Jon Joseph

I think you can see Lubbock from here.

Kirk, good take. But next year Michigan will also be breaking in a new QB. Thus be it ever in college ball.

Well we made it to the airport Caught the last plane out. As we taxied down the runway I could hear those Beavers shout, "Don't come back here Puddles!" But if I ever do I'll bring B1G money And maybe a Natty or two.

As long as Puddles found a seat in the last lifeboat, I do not care which Northwest school decided to first get off the Titanic. As Charles has noted, Puddles is moving up B1G. Below is an example. The B1G placed the most players on the preseason All-American team. AP Preseason All-America: B1G leads all conferences in first-team selections SATURDAYTRADITION.COM AP Preseason All-America: The B1G led all league's with a dominant first-team showing.

Interesting that Pac-12 guru ranks Oregon 17 in his AP Poll vote and expects the Ducks to finish 9-3. Because of the Blue Blood history, I get the preseason love for USC. But the back end of the SC schedule is loaded and I don't think that SC defeats Utah, UW, UCLA, and Oregon this season. Utah? Made the champ game in 2022 only because of its schedule. The SC D stunk. But Utah was fortunate to defeat SC in SLC and also fortunate that it was coming off of a game vs CU, probably the worst P5 team in 2022, while SC was coming off of a game against Notre Dame and Williams played on one leg in the 2nd half of the champ game. UW? With better coaching decisions both Oregon and Oregon State would have defeated UW last season. Because of the depth of the conference, I think Oregon finishes 10-2. Wins the champ game and wins the Fiest Bowl game. Your toss-up take is spot on.

David, Cristobal did recruit a thumper, talented RB in Trey Benson who balled out at FSU in 2022 and is on the All-ACC Preseason team heading into 2023. Benson is projected to be one of the first RBs to be drafted in 2024. Tyler Shough, if he can stay healthy is another guy who will go in the 1st 3 rounds of the draft. Mario tried with all his might to bury Justin Herbert but there was too much innate talent there for Mario to totally screw the guy up. QB Tyler Van Dyck was the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2021. Yes, he was injured during the season in 2022 but even before then, Mario made him look like a run-of-the-mill QB at best. Mario is a recruiting champ and a coaching chump. He is a .500 head football coach. As a number of players voiced when DL showed up, 'Football is fun again.' And you heard the same from the Ducks fans. Thank the U for taking Mario MIA. But, then again, he was MIA when he was coaching in Eugene.

Cohen is currently serving on the CFB Playoff Committee. Before the move to SC, she still would have had to recuse herself from the discussion involving any Pac-12 team. Did Dolt, er Folt, get it right this time? Maybe Jen wanted a change of scene regardless but I imagine that UW would not or could not match the SC salary. Will Wazzu AD Pat Chun, rumored to be in the mix for the Ohio State job, be a candidate for the UW job?

OK, I do kind of care. Viewer wise it is Wazzu getting the short end of the stick. In 2022, Washington State came in at No. 41 of the 131 P5/G5 teams ranked by the average number of football game viewers. Wazzu averaged 907K viewers a game. That's punching way above its weight class. 45. Cal - 857K/ 47. Stanford - 846K/ 57. Oregon State - 624K And Beavers fans believe their school has the same brand appeal as No. 12 Oregon with an average of 2.21M? Riiiiiiiigth! College football realignment: Wazzu has 3 backup plans, and 2 of them are out there FANSIDED.COM With the Pac-12 on its last legs, Washington State has been evaluating its options. What does the future hold for Cougars? As told in a conversation with E...

A look at future conference opponent Minnesota's 2023 schedule. Hide the women and gophers! Thursday, 8/31, no OOC tune-up, the Gophers open up vs Nebraska. Goldy drew the shortest end of the 2023 East/West crossover stick. Michigan State at home? OK. But add on #2 Michigan at home and on the road at #3 Columbus. Brutal. And the OOC slate isn't all that easy. A decent MAC opponent in E. Michigan. A game vs decent Sun Belt opponent Louisiana and a game at #21 UNC. Minnesota gets Illinois and Wiscon at home in the West but trips to #25 Iowa. No Natty for Goldy in 2023 is not a tough prediction.

