Jon Joseph

ESPN has posted its revised top 25 for 2023. Mark Schlabach at ESPN is in charge of ESPN's human and not algorithm-driven top 25. Below are the top 10 and the other ranked Pac-12 teams in addition to USC at #4. And for what it is worth (not all that much) my take on the revised rankings. 1. Georgia - No surprise here as Georgia goes for a 3-Pete. An easy out-of-conference schedule will help the Dawgs in their quest to make modern-day history. 2. Michigan - Cupcake out-of-conference (OOC) schedule and a 2-game, at Penn State and versus Ohio State conference schedule helps the Wolverines in pursuit of a spot in the final, Final 4. How much will automatic FG kicker Moody be missed? 3. FSU - Huh? I think the Seminoles drop the first game vs LSU in Orlando. 4. USC - Maybe? Getting Utah and UW in LA helps the SC's cause. And playing at ESPN #13, Notre Dame, gives the OOC schedule a boost. But will the portal additions on defense be integrated and coached up for a team last seen losing to Tulane? 5. Ohio State - The Buckeyes also play at #13 Notre Dame. New QB will have stud WR Marvin Harrison and others to throw the ball to. I would have had Ohio State in the 4 spot. 6. Alabama - Diss Saint Nick at your peril; especially, if Notre Dame transfer Buckner is the answer at QB. Bama's 2 conference losses came on the road last season versus Tennessee and LSU by 4 points. This season the Vols and LSU Tigers (too many Tigers out there) play in Tuscaloosa. I expect the change in the clock rules to shorten the game so that Bama, under new OC Tommy Rees, will be more run-oriented and more physical in 2023. 7. LSU - Best QB in the conference, Jayden Daniels returns to play a second season under excellent coach Brian Kelly. A tricky opening game versus FSU in Orlando that I think LSU wins. I expect the game in Tuscaloosa versus Bama will be a 4 quarter slugfest. I will not be surprised if LSU wins back-to-back SEC West titles in the last season of divisions in the SEC. 8. Penn State - The Nittany Lions easily handled Utah in the Rose Bowl for its first win in 2023. The pieces are in place but will PSU white out Michigan and win at Ohio State? PSU is one of the teams that will most likely benefit when the playoff goes to 12 teams in 2024. 9. Clemson - Too low in my opinion. The offense stuttered under first-year OC Garret Riley (Lincoln's brother) in the spring game but lots of key components did not suit up for the Tigers' (SIGH - very few Tigers roaming around Clemson, South Carolina) spring game. I think Clemson again wins the ACC. Especially, with Notre Dame coming to Clemson. Add in the game at South Carolina and Clemson plays a very good OOC slate. 10. Texas - I've seen this movie before. I do not expect Texas to win in Tuscaloosa and I do expect it to continue losing close games. 12. Washington - If UW can successfully replace 2 starting guards and its starting center the offense should be lights out. Will the defense improve? Two of the same questions that are being asked in Eugene. Games at USC and Oregon State will be challenging and I'm looking for a 15-round fight when the Ducks' trip to Seattle. 14. Utah - I kind of get this but will Rising be able to return at full speed from a bad knee injury? Will Clark Phillips be replaced in the secondary? The trip to Salt Lake City looks like another 15-rounder for Puddles. 15. Oregon - 4 new OL starters. A new OC. A defense that has to improve (18 sacks in 13 games in the Pac-12 is not good) and a witch of a schedule. At #20 Texas Tech OOC. And at #12 UW, at #14 Utah, and home versus #4 USC and # 17 Oregon State. Wow! Nix plays as well under Stein as he did under Dilly and all questions are answered favorably, 11 regular season wins are doable. But it's a big ask in Dan Lanning's 2nd season. 17. Oregon State - 105th in passing yardage in 2022. Will DJU or another Beavers QB fix this? The defense should again be salty. It helps that Oregon State misses USC and plays UCLA, Utah, and UW in Corvallis. NOTE - Yes, USC has to play at Oregon but playing Utah and UW in LA is a parting gift from Merton Hanks. (Does Mullens ever beef about stuff like this?) My Power 5 conference sleeper picks. ACC - Louisville - Favorite son Jeff Brohm returns and the Cardinals have the easiest conference schedule in the ACC missing both Clemson and FSU B1G - #25 Wisconsin - New coach Fickell is updating the O, and brought in a very good QB transfer from SMU. The D will continue to play solid ball. B12 - Oklahoma - I see a rebound happening in Norman if QB Dillon Gabriel can stay upright. Outstanding pick-ups from the portal. Pac-12 - Oregon State. But DJU or someone else has to improve the passing game. SEC - #7 LSU will be behind Georgia and perhaps Alabama at the close of SEC media days but Daniels is back and Kelly is one heck of a coach. I'm off to take a long summer's nap before the start of fall practice. GO DUCKS!

