And now old nemesis's OK and TX are joining the fray. A+M had the SEC member recruiting advantage over UT and OK that is now gone. I see A+M as the Penn State of the B1G.

Sorry, but I'm still advocating for the Fuskies. 5 Pac-12 teams ranked. UW is of course 1 of the 5 sitting at 5. Come Saturday, UW will have played the other 4 ranked Pac-12 teams. UW, at 11-1 if OR ST wins, will play a ranked Pac-12 team in the champ game. Hoping the opponent will be an 11-1 Ducks. 3 ACC teams ranked including 4 FSU. Come Saturday, FSU will not have played the other 2 ranked ACC teams in the regular season. FSU will most likely play a ranked ACC team in the ACC champ game but most likely, not at the ranking level of a Pac-12 team. Miami outgained FSU last Saturday and lost. I will not be surprised if Miami defeats Louisville on Saturday. 8 conference games in the SEC I kind of get. But 8 in the ACC with no move to 9 conference games with SMU, Cal, and Stanford coming on board? Come On Man!

Tempest in a state court teapot. If the state judge's ruling, which included an admonition against OSU and WSU using this ruling to benefit both at the financial injury of the 'Pac-10.' OSU and WSU now find that they owe a fiduciary duty to the board-disenfranchised Pac-10. This, close to legal ipso facto, will not allow the 2 'winners' to set aside the existing agreement as to how conference money is split, including playoff money. Want to try this 'winners?' Then the Comcast clawback and the SFO facilities clawback are on you. A state court ruling will be appealed in Washington. Should the WA Supreme Court OK the ruling, then it will be further appealed. And nothing prevents the CA schools, for example, from filing a measure in state court in California or the Pac-10 going to federal court based upon multi-state jurisdiction. OR St in particular is shooting itself in the foot. Negotiate in mediation for the Pac-12 trademark, reverse merger with the MW, and OR St is in the 2024 playoff. With a 1st round bye and mucho playoff money if The Beavers negotiate properly with the MW. UW president Shultz is the Pac-12 representative on the PO Board of Overseers. He craters the recommended move for the 2024 PO going from a 6-6 model to a 5-7 model and woe is him, OSU, and WSU, come 2026. Why does the Power 2 need these 2 in a playoff? I never want OREGON to play these guys again and I hope both UW and OREGON punch the Beavers in their buck teeth.

David, love you, man. But the last Natty in 1939 and the last conference title in 1998 for A+M, make Oregon more of a blue blood than A+M. A+M is blue blood only for guys with black oil flowing through their veins. The 12th Man. And the collie on the sidelines. Puddles trumps the A+M dog, and the Husky up north but has yet to trump good-looking UGA. Texas is a blue blood. Oklahoma is a blue blood. A+M? Not so much except within the minds of A+M fanatics and on occasion, Paul Finebaum.

Diogenes is still searching for that elusive man with integrity. Some of these in-season firings because of the early signing day in December I get. But why fire a 6-4 coach coming off of a beatdown win until after December signing day? It is now early season for poaching A+M recruits. BTW for $76M instead of $20M? Dio, don't waste a trip to my door. There are Fanatics and then there are A+M oil money guys with zero sense of proportion and history-ignorant zealots who believe that A+M is a top-drawer program. And Danno was supposed to want a part of this? LOL!

13-0 UW is in. 12-1 UW? OR ST needs to go 1-1 in the next 2 games to play in an NY6 bowl. 12-1 Oregon needs a win over top 4 ranked UW. If UW wins Saturday and doesn't jump FSU there should be an investigation.

SEC overrated? I've seen this movie before. https://athlonsports.com/college-football/joel-klatt-names-massive-concern-with-latest-cfp-ranking-sec-bias

CFP Anger Index: Who should be most upset with their ranking this week? - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Washington tops our Anger Index yet again, plus 10 other teams and one OC have reasons to be upset about their rankings. I rest my case.

Thanks for the post, Mic. Wouldn't it be refreshing, just once, for a coach of an underdog team to dump on the upcoming opponent? As I recall, last week Dilly went out of his way to pump up the UCLA D and I expect Nick Saban this week to tell the world what a test the Chattanooga Choo-Choo will be for Bama. Same for Norvell at FSU when it comes to the game against No. Alabama. Dilly is telling the truth about Oregon and hats off to Dilly for giving Will Stein credit but Oregon best not think this will be a roll the ball out on the field and win kind of game. Dilly's play-calling against UCLA was masterful and try the FG at the end of the game in Seattle, ASU likely wins the game. No Easy Day in this season's Pac-12.

Bo and Danno trip to NYC and Bo cements the team MVP and perhaps, the nation's MVP. Thank you, Alex. Picking nits but the Oregon win over USC would have been far better from a national perspective if the Ducks had not left 5 points on the field (why the 2 point try early which 'caused' a 2 point try later?) Lewis makes the 2nd FG attempt and SC's late TD is irrelevant. And the team with 120 penalty yards (the unsportsmanlike call on Ferguson was horse bleep) and the OL not road-grading USC the way UW did on the road and not putting the same whipping on the Trojans as did Notre Dame, did not help with the Eye Test that David Marsh noted is important this late in the season. Oregon brought its B-game if that and still won handily which is nice but I would have liked to have seen complete dominance. I hope on Saturday that Oregon can put a 3 TD+ whipping on ASU like Utah did in Salt Lake City. It stinks but before the playoff field expands next season style points do matter.