Below is a summary of an excellent article, written by Seth Emerson of The Athletic. Seth is a Georgia graduate who covers the Bulldogs and all things SEC for The Athletic. In going for its 3rd college football (CFB) championship in a row, Georgia is trying to match the Minnesota Golden Gopher teams of 1934, 1935, and 1936. 1934 - MN went 8-0 with one close call, a 13-7 win at Pittsburgh in front of 64,000 fans. Grantland Rice All-American guard, Bill Bevan, was the last B1G player to play without a helmet. A QB (single-wing tailback) and guard on the 1934/35/36 rosters, Bud Wilkinson, went on to have a Hall of Fame coaching career at Oklahoma. Bud also played on the Gophers' hockey team. At Oklahoma, Bud came close to a championship 3-peat. The Sooners did win the title in 1955 and 1956 but in 1957, even though finishing the season undefeated, Oklahoma finished 3rd in the AP and Coaches Polls behind Ohio State and UCLA. Wilkinson's team at Oklahoma had a 47-game winning streak and Wilkinson did win one more title at Oklahoma, making him the only CFB player and head coach to win 3 titles as a player and 3 as a head coach. (Note, when reading about Dwight Reed below, the Big 8 was integrated in 1951. Black athletes played on all of Wilkinson's teams.) 1935 - The Gophers again went 8-0. Minnesota did not play an Ohio State team that went 7-0 in the conference but lost to Notre Dame. This season was the first for Dwight Reed, who played end on offense and defense. Reed was the lone Black player on the Minnesota championship teams. The one southern team the Gophers played that season, Tulane, refused to play with Reed on the field or the sideline. Reed watched the game in New Orleans from the press box. In 1936, Minnesota played and defeated Texas in Minneapolis. Texas beefed about Reed playing but coach Bernie Bierman told Texas that Reed was playing. After the game in 1936, Bierman canceled all future games scheduled against teams from the south. Dwight Reed is a member of the Minnesota Hall of Fame and also a member of the B1G Hall of Fame. 1936 - Minnesota opened the season in Seattle with a 14-7 victory over the Huskies. The evening before the game the hotel the team was staying in burned to the ground but no Minnesota players were injured. Minnesota did lose a home game, 0-6, to No. 3 ranked Northwestern. This was the first year of the AP Poll and the trend was set, it is better to lose early than late. Minnesota and Northwestern both finished 8-1 but No. 1 Northwestern lost 26-6 to Notre Dame in the last game of the season. to finish No. 7 in the final AP Poll. Number 1 and AP Poll champion Minnesota did outscore its 1936 opponents 203-32. Other teams claim titles in the years Minnesota was awarded its three consecutive championships. 1934 - Unbeaten Alabama was the champion choice of the (Richard) Poling (!) System. In those days, B1G teams had far more ranking juice than teams located in Dixie. 1935 - In 2016 (!) the American Football Coaches Association awarded TCU the 1935 title. 1936 - Rose Bowl champion Pittsburgh, 21-0 victor over Washington, finished 8-1-1 and was ranked No. 1 by College Football Ratings Association. However, the NCAA CFB Record Book recognizes Minnesota as the consensus champion in these three years. How times have changed? Black players deservedly dominate CFB rosters today. Not one player on Minnesota's roster in 1934/35/36 weighed 200 pounds or more. And I very much doubt that any player could run the 100 in less than 11 seconds if that. Bernie Bierman passed in Laguna, California in 1977 with a net worth of $5M. Current Minnesota coach PJ Fleck is paid @$6M a year. Bernie was paid @$10,000 a year. He was a very successful businessman after retiring as the Gopher's head coach. Unless Georgia plays OREGON in a playoff semifinal game or for the title in 2023, best of luck to the Dawgs on its quest for a 3-peat.

Thanks, PA. Looking at the photo there does not appear to be a whole lot of downhill skiing going on near Lubbock.

Interesting the way in which the schedule breaks down. Oregon gets Portland State at home in week 1 while TX Tech has a fairly long trip and will be playing Wyoming in Laramie at altitude. Also interesting that Oregon plays at UW on 10/14 with both teams coming off of an idle week. Oregon plays Cal on 10/21 before tripping to Utah while the Utes come off a game at SC. On paper, that's a tougher 2 weeks back-to-back than the Ducks will face.

College Football News ranks the Pac-12 2023 schedules. According to CFN, Oregon is looking good IF you agree with Oregon's schedule being ranked at 11 in the Pac-12. With games against 4 Pac-12 teams preseason ranked in the AP Poll top 25, with two on the road at Utah and UW, I think this ranking is low by at least 5 spots. Then, add in a trip to Lubbock. IMO, Oregon's schedule should be ranked no lower than 5. I do agree with UCLA receiving the bon voyage scheduling gift. https://collegefootballnews.com/cfn/pac-12-football-schedule-rankings-2023 Overall, CFN has Oregon's schedule ranked 47 out of 133. Hardest Game - Washington - not USC 2. CU - Hardest game - Oregon - not USC 4. Stanford - Hardest game - USC 7. Utah - Hargest game - USC 8. UW - Hardest game - USC 18. USC - Hardest game - Notre Dame WRONG! How about at Oregon instead of at ND.

Great point Charles on the 2024 DL. But I think that Dan will again prove to be a masterful Puddles Portal Plucker.

Great take, David. And, your team and games will be covered wall-to-wall by the B1G Network (closing in on 60M subscribers) and not the Yormark Wannabe Network. Down the road, the B1G will not implode. The B12?

Come On Dan! Do the Flipper!

