Jon Joseph

Wake Forest. #1 seed in the baseball tournament and Wake just won the women's golf championship. Not bad for a small private school.

NCAA goes for history by sending Oregon to the Nashville Regional DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM For the second time in nearly a decade, Oregon baseball will make its way to Nashville to play in NCAA tournament regional action.

David, I should also add that DL with the help of Dilly and excellent play from Bo Nix, brought back the O and resurrected the Oregon brand. I credit Charles with being in the lead in calling out Mario and the offense he ran compared to Mario's grind it out, keeping every opponent in the game brand of O. Far different from what Mario said he was going to go at his initial press conference.

Thanks, David, love the take. As you noted it's early in the day for 2024 recruiting and we all know that the word 'commitment' when it comes to recruiting is an oxymoron. And, it's probably safe to say that it ain't over before Saint Nick sings. SC and UW both hold a lot of animosity for other conference members based on the reaction when SC was hosed over by the NCAA and UW was sanctioned not only be the NCAA but also by the conference. Today, Reggie hiring an agent and receiving 'extra benefits' and Billy Joe Herbert being paid $50K by UW boosters wouldn't draw a nod. Yet, there are plenty of SC fans not thrilled with the move but what good does complaining do at this point in time? Recruiting comes down to relationships and what team will get me to the NFL and where can I make NIL money. DL and his staff seem to be masters at creating an attractive family atmosphere and Division Street is at the top of the NIL game. Keep on bringing in the quality of players DL is recruiting and the NFL should take care of itself. Your argument for Utah being the principal rival for the Ducks is compelling but in my mind, Utah is in 3rd place, if that, behind UW and the Beavers. BTW, in 2023, no way is the B1G deeper than the Pac-12 in football. The Pac goes 6 deep in preseason-ranked teams. The B1G is Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and maybe Wisconsin. SC and UCLA are moving for the money and not better competition in CBB and CFB. The SEC makes its money from incredibly zealous fans who fill huge stadiums in small towns. The B1G money comes from enthusiastic fans, no doubt, but also from playing in the Eastern time zone for the most part and having legions of alumni and alumnae. The B1G has won 1 CFB playoff title and has not won a CBB title since 2000. One of the great things about the 2023 season, the Ducks will have the opportunity to defeat USC, Utah, and UW. Thanks again, David.

If the AP came about the ACC would go away and along with it the grant of rights to the current media deal. And I believe that ESPN would favorably renegotiate the deal. Not to B1G and SEC levels but more than $20M a year. But in 2022, because of the income from the ACC network, ACC schools received more $ in total distributions than did the Pac-12 with fewer schools.

True. However, I think the AP teams would be less at risk than the ACC out there on its own and could close the financial gap with the B1G and the SEC; especially, if Notre Dame was on board consensually or via an AP power play.

Touche! But the clincher for me would be, as noted, the new AP forcing ND to come on board by eliminating the football scheduling agreement. This and getting ESPN to renegotiate the existing ACC deal and bring NBC on board as a broadcast partner. Your post and others suggesting a relationship of one sort or another with the ACC is why I opened my comment by saying that I had likely been too dismissive of the idea to combine in one fashion or another with the ACC. Of course, your idea like any realignment idea has a lot of merit but I would not want to have more than 28 teams, if that, when it came to splitting up revenue. Thanks for the friendly elbow check. I had it coming.

Spot on but to play closer to home and with a better media deal and to be covered by a dedicated network, I think UCF like W VA would be incented to find a way out of their current deal. If the AP was to come to fruition the entire B12 could be left behind. But this is all ceiling walking so it's easy to project any number of arrangements that for business reasons might not work out. The most contentious split that I can recall is when Maryland left the ACC for the B1G, litigated over the buyout, and ended up paying a much lower buyout. This was before the current ACC media deal with a $120M buyout through 2036 but it was still a big chink of change. Texas and Oklahoma delayed their departure to the SEC but between the two they are paying a $160M buyout. The move by SC and UCLA was serendipitous for the LA schools as the Pac media deal only had one year left.

