Jon Joseph

Come On Man! I'm having trouble picking my wife up off the floor. She watched the video and went nuts!

SEC, The Gordan Gecko Conference?

LOL! But Houston did defeat an SEC team today. And the Cougars CBB team is ranked No. 12 in the latest AP Poll.

But, It Just Means More! Right, Florida, MIZZOU and Auburn?

SEC to date in its bowl games. A+M, scratch. L Florida, Mizzou and Auburn, with UF and Auburn falling to G5 opponents and Independent Army taking down MIZZOU with a walk off FG. Wish it could be Pac-20 member Houston? Dana Holgerson really turned the Cougars around in his 3rd season as HC. BTW, in CBB, Houston is ranked 12. Would Auburn have won with Nix at QB?

Great take DM but consider the opposition? Average at best when considering the state of the conference. I admire Brown for having the guts to overcome 2 serious knee injuries. A gutty, gritty competitor who played at his talent level. It would be very interesting to learn how Mario and Joe meshed or did not mesh in 2021? Coming into 2021, 247 Sports ranked Oregon 12th in its Team Talent Rankings. This is likely why the Ducks won all but 1 of the 1 score games it played in?

If wishes were horses ... Totally agree. The rosters of both rosters ranked at 9 Oklahoma, and 12 Oregon, by 247 Sports Team Talent Rankings, are depleted due to injury and opt outs. So many Ducks who are a part of this talent ranking are out tomorrow. But Oklahoma has its top 3 guys on D out and the starting TE out. The X factor in this game IMO is OK QB Caleb Williams. Without KT in the line up will the D be able to hold Williams down? OK clearly has the edge at QB. The all important position. Compare UGA's D to what it did all season long and how it played versus the Heisman Trophy winner, Bryce Young, playing QB for Bama. I NEVER bet against the Ducks. But if I did I'd go large with the Sooners -4.5. Brown will have to play the game of his life to come close to Williams talent. I only hope that post-game Williams does not enter the portal and follow Riley to USC? He would be a game changer for the Trojans in 2022 and 2023. He would be by far the best QB in the Pac-12.

Team talent as shown on 247 Sports Team Talent Rankings. 1 Georgia 2. Bama 3. Ohio State - no surprise here. But Texas is ranked 5! OKLAHOMA - 9 OREGON - 12 However , these rankings evaluate a roster as if everyone was healthy and good to play. Also it does not take into account opt outs.

Great take, thank you. The conference decided NOT to expand after GK said AAU membership would not be a condition of joining the Pac-12. BYU is a 'religious' school. Baylor, TCU and SMU for that matter are far more secular than BYU. I don't think that 1 extra OOC game a year against an Alliance team is going to have a major media impact. Arizona at Duke, IMO, does not move the CFB needle. CBB yes. CFB, no. The conference can and likely should go to 8 conference games. But will this ipso facto put 2 more teams into the top 25? Not unless recruiting picks up. Why should it pick up in a conference that was 0-5 vs BYU and 5-6 vs the Mountain West. I think the 'leadership' of this conference has been vapid for a decade plus and continues to be so. I believe the best thing for Oregon's future would be for Puddles to fly to a more feathered nest. Can't make chicken salad out of chicken stuff.

Good take. 1-2 vs the top 25. Failed to win a conference with but 6 bowl eligible teams. Failed to win a conference that had only two Blue Chip roster teams. I shudder to think where these Ducks under (way down under) Mario would have finished in the B1G E or in the SEC W? For that matter, how about the B12? Could Mario have had the team ready to play a down Clemson and very good and also ranked Pitt, Wake and NC ST teams? IMO, the team played up to its talent level in 1 game this season. The standard: Did the QB lead his team to the playoff? Mariota did so and Herbert could have done so if he had been surrounded by better coaches. Brown against a weak SOS played to his talent level. Against the 'competition' in the Pac-12, the Ducks should win at least 10 games every season. And should not get blown out twice by a 3L Pac-12 team. 'Honest effort and development?' You are what your record says you are. I too would love to see the Ducks win tomorrow. But of equal importance to me; I want the team to show up, compete and not give up.