If I were a seer, a prophet of old With knowledge of football games foretold I'd live in a mansion in Vegas Surrounded by women and toys And be the smartest of the 'wise guy' boys But I am not Cassandra, aware of how games will unfold, My predictions are more likely dross than they are gold. 2023 247 Sports Team Talent Roster Composite (recruiting and transfers) Roster Ranking - How the top 4 did last season and the ranking of all P5 teams Oregon will play in 2023 and how the future opponents fared in 2022. 1. Alabama - No Playoff (PO) in 2022. No SEC title. W over K St in the Sugar Bowl. 2. Georgia - A back-to-back title and pasting of Puddles. 3. Texas - Yet again, all hat, no cattle. Alamo Bowl loss vs. Washington. 4. Ohio State - heartbreaking PO loss to UGA in the Peach Bowl - does UGA ever play a big game outside of the ATL? DUCKS and DUCKS 2023 OPPONENTS - 9. OREGON - Holiday Bowl win over UNC 8. USC - Cotton Bowl loss vs Tulane (Oh, the shame!) 20. Utah - Conference champ. Rose Bowl loss vs Penn State 28. Texas Tech - Texas Bowl win, 42-25 over Ole Miss. Ws over Oklahoma and Texas. 29. Colorado - No bowl. Arguably, 2022's worst P5 team. 44. ASU - No Bowl. Herm has left the building leaving Dilly with a lot of work to do. 46. Stanford - No bowl. Stanford is looking for a 2024 home. 49. Oregon State - Aggrieved Beavers won the Las Vegas Bowl over Florida and defeated Oregon (SIGH) 38-34. 65. Washington State - Big comeback win in Pullman in 2022. Cougars lost the LA Bowl to Fresno State. 79. Cal - No bowl. Oregon grad Justin Wilcox's last hurrah? 2023 Oregon high water mark. 12-1 - One of the 4 in the final Final 4. Floor - 9-3. Holiday or Las Vegas Bowl. Most likely based on the depth of the conference and a tough OOC game vs Texas Tech in Lubbock - 11-2 Conference Champion - Win over Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. Let's Get ready to Rumble!

My roll of the dice. Stanford will go independent. The ACC will implode. Stanford and Notre Dame will be invited to join the B1G. 20 teams break nicely into 4, 5 team pods. Will the B1G want to split the revenue with more than 20 teams? If so, then Cal, UNC, Duke, UVA, Georgia Tech, and Miami, all AAU member schools, could be in the mix. I do not see the B1G adding non-AAU members Clemson and FSU. Had Nebraska not been an AAU member school at the time it joined the B1G it would not have been offered B1G membership. Out of the to-be, 18 schools come 2024, Nebraska will be the only non-AAU member. The Pac-12 could not afford this academic snobbery. The B1G can.

This interrogative reminds me of the following story. Coach - 'Son, I don't understand it. You have all the talent in the world. This is your 5th season here at State and you have yet to break into the starting line-up. Is this because you lack intelligence; or, because you are too apathetic?' Player - 'Coach, I don't know and I don't care.' As to my answer to the question posed by the topic, refer to Player.

Great take and therein lies the rub for Cal and Stanford. Clemson, FSU, UNC, NC St with the existing 14 ACC members, and half-pregnant Notre Dame need 4 votes today to crater the ACC and end the crummy media deal that runs through 2036 (!) without paying any exit fee. Why would these 4 want to add more votes needed to break up the conference? And by adding Cal/Stanford, how many more subscribers would the ACC network pick up and how many more advertising dollars would ESPN pick up? Conversely, Notre Dame, the school reported to be leading the charge for the Cal/Stanford addition was looking out for its own interest. Notre Dame has a great ACC scheduling deal that provides a home for all other ND sports other than ice hockey where ND is a B1G member which allows the Irish to stay independent in football. IMO, there is no way that the B1G and the SEC will bend over to accommodate ND, financially and/or schedule-wise. I think and hope, that come 2026 the B1G and the SEC will have the power to tell ND to join a conference or get Playoff lost. I know it is shocking but once again self-interest and not good for the game interest rules.

Mr. Gold, you might try reading your own site's content. Oregon is the 51% FPI favorite in Lubbock. ESPN’s FPI predicts every game on Oregon’s 2023 schedule SATURDAYOUTWEST.COM ESPN's Football Power Index predicts every game for Oregon in 2023.

Not so fast my friend. Oregon will perhaps lose 2 games but 1 will not come in Seattle. I also think that Oregon wins in Salt Lake City. Author Gold shows Texas Tech as a 51% FPI favorite. Ducks Wire the other day had Oregon being the 51% favorite. UW can return all of that production but the Oregon D, especially the pass rush will be better, and the DBs (there will not be 4 new starting DBs as Gold references) will have experience playing together as a group before playing in Seattle. Kirby Smart early on at Georgia made a number of bad in-game coaching decisions. I do not see DL making the mistake he made last season this season vs UW. Saturday Out West Crystal Ball: Predicting every Oregon football game for 2023 SATURDAYOUTWEST.COM Oregon is staring at a 5-0 start and then a bye week. But then things get scary in a hurry. Survive a brutal month, though, and Oregon could be CFP-bound.

And I love Pate's pate. Goose liver pate for the Ducks. Chicken liver pate for the team up north.