Texas AtM. Bringing in big-time recruits with the play not translating to the field of play. And how will Jimbo and Bobby Petrino get along? Not certain that the entire state of Texas is big enough for both egos. Losing DC Mike Elko to take over as the HC at Duke where he had a terrific year one did not help the Aggies cause. Home games vs New Mexico, LA-Monroe, and Abilene Christian should be certain wins although A+M did lose at home vs App State last season. At Miami should be an interesting game. Mario lost in College Station last season and needs a win over the Aggies. Playing Bama and Auburn at home is a plus but drawing a game at Tennessee and playing at LSU will not be easy. The other cross-over game versus South Carolina at home should be a win. Arkansas is usually a close game. And Ole Miss and MS State are not easy outs. I'm thinking 8-4 or 9-3. A+M should be back to bowling in 2023 or Jimbo's huge buyout may not be enough to keep him on board.

Every time I see a reference to Wake I think of the great movie Brian's Song about the relationship between Bears teammates Brian Piccolo and Gayle Sayers. Well worth the watch.

At least there will be great Barbecue and fine country music. Nonrevenue sports and on occasion, basketball is how Vandy justifies its presence in the SEC. That and lofty SAT scores which is not often the case in the SEC. However, Florida, A+M along with Vandy and a few others are AAU members, 5 in total I believe going to 6 when Texas arrives. Georgia has very sound economics. Of course, the SEC garners far more football trophies than the Ivy League and the Pac Whatever.

8 games with 3 in your pod and 5 out of pod would mean 20 out of pod games over 4 seasons. But how many of the best players stick around for 4 years? Not very many. If I were an SEC fan I would absolutely want 9 games instead of playing Northeast and Northwest State or New Mexico State in a 4th OOC game. In a 12-team playoff field, the SEC will bring 3 to 4 teams to the playoff table every year whether playing 8 or 9 conference games. Always great to read your takes and best to your Dawgs in 2023.

SEC schools have done well in Omaha in the past but this is a joke. Reminds me of the seeding advantages B1G teams receive in the CBB tourney. Get used to this because, in a 12-team football field, the B1G/SEC will dominate selections notwithstanding that 1 B1G team, Ohio State as we unfortunately know, has won a playoff title. If you don't follow the money you are not paying attention. Among other things, it is less expensive for ESPN to broadcast from the Eastern and Central time zones and this kind of junk helps to sell the SEC Network. I don't know if college athletics are a joke but I do know that college sports are owned and operated by the media. It's been downhill for the Pac since Tom Hansen allowed, with no consideration, the Rose Bowl to be the BCS/Playoff equivalent of the Peach Bowl. (Please beware of waving cane!)

Whether receiving a medal or not the greatest generation who served and defeated tyranny, men and women alike, were all heroes.

Thank you, Coach. I always enjoy and am educated by your great coaching takes.

Do not disagree at all. But without the ACC scheduling agreement, ND could have a tough time filling out a schedule with an SOS decent enough to get a playoff seeding high enough (5-8) to play an opening-round playoff game in South Bend. And where would all of its other sports besides football play? I very much doubt that the B1G would allow ND to stay independent in football and take in all of the other sports in addition to ice hockey. No doubt, the entire structure has a low, low probability. But I do believe it would work financially and logistically. As always, thanks for your thoughts. (At the very least I hope the playoff powers-that-be will require ND to play a 13th game against a P5 opponent. A 12-game schedule when all conference champs and runners-up play 13 games is a playoff scam.) I'm not certain but add UCF instead of ND and this might still make sense financially. Orlando is a bigger media market than Miami.

