Jon Joseph

How do we know that Freeze didn't pay someone else for 'his' fish?

Leadership? I think the discussions on whether to expand or stay as is would have been fascinating to listen in to and I'd love to know the research that was used to reach this conclusion? Was it simply immediate financial impact that was looked at or were there longer range projections that were considered? The short turn around between GK saying AAU membership would not be a requirement to join the conference (good thing for ASU, OR ST and WA ST) was to me, extremely puzzling. It almost seemed the rug was pulled out from under the guy before there was time for a complete evaluation to be made? And the 'reference to the conference being an 'exclusive club' turned me off just as, 'it just means more' turns me off.

Enjoyed the take DM and I certainly am enjoying the attitude of the new coaching staff on the way in the door. Thanks again Mario for going MIA.

GK is correct regarding the state of the conference in CFB. Easier to point fingers at COVID than prior leadership or rather, the lack thereof. Do all of his bosses 'get it?' Do many of them care? GK has one very tough row to hoe.

Did you notice that DGU disappeared from the Dr, Pepper adds this early season. ROI will cool the jets on a lot of these deals.

Next up? Does Caleb Williams and a number of other OK players transfer to SC? Riley never had great defenses at OK. Can he bring in the big body OL and DL players that Lanning will bring in?

CFB wise the Supreme Court decision in the Alston case did CFB wise neuter the NCAA, Now will the respective conferences attempt to control NIL and attempt to control open free agency vis the portal. Can they if they even desire to do so, put rules into place that will withstand legal review?

That's what the Zen Master said. Good advice.

Very good news! Show Sammy the $? In the SEC, Lanning has seen any and all kinds of games that can and will roster-wise be played. That's the conditioning you need in today's world of big time CFB.

This is the "now" of CFB, not the future. Spot on as to how many institutions of higher learning will want to play this kind of big, big money game? And a large number of schools that would be OK playing this kind of CFB cannot afford to do so including the majority of the Pac-12.

Definitely the old school methodology but I think we will see, at least at big time programs, as many starting QBs coming out of the portal than being recruited and developed. And let's not kid ourselves. In this day and age of wide open CFB 'free agency' there is a lot of roster tampering going on.

You could see this coming from thousands of miles away. This is likely the minimum the kid is being offered. I ask this in no demeaning manner whatsoever but, why is anyone at all surprised by this? THIS is today's big time CFB. Pay enough to play or go away to the G5, FCS or D3. The decision in the Alston case led naturally to 'this' and at the same time neutered the NCAA. No one is in charge. There is wise open 'free agency' in CFB that you do not see in the NFL. There is no spending cap in CFB like there is in the NFL. And who or what is taking a look at roster tampering in CFB? Goes may stay longer in CFB because going to the NFL will mean taking a pay cut.

NIL has turned out to be a ruse for pay to play. NIL allows each Texas OL guy the be paid $50,000 a year and that is just the 'base salary.' I imagine a guy like Banks is being paid more than 50K a year to play for Texas? The transfer portal means unrestricted one time free agency for every player. None of this is regulated. Based on the Alston decision the NCAA cannot do anything about players being paid for their name, image and likeness. So, this means one of four things, IMO, for the Ducks. 1. Join a Super League only loosely affiliated with the school. There will be outright pay for play, a player's union, no academic requirements and a high school draft. Envision 32 big time CFB schools each licensing all football facilities and all other rights to one of the 32 NFL teams. 2. Find partners willing and able to pay the freight to compete in big time CFB. Such partners are not except for SC and maybe UW, in the Pac-12. Find partners whose collective media rights can at least approach those of the SEC and B1G. Or for Oregon and SC, do all that is possible to be asked to join the B1G. (See further on this move below.) 3. The Alliance and Notre Dame under a single umbrella, market their collective media rights and conduct their own postseason play without any other conferences being involved. This includes taking back the Rose Bowl. The Alliance regulates the portal. Number of players that can be signed, notice needed to be given by a departing player, etc. The Alliance agrees to an orderly admissions process and required academic progress. Minimum grade point averages and SAT/ACT scores to qualify for matriculation. The Alliance caps the all-in money that can be budgeted for football including a cap on 3rd party donations. The Alliance establishes a minimum that has to be spent on football for a school to get an equal revenue cut. Basically, the Alliance drops out of the arms race. The SEC can do whatever it wants and the football product will likely be superior in the SEC but regardless, the Alliance focuses more on academics with all players being given 5 seasons to play 4. 4. The Pac-12 becomes the Ivy League west. No athletic scholarships, only Pell Grants and other similar type grants allowed to pay a student-athlete's cost of education . An athlete as is the case in the Ivy League can market his/her NIL. The Pac-12 participates in no post season football and plays 10 games a season. OK, some of the above can be mixed and matched. But if Oregon wants to be truly big time in CFB it has to be willing to spend on the level of the top B1G and SEC teams and has to find a way to close the income gap between it and the B1G and SEC schools. Standing pat as a conference was a terrible business decision on the part of the Pac-12 conference and terrible in the manner in which it negatively affects Oregon's long term future. IMO, to heck with the Pac-12. AAU members UW, Oregon, Stanford, USC, Utah and CU should collectively ask to join the B1G with the understanding that revenues would be phased in and adjusted if the new members do not expend enough on CFB and CBB. And also adjusted for stadium size. (Leaving CAL and UCLA out of the mix leaves the CA legislature out of the mix.) These 6 write off their investment in the Pac-12 Network and are covered by the B1G Network. The 20 team B1G has four 5 team pods and not divisions. CFB as we knew for decades is gone. Now are you willing and able to ante-up to play in the new game?