Great take ND. I think a 12-team PO for At Large spots and seeding reasons will increase OOC competition. The SEC is really upping its OOC game; Florida at Utah is a perfect example. I think it is very important for the ACC, B12, and Pac-10 to play a Power 2 team OOC. Even with the beat down 'at' UGA last season if Oregon had not lost late leads in the 4th quarter against UW and Oregon State and made the champ game Oregon, with a win over SEC would have been in the playoff. Games against Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin would have more viewers than games versus B12 opponents. Ditto games vs Auburn, Florida, and even Mississippi State that CAL, Utah, and Arizona have scheduled in 2023. And if the powers-that-be do not require Notre Dame to play 13 games, as all P5 and G5 champs will play, it will be more bending over for the Domers. Is the SEC going to 9? It should and big boys in the SEC all want this. This will preserve not only Oklahoma vs Texas and Bama vs Auburn but also A+M vs Texas and Bama vs Tennessee. But schools like Kentucky want to stay at 8 to have an extra home cupcake game and make it easier to go bowling when non-playoff bowl games will be further marginalized by the expanded playoff and many of the best players will skip these meaningless games. I hope the SEC will not allow the tail to wag the dog (Dawg?) when it comes to 8 or 9 games. Georgia's 2023 OOC slate is simply bad but this is due to the conference calling off the scheduled game between UGA and Oklahoma. Yet, Texas is playing a return game at Bama. All to best to UGA in 2023 in its attempt to 3-pe3-Petete.

CU not only opened the wallet for Coach Prime, but it also relaxed what credits would be acceptable for players transferring to CU. Positive or negative people are once again talking about CU football. CU sold out its spring game at $10 a ticket and has sold out its 2023 season tickets. Last season CU had an average attendance of 17,200. CU is already seeing a positive Prime Time ROI. He doesn't come with controversy but it is so good to see a school stepping up after 20 years in the doldrums. And CU's 1st conference game in 2023 is at Oregon. The Ducks will be double-digit favorites and best defeat CU. I think Deion will turn CU around but it will be tough in 2023 with the nation's 3rd most difficult SOS. CU's opening game is at TCU and CU also has Nebraska coming to Boulder for an out-of-conference game.

Annie, Bowdoin sports. If a tree falls in the forest ...

I don't know. But I do know that the state of Arizona produces many the top recruit who for the most part do not stay in Arizona.

Where's Bowdoin College? (Other than in Maine.) So it's drink, drink Clink, clink, clink Smash the glass to splinters when you're done! When you're doooooo-ne Bowdoin beata, our dear alma mater There is no fairer mother neath the Sun. [1st campus the Sun shines on when it shines, in the USA. And no worries regarding a media deal, new or old.]

He looked great in HS but did not play at the top level in Arizona. Looks like one of the talented HS guys who cannot make the big step up from HS ball.

The spring update on ESPN today predicts that Moore will be the starter for UCLA. No UCLA spring game but apparently Moore has looked great in practice and possesses dual-threat abilities the Chipper loves. Dilly may have been a big loss but losing Moore because Dilly moved on was tough. Yes, water over the dam but losing his commitment is a large hole in the dam.

As Charles has oft-noted, show early or you won't show. Unfortunately. this young man has yet to show. A 5* recruit should be right on Nix's heels; or, Nix would not have to be in Eugene, to begin with. With Butterfield gone I agree with the posters above, grab another QB out of the portal.

I just want to say how much I appreciate a truly objective look at the spring game. Thank you, Charles. Lots to be enthused about and lot's to be concerned about. This season's schedule is a witch and it whips me off that UW and Utah visit SC and that SC has a second idle week the week before the champ game while Oregon has to trip to both Utah and UW. And Oregon has to play Oregon State the week before the champ game while SC takes a nap. I guess this is on Merton Hanks? Why not send SC off with a handshake and give UCLA one of the conference's weaker schedules? This is the kind of stuff that makes the Pac-12/10 disrespected nationwide. Yes, USC has to trip to Oregon but other than that? SC is playing the once-upon-a-time south division schedule and getting UW at home and 'south division' Utah at home. Why for goodness sake give SC and UCLA a kiss on the way out the door? OT regarding the spring game but material as to the conference's decade + modus operandi, see foot, shoot same; and why do Hanks and ref-man Campbell still have jobs?