I believe I have been too dismissive of thoughts regarding some kind of affiliation with ACC schools. Any thoughts regarding possible realignment (maybe not adding Amherst, Bowdoin, and Williams) are worth pondering. I do think the following would work both from a financial and a travel perspective but there is one critical piece to the puzzle that I will discuss below after laying out how the Atlantic and Pacific (A+P) Conference could be structured. Atlantic and Pacific Conference Pacific 12 Division West Pod - Arizona, ASU, Cal, Stanford Northwest Pod - Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State East Pod - CU, San Diego State, SMU, Utah Atlantic 16 Division East Pod - Boston College, NOTRE DAME, Pitt, Syracuse Mid-East Pod - Duke, UNC, NC St., Wake Forest Southeast Pod - Clemson, UVA, VA Tech, West Virginia (W VA would likely pay whatever it had to in order to have a better geographic fit) South Pod - FSU, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami The above would easily be the #3 conference of the Power 4 conferences. It is probably apparent to all reading the above that bringing on Notre Dame as a full-time football member would be critical as would be working through a new media deal with ESPN. With the end of the ACC conference, the ACC-Notre Dame football scheduling agreement would also be terminated. As would the onerous media deal with ESPN. Notre Dame would be the straw that stirs this drink. To entice Notre Dame to come on board as a full football-playing member I would allow Notre Dame to continue its broadcast arrangement with NBC and continue to receive three-quarters of the revenue from this agreement with the other quarter paid to the AP. This suggestion is only if NBC was willing to come on as a broadcast partner for the other AP games. This is the price that would have to be paid for the most valuable brand still left on the realignment board. Yes, Notre Dame could opt for the B1G. However, there is long-running bad blood between the B1G and Notre Dame, and other than ice hockey (where Notre Dame is a B1G member) all other sports have been contested in the ACC for over a decade. Also, would Notre Dame rather face Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Iowa in football or play against AP members? 3 out-of-conference football games, as discussed below, would allow the Irish to play traditional foes Navy, Stanford and USC. ESPN with ESPN+ and NBC with Peacock would provide both linear and streaming services (possibly as augmented by a deal with Apple/Amazon.) The ACC Network would become the AP Network. The Pac-12 Network facilities would be used for in-studio coverage and game broadcasts of Pacific Division sporting events. Football and basketball would be played cross-division. Football pods would play 3 football games against other pod members every year; hopefully, the final 3 games of the regular season. There would also be 4 intra-division games. 2 cross-division games and 3 out-of-conference games. The top 2 teams, regardless of division, would play for the conference football title. There would be one intra-division basketball tournament. All other sports would be played intra-division augmented by cross-division games as so desired. This format would cut down on travel for non-revenue sports teams. The champion of the Pacific in any given non-revenue sport would play the champion of the Atlantic. But dual meets could be held for track and field, and there could be a collective conference tournament for sports such as baseball, softball, golf, volleyball, and so on. I do think the above would work financially and logistically but not without the Irish coming on board. Does this make any sense to you? And if it was ever presented to them in this fashion or another would it make sense to George Kliavkoff and Jim Phillips who would serve as co-commissioners?

Great take but I think the ACC could and would go to 9 but for enabling Notre Dame to stay independent.

$70M a year is not enough? I get his point but it's not like ESPN has lots of cash lying around. Best to the Dawgs on the quest for a three-peat.

Big talk until the rubber hits the road. I'm sure Nick would like Auburn, Vandy, and Missouri as his 3 pod members and perhaps, Kentucky instead of Auburn.

Hickey: Turns out former B1G commissioner Kevin Warren might actually be a damn idiot SATURDAYTRADITION.COM Kevin Warren's parting gift to the Big Ten is a media rights contract that won't be worth as much as initially reported -- thanks to Warren.

Oregon Football's Dream 2024 Recruiting Class 1.0 WWW.YARDBARKER.COM Oregon's 2024 recruiting class is flying high heading into a crucial stretch in June. Official visits will start rolling and the Ducks will put their best foot forward in hopes of landing some more top-tier...

Oregon edges out Arizona to win Pac-12 tournament title DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Key defensive plays and big hits propelled Oregon past Arizona 5-4 to win the Pac-12 tournament.

Following Pac media negotiations make us all Riders on the Storm.

And give thanks to those like the maternal uncle I am named after who was a tank commander with Patton and KIA at the Battle of the Bulge.