Great take. My only true concern regarding the conference is having to play 5 conference road games instead of playing say, New Mexico State at home? But that is more of a Final 4 concern than it is a conference title concern. UCLA? Lame duck coach and the Bruins just lost Gabriel Dillon to Oklahoma. Utah should be very good especially with the quality transfer LB from Florida coming to Utah, but at Autzen should be a win. If healthy, Oregon will have a QB who has started and won big time games against better talent than what the Utes will bring. I don't think this new group of coaches is anywhere near done with the portal and in 2022 you can have 85 on scholly plus an additional 7 transfers. Even if Caleb Williams signs with SC, the Trojans are behind the curve on both the D and O lines.

As you so noted, someone just opened the wallet Big Time for the new DC. "Just Do It?" How many teams in this conference have the means to just do it? 2, maybe 3? Look at what SEC teams spend on football. There is no way this can be capped = there will never be parity in CFB as it is currently structured. People in the SEC aren't bored. The SEC just bores the rest of us. So, have a playoff with the ACC, B1G, Notre Dame, Pac-12 and perhaps, the new B12?

Great take. I will not be surprised if Utah on the road is favored to win the game in The Swamp. Rob Mullens, if Utah can get a H+H series with Florida, CAL with Auburn, UCLA with LSU, Arizona with Alabama, why are the Ducks playing UGA in a 1 off game in Atlanta; the same year Oregon plays BYU OOC and plays 5 conference road games?

Thanks MTD. Oregon proves again that it has the desire and the money to compete at the highest level of CFB. Whatever recruiting violations Tosh may have had in the past are no longer violations. My guess? $1.7M for a DC is the highest by quite a bit being paid to a DC in the Pac-12?

Thanks for the article Alex. But "all time great recruit?" I think that is overrating Robby Ashford who could bot not beat out a journeyman QB for the starting job at Oregon. A great kid and a terrific athlete but let's see where he ends up and then see if he starts there? Lanning and Dillingham did not bring Nix in without taking a long look at the talent in the Oregon QB room. I'm certain that Ty and Butterfield will given a fair chance, perhaps a fairer chance under this staff, to win the starting job. However, only 1 guy in the QB room in 2022 will have had 3 starts vs Georgia and won big games in front of big crowds in big stadiums, including a W against Alabama.

Kid nixed his commitment because he don't know Bo? Mario Cristobal and a Natty? Never going to happen. Where would Mario have Bama today if Mario and not Saint Nick was the HC? The guy is 62-60 and the players who 'loved him' consistently showed up unprepared and played down to the level of the competition. A 'Natty Coach' does not lose to 3-7 Stanford. Does not get blown out twice in three games by a team with a roster not on par with his. Does not win a Rose Bowl with the NFL Rookie of the Year at QB by 1 point over a 3L team. Does not get blown out by Iowa State in the Fiesta Bowl. He won a down conference in 2019, went to the Rose Bowl when he should have gone to the Final 4. He won the COVID conference title in 2020 with a 4-3 record. In 2021 he failed to win a conference that went 0-5 in its bowl games and lost more than two thirds of its games vs FBS out of conference competition. Natty? Miami just bought a pig in a poke. Mario winning a Natty at Miami is as much of a pipe dream as is the idea of building a new stadium in Coral Gables.

Dennis Dood and Pac-12 football reminds me of Rudyard Kipling's, 'East is east and west is west and never the twain shall meet.'

Thank you. I watch a lot of 'Dorf On Golf.' Doesn't seem to be working.

Let's hope that in 2022 the Pac-12 rolls no more postseason gutter balls.

Charles, please, no one deserves any more recognition and kudos than do my much needed editors.

I am tired, not less so than any of you reading my 'stuff', of being the Jeremiah Prophet of Pac-12 doom. Especially, expressing same on this great site created by Sir Charles. As a newer 'prophet,' William Chaucer once said: 'No matter the ladies he adds to his list. No matter the times a knight wins on the list. Like all men, even heroes must stop for a piss." If folks are OK with the Pac-12 standing still, so be it. If folks believe that the conference as currently exists is a Playoff player, so be it. If folks believe the conference is on the rise, who am I to demur. It's a game. A game that is meant to be enjoyed. Whether I believe the conference as exists is a Playoff force: well, it simply doesn't matter. Looking into the future my crystal ball is as clouded as is any crystal ball. I do not see doing the same 'thing,' and expecting a different result when it comes time to playing ball time in September of 2022, providing a different result. But that's just me. I view Oregon and USC spending the money to compete at the top level of CFB and the rest of the conference not doing so. I think 4 power CFB conferences instead of 5 would have been a boon to the Pac- 18/20. But that's just me. I most fervently hope I am wrong that the Pac-12 is down and will stay down. And that the folks who see the Pac-12 as being 'on the rise,' are right. I don't see the current Pac-12 yeast turning into Playoff and NY6 bowl bread. But I possess but one set of eyeballs and one opinion. So, play ball and let's all enjoy the games.

And likely chuckling regarding the 'NIL' money the kid is going to make?