Solar, great take but I think it assumes Texas finishing 12-1 with a win over Bama? If UGA wins, UGA, likely FSU, and likely one of Mich/OH St all finish 13-0 and are in the playoff. A 13-0 UW is in the playoff. A 12-1 TX would have a better OOC win over Bama than Ohio State's win over Notre Dame. With Michigan's terrible OOC slate, I do not see an 11-1 B1G E runner-up jumping 12-1 conference champ Texas or 12-1 conference champ Oregon. Texas lost its best RB last week. Hopefully, Iowa State defeats UT at home Saturday, Texas Tech beats TX in Austin in the final regular season game, this would doubly help the Ducks cause, or, OK State with the tie-breaker wins out and the Cowboys and not the Sooners play UT in the B12 champ game. UT lurking is another reason why Oregon wants to play an undefeated UW in Las Vegas. A win over Oregon State will be a good win even if OR ST loses to UW.

Great comments. But there is no way a 12-1 Oregon will jump a 13-0 B1G champion. And the way things have historically played out to date with so many undefeated and 1L teams out there, I do not see an 11-1 Michigan (especially) or Ohio State getting in. With UW ranked 5th, if UW is defeated by the Beavers, both Bama, and Texas could not only jump Oregon but also UW. Oregon needs to play an undefeated team ranked at least 5th in Las Vegas. Even with a loss, Oregon State will still be ranked in the Committee's week 4 rankings, and at 11. might well stay in with a 4th loss coming against Oregon. The conference champ game will have a lot more weight with the Committee if UW is undefeated and ranked no lower than 5th. If UW wins Saturday I do not see how the CT. could keep UW behind FSU?

I hope you are correct. Oregon State defeats UW, assuming Bama wins out and wins the SEC champ game, and Texas wins and wins the B12 champ game. One of Michigan/Ohio State, and FSU go undefeated, what 2 teams do the Committee choose from 12-1 SEC conference champ Bama, 12-1 Georgia, 12-1 Texas with a win over the SEC champ on the road and 12-1 Oregon. UW loses on Saturday and I will not be surprised to see Bama and Texas jump Oregon and UW. Both teams currently have better wins than Oregon. With Kansas at 25, UT has 3 top-25 wins and a 3-point loss to a ranked team. The win at Bama is a terrific resume-building win. Bama has wins over 13, 15, and 18 and well, it's Bama. Will the Committee if UGA suffers a close loss in the SEC champ game want to end UGA's attempt at 3 titles in a row? I do not see a 12-1 Oregon with 3 top-25 wins as a lock for the final Final 4. Oregon playing in a conference that is disappearing could be battling one or more big brand-name teams with the same record. And Oregon, UW, Oregon State, Arizona, and Utah will not get any credit for not playing a Chattanooga or a North Alabama on Saturday. For playing 9 conference games.

Friend Mic, I'm surprised. What does UW have to do? I guess UW has to defeat its 4th Committee-ranked team of the season on the road in Corvallis. As Mic so correctly advises, Go UW! (Gulp!) Based on these rankings, if UW defeats OSU on the road while FSU defeats an FCS school at home. maybe, perhaps, if the Grapevine gurus concur, UW might jump FSU? Of course, if UW takes the L, the Committee is likely to drop the Huskies out of the top 10 and jump Bama, a certain winner against Chattanooga, and Texas, if it wins at Iowa State, ahead of Oregon because the Ducks loss in Seattle is no longer a 'good loss.' UW and FSU are both undefeated. UW has the stronger Strength of Record and the stronger Strength of Schedule. Not by much but stronger in both cases. The SOS lead will improve on Saturday when UW plays at 11 Oregon State and FSU plays FCS North Alabama. Win Saturday, and UW's SOR will also materially improve. UW has wins over committee-ranked 6 (sigh,) 17 (road), and 18 with its next-best win on the road against USC. SC had the defending Heisman winner at QB versus UW for 4 quarters. FSU has a win against one ranked opponent. #15 LSU at a neutral site. FSU's next-best win is at home versus a Duke team that had the lead in Tallahassee before its already injured starting QB went down at the beginning of the 4th quarter. FSU's next-best win? I guess it is versus 6-4 Clemson when Clemson failed to convert a chip shot FG for the victory. What message is the Committee trying to send? I have no idea. However, if there is no ipso facto reward, like #1 Georgia just received for defeating 11. Mizzou and 13. Ole Miss, why schedule up? Why isn't UW playing Tuna Fish Salad State in Seattle this Saturday instead of going on the road to play the Committee's #11 ranked team? Why isn't Oregon playing San Jose State at home and getting some reps for backups and more money for a home game? UW played a game at P5 Michigan State. Sparty stinks, nevertheless, UW defeated MSU on the road more emphatically than #2 Ohio State did last Saturday in Columbus. #3 Michigan played 3 donut holes OOC and its first-ranked opponent last Saturday, against one-dimensional Penn State. Ergo, the Committee has Michigan as the 3rd best team in the nation based almost exclusively on the eye test. UW has a better group of wins, by far, than Michigan. Calm down JJ. it's week 3. I hear you, and I am by no means a Husky fan but UW with its record being disrespected is a diss to Oregon and the entire conference. Summary: Here is what the Committee appears to be advising CFB teams. Wins over ranked opponents are rewarded at whim, so play the same OOC conference schedule Michigan and Oregon State played this season, no P5 opponent, and do not be stupid enough to play 9 conference games. Sincerely, Boo Corrigan. Committee Chair and NC State AD. (Hmmm?)

If they are playing well and together, this is the best OL that ASU will play against this season.