Jon Joseph

Texas Gets the Props but this is A Great Achievement for Oregon Athletics. Texas is one of three schools to make the CFP, MBB & WBB Tournaments, and VB Tournament HOOKEMHEADLINES.COM The Longhorns are a perennial athletic program. However, this year has been even better than one could imagine for Texas.

A Trip to San Antonio and the Final 4? Hmmmm. This is a B1G Ask. Can Oregon basketball reach Final Four in March Madness bracket? Our prediction DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Can Oregon basketball reach NCAA bracket’s Final Four? Our 2025 March Madness predictions show how Ducks can make run in tournament.

Win Two Games in Seatlle and You Get to Go to ... NEWARK? 🙃 ESPN predicts how far Oregon Ducks can go in March Madness 2025 DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM ESPN predicts that the Oregon Ducks can make a solid run in the 2025 NCAA Tournament as the No. 5 seed in the East Region.

Need help with your bracket? Here's On3's call for the first two rounds. 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket picks for first weekend: Contenders, upsets, and more - On3 WWW.ON3.COM Here are the projections for the chaos of the First Four, Round of 64, and Round of 32 as March Madness sweeps the nation.

Forgive me for posting a message from Troy, but the below is a good B1G NCAA Tourney Summary. Evaluating the Big Ten teams in the 2025 NCAA Tournament TROJANSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Let's take a look at which Big Ten schools qualified for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

According to yesterday's B1G Today program, Oregon got the best draw of the eight B1G teams in the tourney. Other takes: Michigan as a 5-seed is an insult. Wisconsin sent to Denver where it could meet BYU at altitude in the 2nd game instead of Milwaukee is a hose job. UNC in over both Indiana and Ohio State is disrespectful. Many of the SEC teams in the tourney had losing records in-conference. Still the B1G with eight teams in is well represented. The B1G team with the 2nd best draw and one expected to make the Elite 8 is Maryland. A half court heave loss to Michigan State and a Danny Ainge coast-to-coast lay up at the buzzer loss. Nine Takes on the Tourney from NCAA.com. 9 takeaways from men's college basketball's bracket reveal WWW.NCAA.COM The dance card is filled, and now the 22-day search for a national champion can begin. Oh, if only the bracket could talk. Maybe it can. Here are nine things it was saying after Selection Sunday. Michigan, and Michigan State are in the same region as Auburn. The Committee didn't do overall No.1 seed Auburn any favors, handing the Tigers a possible 2nd round matchup vs. ACC runner up Louisville in Lexington, Kentucky. Hats off to the B1G Women! A record 12 teams in the Tournament,. UCLA is the overall No. 1 seed and USC is also a No. 1 seed; OBD as reported earlier comes in as a 10-seed. GO DUCKS!

ND, below is a summary of players transferring in before the 2nd portal window opens. Ten players are transferring in to fill positions of need, among them the highest-rated portal player, OT Isiah World from Nevada, the No. 1 rated safety from Purdue, Dillon Thienman, and a top-rated RB from Tulane, Makhi Hughes. Transfer Emmanuel Pregnon started at guard for USC in 2023 and 2024; he also received offers from Texas and Tennessee. A guy you may recall from his one season at Georgia, Bear Alexander, is transferring in and is expected to start on the D-line. To date it appears that Alexander is playing like a valued teammate. I hope it will last. Oregon could definitely use more help at LB, DL, and DB. We'll see if any players will be added from the portal's 2nd go round. https://247sports.com/college/oregon/longformarticle/meet-oregon-footballs-top-10-transfer-portal-recruiting-class-242440836/#2567783 Will the transfers integrate successfully, always a question. With only two preseason ranked teams on the 2025 schedule, Penn State and Indiana, this is a good season to have holes to fill.

A Ducks Wire look at OBD vs. the Flames. Oregon Basketball vs Liberty prediction: Our pick for 2025 NCAA Tournament first round DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM It’s Oregon vs Liberty Flames in March Madness bracket. Here’s our prediction for the 2025 NCAA Tournament basketball game.

Tosh, kind of, explains why the Ducks D was MIA in Pasadena. Don't worry, the explanation is not as long as 'War and Peace.' 😁 Tosh Lupoi opens up about what went wrong for Oregon Ducks vs. Ohio State DUCKSWIRE.USATODAY.COM Oregon Ducks defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi opens up about what went wrong against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl. In sum: I was jocked by The Chipper.

10:10 on the Right Coast. 😧 When it comes to sports broadcasts, this is no country for old men! Oh well, coffee and bagels with the recording instead of IPAs and pretzels past midnight. 🍻 Extinguish the Flames!