Great take. The problem I see is that the young man was way overrated having played against lesser competition in HS in Arizona. The level at which you play matters. I think his 5* rating was a muff as is often the case when ranking players out of HS. I love it that he has stuck it out but in this day and age of the portal if he was all that he already would have been poached. Your backup QB needs to be pushing the starter or you do not have a quality backup.

Michigan State starting QB Thorne is in the portal. Might be a good fit. But I would guess he wants to go to a place where he will have the chance to start.

Cry havoc! And let slip the dogs of war!

Glad is on the roster depth wise but IMO he would be better off transferring to a G5 team. I do give him credit for staying and competing but this could be due to not having much interest from other programs.

Great take but I need to see the OL in real games and not a scrimmage. Two sides of a coin. Yes, the D shut down the run game but the mix-and-match OLs were not opening holes. And while I am very happy about how the edge rushers locked; again, this causes me concern regarding the OL. At least regarding depth. I do think the D will be improved but improved enough with 5 preseason top-25 teams on the roster; with road games against 3 of the 5. The O is going to have to play a whole better than it showed on Saturday. And with the change in timing rules, it will have to play better while running fewer plays. Sorry, but I did not like seeing Nix throw a number of 'wounded ducks.' His velocity did not seem as good as last season. I hope his leg injury is not lingering. A number of times he threw the ball without setting his feet. Will he miss Dilly's coaching? His play at Auburn dropped off after Dilly left. I like the receivers. I think Dez was a great pickup and as Charles noted, will likely replace Cota but with more RAC ability. The frosh drops? I'll blame it on 'first game' jitters and hope I am right. Fun day. Great to see the Ducks out on the field. One of the most improved players I saw was Patrick Herbert. A needed showing at a lack-of-depth TE position. Fun and entertaining game Great for the fans and the recruits but as a barometer for the regular season?

Enjoyed the comment. I can see why a team would schedule down OOC but I think the opposite is happening if you look out at OOC schedules over the next decade. This is the case even in the SEC. (On the other hand, Ohio State just paid half a million dollars to Washington to get out of a 2024/25 scheduled home + home series. Why, because Ohio State does want to take the chance of having to play twice on the West Coast; to play a team in addition to UCLA/USC. Just another intended consequence of the LA schools going B1G. Will Ohio State beg off of its in-the-future game at Oregon?) I expect the SEC will go to 9 conference games once OK/TX arrives in 2024. This will leave the ACC as the Power 5 outlier staying with 8 conference games. 'Justified,' in the ACC commissioner's POV, with Clemson, FSU, Georgia Tech, and Louisville playing an SEC opponent every season and the scheduling agreement with Notre Dame. I think this is chicken spit and will, hopefully, ding the ACC down the road. As to no conference champ game? This game is a money maker and with divisions gone or about to be gone in the case of the B1G, gives two P5 teams a more than likely top-25 game to cap off the regular season and improve the strength of the schedule. I think this will actually give the loser of the champ game a better shot at being an at-large seed.

Great comment. Any P5 team that goes 13-0 is in the final 4. Otherwise, all Hades will break loose. The SEC is stepping up its OOC slate. For example, Florida which never traveled out of the Sunshine State is playing at Utah this season and Bama has a return game versus Texas. Preseason and early in-season polls? I agree but too much money is made off of the early polls to change what we see today. Plus, there is that pesky 1st Amendment.