I also think Coach Pete recruiting OKGs (our kind of guys) and not going after more highly ranked players, helped lead to this decline. And UW could not keep its top players at home. Lake like Helfrich, at least after Helf's first season, was the easy and the wrong hire. Some assistants make great HCs, others do not. The way of this world in every endeavor.

Is this game The Battle of the Headless Coachmen? Oregon will be fielding a beat-up football team. Oklahoma? It's 3 best players and starting TE among others, have opted out.

ROI?

I agree 100% as to critical analysis and reasoned criticism. I think Moorhead, perhaps weighed down by Mario, hardly 'did a lot with what they had.' No criticism of you but a far more talented roster was in 1 score games vs many the stiff and failed to show up ready to play in 2 of its last 3 games. This, despite having quality young athletes in the QB room and a group of quality WRs and TEs. Starting AB at QB was simply emblematic of Mario's conservative, risk adverse approach. I think poor Moorhead came close to cashing it in as the result of an anxiety attack?

Mario and friends were schooled by Matt Campbell and the other Cyclones coaches. But what do you expect from a team that lost to CAL and OR ST? BTW: Darren my brother, you even up in Spokane I imagine you can hear all of the 'AMEN's?'

Among others, stud WR Wilson has opted out of the RB. All you need to know about the importance of all bowls not hosting the playoff semi-final is the Doak Walker winner and a Heisman finalist QB dropping out of the Peach Bowl, and guys treating the Rose Bowl like it's no big deal. The powers-that-be made a mistake IMO when they released the recommendation to go to 12 teams without checking in with the ACC, B1G and Pac-12. The BCS and the BCS x 2 have brought far more money into the game and IMO, destroyed what was once a terrific regional, amateur sport.

It's always after 5 PM somewhere on the planet, no? If the conference had expanded as proposed in the article, in the latest AP CBB Poll the Pac-20 would have 8 teams in the top 25.

I guess in an era of 5-7 teams going bowling Brown has had a 'Phenomenal' season? If the Alamo Bowl was the goal, maybe he did play like a phenom? Consider the source? I would not expect the OC/QB coach to say anything like: 'The QB, notwithstanding all of my fine coaching, had a mediocre season?' IMO, Brown, Moorhead and Mario all had a mediocre season. I think the record does not evidence the manner in which the Ducks played as much as it does the mediocre competition post Ohio State? 'Phenomenal?' IMO, not without a conference title and a Rose Bowl.

Coached by a guy who was once HC at Florida.

You build a better mouse trap, the dumb mice die and the smarter mice stop showing up. So sad. A Pac-20 would have been a player on the national scene.

YES! And when guys like Plunkett and Warren Moon took down B1G favored opponents. And how about UCLA defeating Michigan State. These were games the entire nation cared about and tuned in to watch.

Great reply my friend. As the Zen Master said: We'll see? Mario as a head coach is 62-60. Your record is what you are. Considering his hot shot QB was injured last season and did not play as expected this season, I believe Manny did OK. Not great, but OK. Oregon went 10-3. 2 blow out Ls vs Utah and an inexcusable loss at Stanford. 1 score Ws vs teams that talent-wise should not have been on the same field. How about we compare Mario to Manny after 2 seasons? My guess? You are going to see a lot of top drawer talent wasted.

Great post. Great question. But I don't know and I don't care. Probably because I am an old gas passer and you never quit on your teammates for any reason. If they were going into battle you went into battle with them. $ has screwed CFB up. Even NY6 bowls if not playoff bowls no longer matter. The best player on both sides when Pitt meets MI ST have opted out. Does Pickett get to NYC without the guys balling out for him? Does Walker win the best running back award without his OL? Expand the playoff ASAP and leave these 'meaningless' bowl games behind. Fans of the teams are supposed to travel and come large for tickets when the players don't care?

PLEASE, do not take an L vs a team from the MAC.

But, it is what it is. Get the kid ready for 'at' Georgia next year.