Thank you, Charles, most enlightening. WOW! 23 more points on average given up to playoff-quality opponents. Three TDs plus. An indictment of scheme, coaching, talent, all of the above? This is concerning. I'll leave it to you and far more qualified Xs and Os folks than I, to suggest what needs to be changed besides better Jimmy's and Joe's. However, I am mindful that it took Ryan Day six seasons and a lot of NIL money to win a title. The 2025 schedule is light-weight compared on paper, to 2024. No Ohio State, Michigan, and no preseason ranked Illinois. The games at Iowa and UW will be tough but the game at Penn State is the marquee matchup, no doubt. Also in 2025, no ridiculous 8-games without a break gauntlet to endure. One of the two trips to the Central time zone is versus Northwestern. One of the two trips to the Eastern time zone is versus Rutgers. The only Blue Chip Roster opponents on the schedule are Penn State and USC. Penn State like Michigan in 2023, and Ohio State in 2024, brings back many players, eleven, who were projected to be drafted in the 2025 draft. PSU has opened the NIL wallet. Two top Penn State RBs, Allen and Singleton both went for over 100 yards against the Ducks D in the champ game, are back. And four O-line starters return, buttressed by three starting P4 O-line players brought in via portal. For good and bad, QB Drew Allar is back. But without TE Tyler Warren, the PSU WRs need to show up. Against Notre Dame, Allar completed NO passes to his wideouts. Abdul Carter is gone, but many stud D players return and will be coached by the guy who engineered the best D in the country last season at Ohio State, Jim Knowles. So, 'Can that kind of defense be duplicated again?' I hope not! https://247sports.com/article/oregon-ducks-football-trip-to-penn-state-football-season-defining-espn-245899164/ Future odds have OBD favored in all regular season games in 2025, including Penn State, and Oregon has better odds of winning the 2025-26 title than Penn State. I envy those of you who will be in Happy Valley for the game. In Dan Lanning's 4th season, I hope the D will step up against quality as well as average opponents. Thanks again for a most insightful take.

The most hosed-over? [We could have a 100-team field and there would still be complaints!] Men's NCAA Bracket 2025: Who Got Screwed in the NCAA Bracket? BLEACHERREPORT.COM

Thanks, Mike. I do not see 13-0, but I do see 10-2 or better and a return trip to the Playoff, with a 1st-round home game. Thanks for posting the article, but IMO, it's an over-the-top reaction to 'Coach Speak'. Summary - 'We hope to be as good as last season but we have concerns.' Will Stein. Assistant and head coaches across the USA will repeatedly rinse and repeat the same sentiment. Just once I'd like to hear: 'You think we were good last year? This team will be sooooo much better!'😁 Montana State, Oklahoma State, at Northwestern, and Oregon State before the Week 5 trip to Penn State will give Oregon time to work out the kinks. Four very good reasons why you should play your marquee games in the conference and in the playoffs; not in the 'preseason.' On paper, this is the easiest schedule OBD will play from 2024 through 2028; only two preseason top-25 teams, Penn State and Indiana, on the slate. Thanks again. I hope we will see a lot of your terrific analysis this season.

We're Number 23! With second weekend potential. Men's NCAA Tournament 2025: Power Ranking All 68 Teams BLEACHERREPORT.COM

Greg Sankey wants the field to expand so the SEC can have more teams in the field. 🤑 87.5% of the SEC is in the field. I guess it Won't Mean More without a clean sweep. LSU (where has Pistol Pete gone?) and South Carolina, sit back, relax, and get ready to count the Tourney money 😎. $2M for showing up = $28M for the SEC. A conference receives money as teams advance, up to $8.33M for a team that makes the Final 4. There is no additional money for champ game participants. Laissez les bons temps rouler! 🍻

It Never Rains in PK Park. Right? 🤪

Saturday Tradition's take on the Tourney. Big Ten receives 8 bids for 2025 NCAA Tournament SATURDAYTRADITION.COM The Big Ten's list of NCAA Tournament berths was headline by regular-season champion Michigan State and Big Ten tournament champ Michigan.

Yes, I love the pondering. Thanks for your thoughts. The 4-4-2-2-1-1 proposal includes the P4 conferences deciding which of their teams go to the playoffs. In your example, if No. 8 upset the No.1 seed and the 2, 3, and 4 seeds held serve, it would not surprise me to see B1G 1,2,3, and 8 representing the conference. The No. 4 seed being behind the 8-Ball would not be happy but the Champ Week money would still spend. 🤑 Not apples vs. apples as the seeding is determined by a PO Committee, but Michigan defeated Wisconsin to win the B1G basketball title and Michigan is a five seed, Wisconsin a three seed, and Michigan State a two seed.