Bill Hancock and his merry men and women have after many months, I'm shocked, finally determined and released the start time for the 2024/2025 playoff games. College Football Playoff first round to go head-to-head with NFL with semifinals to be played on weekdays - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM The College Football Playoff schedule will look drastically different upon the conclusion of the 2024 regular season Some thoughts on this and a stab at where the CFB Playoff is likely to go come 2026 when ESPN loses its exclusive broadcast rights. Play the Spring game vs an FCS opponent. And have the game count in the regular season standings. For the most part, all P5 and G5 teams, at least those contending for a playoff spot, will start the season 1-0. I'd love to see Portland State as Oregon's annual spring game opponent and being paid in the process. Keep the cupcake money in state. All teams play their 2nd regular season game on what is now referred to as Week 0. One idle week per team (did you know that in 2023, USC has two idle weeks with the 2nd coming the week before the conference championship game!) with half the field not playing in week six and the other half sitting out week seven. This would move everything up a week including conference championship games and first-round playoff games. This would eliminate some, not all, playoff games conflicting with NFL games and end the season before the 20th of January as is currently scheduled. I know, before the 2023 season, it is wayyyyyyy too early to consider where the CFB playoff will go come 2026. Nevertheless here are one person's thoughts. In 2026 the field goes to 16 teams. My guess notwithstanding all of the 'student-athlete' utterings, the money will be too significant not to expand. Via NIL or otherwise, the players will be paid to participate in playoff games. No first-round byes for the top 4 conference champions. The six highest-ranked conference champions are in the field but seeding is based on where a qualifying team finishes in the rankings. Last season, Clemson and Utah would have received first-round byes but Ohio State and TCU would have not. How would a 16-team schedule work? To further shorten regular season games, adopt the above thoughts regarding shortening the regular season and adopt the NFL Replay Challenge rules and put a cap on the time a review can take. And allow games to end in ties in the regular season which was the case for over a century of CFB being played. However, could this happen? The B1G and the SEC both expand so that both have 20-member teams. The playoff is contested solely between the Power 2 with some of the playoff money going to what are now P5 and G5 teams to keep the 'left-behind' teams from not going to court. Again, this is merely one man's thoughts. I hope the playoff will trend to being more inclusive than exclusive but I have my doubts.

Wow! What a terrific halftime interview with U of O's 19th President, John Karl (Sergeant) Scholz. [Sorry to go Chris Berman.] The man is brimming with enthusiasm. Sports fan? You know it. After the football game, he told Yogi Roth that he was headed out to watch the women's soccer game and then the baseball game. This is about as far as you can get from UCLA President Bloch (head.) [Did it again. But one of Larry's biggest enablers has this coming.] A man who has never attended a regular-season Bruins football game. Plus, President Scholz has a daughter attending Oregon and pursuing her Doctorate degree. Help! 99.9% of the folks on this Forum are far more tech-savvy than I am. Would be great if a Forum person (Pa Duck, NJ Duck?) could post this interview. Writers? I think it would also be great if one of you was to author a deeper dive article on President Scholz. It appears that Ducks sports are in very good hands at the highest levels. Go Ducks!

Ty Thompson. The game was emblematic of the young man's 'career' at Oregon. Rather than take the easy way out Ty has stayed in Eugene and competed. What we used to see before the portal made its presence. Hats off to Ty and keep on TYing to get better.

CU at TCU will be fun to watch. CU? Get your program! Can't tell the players without a program!

That record would make history. Since adding CU and Utah no Pac-12 team has pulled off a 13-0 record. Big ask with 5 top 25 ranked opponents, including 3 of the 5 on the road.

Great day. Great crowd. Fun game. Had to impress the recruits in attendance.

Cool. He'll be playing against big brother twice a year. I see Noah as a situational player likely to not be on the field on passing downs.

I agree but therein lies the playoff rub. The in-conference competition has to be valued by the playoff committee to get more than 1 Pac team, the conference champion, in a 12 team playoff field and also for seeding purposes. Come 2024, a champion in the top 4 of 6 conference champions = a 1st round bye. Being ranked 5-8 = a first-round home game. 6 at large spots, four of which at least will most likely go to B1G and SEC schools. If the ACC and B12 schedules are more valued than the Pac schedules; well, that's a problem. And remember, Notre Dame is also out there jockeying for a 5 to 8 seed. Notre Dame brings lots of viewers along with it. Something that matters even though the playoff committee will never admit this. This is a problem that Oregon's case is exacerbated by not playing a Power 2 opponent in the next 6 seasons. And by a school like Oregon State not playing a Power 5 opponent out-of-conference. The Pac-10 has to step up its OOC scheduling and has to win its fair share versus the Power 2. This season brings us Florida at Utah, Arizona at Mississippi State, Wisconsin at Washington State (!), and Washington at Michigan State. The Pac Conference needs to win 2 of these 4 games at least. Utah is likely to be favored and UW has a good chance of being slightly favored on the road.