We pay attention to metrics when we want to. UNC + Texas in, Indiana and Ohio State out? I direct you to Animal House when Delta was up before the Disciplinary Committee. Something about some kind of Job? GO DUCKS! Extinguish the Flames!

Make no mistake, the Clemson Tigers and the Florida State Seminoles won their recent settlement (Settlement) with the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC.) The Exit Fee for leaving the ACC, which was over $500 million, has been reduced to $165 million and will decrease by $18 million per annum to a floor of $75 million in 2030-31, six seasons before the ACC's media agreement with ESPN expires in 2036. (2030-31 will be the first season of a new B1G conference media agreement, the first Power 4 agreement to expire. Coincidence?) The Settlement should keep the ACC together through 2030. To appease Clemson and FSU, the ACC had previously agreed to a 'Success Initiative', an 'Eat What You Kill' distribution of postseason Football Playoff and NCAA Basketball Tournament revenues. Clemson's first round 2024-25 football playoff loss to Texas brought in $4 million for the Tigers and nothing for the ACC. (Despite its football scheduling agreement with the ACC, Notre Dame shares no football playoff revenue with the conference.) The Settlement goes one step further with the implementation of the ACC 'Brand Initiative.' Under the Brand Initiative, media revenues for each member school will be tracked for the next five seasons and every five seasons thereafter, with member schools receiving 60% of media revenue from the viewership of a team's games viewed by the public. Based on past 'Eyes-On-The-Prize' viewer numbers, under the Brand Initiative, Clemson and FSU are expected to receive $15 Million a season, $75 Million over five years. Miami and UNC with Bill Belichick at the football helm, are also expected to benefit from their brand names, as will Duke basketball. Note that $75 Million is what it will cost To Get Out of This Place in 2030. Hmmmm. Most of 'The Experts' expect the B1G and the SEC to adopt the Success Initiative and the Brand Initiative when their respective media deals are renegotiated, if not sooner. The B1G and the SEC do not need their media partners' permission to alter in-conference revenue distribution. I do not see the B1G amending the equal revenue split before 2030-31, but the SEC media deal does not conclude until 2033-34, and I doubt that the SEC's biggest brands will want to wait three years to follow the ACC and the B1G. The bigger brand programs, including Oregon in the B1G, will get a B1G-ger slice of the pie. Northwestern's share will be reduced; however, Northwestern will still have a home in a conference where a reduced share will mean more money than moving elsewhere. If the bigger brand programs can remain where they are and receive a more equitable share of the proceeds, is there any need for the biggest football brand B1G and the SEC teams to 'merge' and leave the lesser brands behind? The answer to the above question will of course, be driven by the marketplace. How much more revenue could the big brand B1G and SEC teams make if they left their weaker football brothers behind, added Notre Dame, and perhaps, a Clemson, FSU, ASU, and CU, and bargained the sale of game inventory collectively as a Super Conference? And/or, directly streamed the game inventory? Another issue for a conference's as-is continuance is on the horizon. In anticipation of the House Settlement being approved early next month, the American Athletic Conference (AAC) has already informed its members that all members will have to pay their athletes at least $10 million dollars every season. Can't comply, say so long to the AAC. The annual ceiling on direct payment to athletes is $20.5 million a season. I will be surprised if the B1G and the SEC do not insist on this being the floor for all of their respective conference members. In conclusion, the Settlement will hold the ACC together through 2030, but thereafter? There are multi-millions of compelling financial reasons why the largest football brands will continue to consolidate beginning in the 2030s. [Note - Antitrust issues will come into play without a 'Players Union' for 'Management' to bargain with and without the same Congressional litigation shelter provided to the NFL and other professional leagues.] No matter the future course, OBD will not be left behind.

JB, good thoughts on how a championship should be determined. 1. In every other post-season tournament, the top 2 teams do not get a pass. Michigan State won the B1G regular season title by 3 games. Now, Sparty will have to watch today to see whether 4-seed Michigan or 5-seed Wisconsin is crowned the 2025 B1G champion. 2. At the close of the regular season in the B1G in 2024, Indiana was the 2nd best team in the conference and an Ohio State team that blew out the Hoosiers in Columbus finished fourth. This is the result of mega-conference scheduling that for the most part had Indiana playing against thin air. In the SEC, Texas finished 1st in the regular season. But Georgia with the opportunity to play Texas a second time and win both games deserved the title. Georgia's in-conference schedule in 2024 was far more difficult than the Longhorns conference schedule. As noted above, only two of the hypothetical eight games played by the Power Two at the end of last season resulted in a rematch of a regular season game. It's a small sample size, but one that is again indicative of the hit or miss nature of mega-conference regular season schedules. Another example, in 2025 OBD misses Michigan and Ohio State. In 2027, OBD plays Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. 3. I feel like I should take a cold shower every time I raise the issue of money, but no media entity is going to step up with additional money if 1st-place Oregon rematches with Purdue and 2nd-place Indiana plays Northwestern in the 12th game of the regular season. Thanks again for your thoughts.

When the Tall Firs defeated Ohio State in Evanston, Illinois, to win the first NCAA Tournament, I believe the team traveled by train. And the train was not a chartered express. There was no laptop content to entertain or educate the athletes. I am not concerned about players who are being paid to play having to 'endure' air travel. A mode of travel the Tall Firs would have loved.

Go with the 4-4-2-2-1-1 format (Format) with the Power 4 determining their participating teams would have the PO Committee, assuming Notre Dame finishes ranked in the Committee's top 14 and captures the Plus 1 spot, only deciding on which G6 team makes the field and the seeding of the field. This Format, in all likelihood, would lead to the SEC playing nine conference games. (And more $ for the SEC 🤑.) The Format would encourage elimination of the Conference Champ games in favor of having a flex-scheduled Championship Week in the last game of the regular season, with games on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The top two teams in a conference would not have to play a 13th game before the 1st playoff round of games. And the playoff could commence a week earlier. Adopt Championship Week and uniformly open the season in Week Zero, and the playoff championship game could be contested on January 1st, which would draw far more eyeballs than playing the game in late January. Championship Week would also result in more valuable game inventory and more $ for the Power 2 in particular. Based on conference standings after Week 12 in 2024, the B1G and the SEC would have played these games on Championship Week; playoff play-in games. (In 2026 and thereafter, the conference standings after Week 11 would determine the matchups.) B1G - 8. Minnesota at 1. OREGON / 7. Michigan at 2. Indiana / 6. Iowa at 3. Penn State / 5. Illinois at 4. Ohio State. SEC - 8. South Carolina at 1. Texas / 7. LSU at 2. Georgia / 6. Alabama at 3. Tennessee / 5. Ole Miss at 4. Missouri. These eight games would involve only two rematches from the regular season, which says a lot about mega-conference scheduling. The rematches could be reduced or eliminated by having Iowa and Michigan moving one spot, with Iowa playing at Indiana, and Michigan playing at Penn State. In the SEC, a one spot move would see Alabama at Georgia, and LSU at Tennessee. Game inventory, especially as adjusted above, would bring in mucho dinero for the Power 2 and also increase the value of the preceding conference games. Teams jockeying for home games on Championship Week would make the regular season games more impactful. Adopting the Format would also allow for the B1G/SEC Conference Challenge games to be played. With four teams each in the playoff field, losing a Challenge game would not hurt a team's chances of making the playoffs. Using The Athletics' final 2024-25 season rankings from No. 1 to 134, these out-of-conference games, spaced out during the regular season, would result in six Top 25 vs Top 25 marquee games. 5. Georgia at 1. Ohio State / 2. OREGON at 6. Texas / 8. Tennessee at 4. Penn State / 10. Indiana at 13. Ole Miss/ 15. Alabama at 14. Illinois / 21. Michigan at 16. South Carolina. Other enticing matchups: Iowa vs. Missouri, Nebraska vs. Florida, USC vs. A&M, and UCLA vs. Oklahoma. I'm reasonably certain that OBD vs. Texas would result in a B1G-ger payday than the Ducks vs. Oregon State and Texas vs. UTEP. With direct payment to athletes on the horizon, cuts in football roster size, and nonrevenue sports at risk of being cut, the Power 2 need to do everything possible to increase the revenue flow from Money-Maker Football. It's not Greed, it's Smart Business.

Thanks for the stats. What do the numbers look like in the last ten games, when OBD went 8-2, with its two losses coming against Michigan State in East Lansing and Indianapolis? The win over Indiana in Indianapolis was impressive. I'm hoping for a 5 or 6-seed playing in Seattle or Denver. 3 and 4 seeds are not locks to win 1st-round, let alone the 2nd round games. Dana is The Man in March.

Thanks, Smitty. It's about so much more than just the games. 😇