DCDuckfan

One last thought...it would make sense for the B1G to add a couple more Pac teams to ease the scheduling/travel burden for USC/UCLA as well as the current B1G schools. That would give regional games for at least 2 weeks for each team, not to mention getting an evening prime-time game every week with some exciting variation between opponents. Imagine a late game of USC/OSU one week, then Oregon/Michigan the next, followed by UCLA/Penn St, etc.

My fingers are crossed that you're correct and that's where we land. I think you're right that we are in a good position as far as getting picked up (outside of ND). ND can pick where they go but after them, I think we are the next hottest girl at the dance. I wouldn't be surprised if the B1G are going to ask ND again if they want in before they make any other moves but once ND gives them an answer, I think we will get a serious look.

I think asking for more money from the schools mentioned would have been a very temporary solution and just put a band-aid on the situation. Those non-LA schools would have been gutted financially and quickly become non-competitive. This would have resulted in less money available to USC/UCLA to siphon in the future from those same schools due to smaller piece of the TV revenue pie for the Pac. Eventually in the not so distant future, USC/UCLA would be at the same decision point and have no choice but to leave. At that point a good portion of the Pac would be decimated and likely leave those same schools with almost no options. The separation between B1G/SEC is too great and has reached a point where the only way to stay relevant is to join one of those two conferences. The fact that USC/UCLA/Texas/OU have made these moves shows that no team is big enough to survive regardless of it's perceived clout.

For me, at this point the only outcome that would be exciting is for Oregon to join the B1G or the SEC. Out of those two, only B1G is remotely on the table so I'll be hoping that's where we land. I would love watching games annually against Michigan, OSU, Penn St, Nebraska, USC, UCLA, Michigan St, Iowa, Wisconsin, etc. Obviously not all on the schedule annually, but there would be 3-4 incredible conference games every year plus 1-2 a great OOC game sprinkled in (talking football only). Another huge win would be the bowl games Oregon would have access to which would be a huge upgrade. Currently it's either the CFP or Rosebowl...otherwise its a 3rd tier bowl as the only option for Pac teams.

Couldn't agree more! If Oregon can be competitive against GA and keep the outcome of the game up in the air into the 4th and then take care of BYU, I think they may have an amazing season. If they lose both and it's ugly against GA....then I'll re-calibrate my expectations for this year. The Ducks going into OSU last year and beating them opened my eyes regarding the amount of talent on the roster. As you said, the Ducks were a field go away before with a less talented roster but great coaching. I think in 2022 we may get to see what a loaded roster coupled with great coaching looks like and I can't wait.

I just come here, Oregonian, Register Guard, ESPN and CBS Sports....looks like you have those covered.

Isn't that the point of every title of every thread...to peak the interest of the audience. That said, I'm all for DL saying this for the UGA game and every other game on the schedule. That is the objective every week...beat the brakes off of whoever they play.

My takeaways: - Receivers are a deep and very talented group. - D-Line was impressive...especially DJ Johnson. - Nix is the clear starter at QB going into to the fall. - Seven McGee is going to be exciting to watch. - Energy around the team seems really good.

BYU's schedule is absolutely ridiculous. Kudos to them for going independent and really pushing themselves with scheduling instead of trying to pad the schedule so they can get to the playoffs easier.

I just have a feeling about this coaching staff. I know I'm wearing green and yellow glasses, but I never had this feeling with the miami coach or the fsu coach. I was indifferent with Helfrich getting the gig because the team was so loaded, I probably could have coached them to a Pac-12 title. The only other coach I had this same confident feeling down in my gut with was CK when he got the gig and that turned out pretty darn good.

He's fishing for clicks.

Dan the Man is connecting this team to the fans. He recognizes how connected the Ducks were with the fans back when most of these fellas were on the team. He's trying to bring back the connection and energy that was the Golden Age of Ducks football....everything that the miami coach lost in a just a few years.

Good article. I'm looking forward to Williams being on the field again because he seemed to be a play-maker like VM. I'm also very curious how the coaching staff manages the QB situation. The temptation to play a more familiar but inconsistent Nix over one of the young QBs that has more potential but is less polished, may end up costing Oregon a great QB to the transfer portal, create chaos in the locker room, and likely set the team back a couple years while they develop someone again from scratch. My hope is that one of the young gun QBs sets themselves apart this spring and makes the way forward obvious and they use Nix in change-up situations to keep a defense off balance.

First off, I think Brown was probably a lot better than he appeared....much like Herbert under the current miami coach, he was the victim of some of the worst coaching available in the NCAA. That said, here are some other stats that give a bit more context when comparing the two QBs side by side: Brown: 7th Yr Senior YPG = 213.5 TD/Int = 18/7 Yds/Completion = 7.7 Games Played = 14 QB Rating = 140.1 Williams: Freshman YPG = 242 TD/Int = 21/4 Yds/Completion = 9.0 Games Played = 7.5 QB Rating = 7.5

Nailed it. Herbert is a top 3 QB in the NFL in 2 seasons but you would never have known that talent was on the field when he was under the tutelage of the miami coach. Sometimes the trash takes itself out.

You say that but OSU beat that Miami team the next year with 0 first round picks and only two draft picks in the fist 3 rounds that draft year. Miami was good, but beatable.

Miami undoubtedly had the better athletes, but in a single game matchup, I absolutely believe Oregon could have beat Miami with Joey Ballgame on the field. Underdogs....yep, but the way the Ducks played in the Fiesta against the same Colorado team that smoked Nebraska...I have no doubt that the Ducks could beat Miami if they played that day.

How much salary cap room does ATM have left to pay players?

As I was saying just a few short days ago.....it just happened faster than I expected. Government should view FBS college football players, Division I men's, women's basketball players as school employees, according to advocacy group's complaint (espn.com)

Happy for him, but my goodness the Pro-Bowl is sooooo bad.

KT will be fine in the NFL. I don't think he's an elite talent at that level and I'm not sure if he was at the college level either. But does anyone actually believe he lived up to the hype? Some of that is probably due to the coaching that wasn't happening, but it felt like he was playing it safe most of the year because he had a lot to lose by either not dominating or getting injured. I don't fault the guy for either of those potential reasons, but I'm just saying, my eyes weren't lying when I saw slightly above average play....when he played. 7 Sacks - Not in top 50 49 Total Tackles - Not in top 500...yes 500 35 Solo Tackles - Not top 100 I know the temptation is to say he didn't play much of the season...that's part of the point.

Reading some of these posts, there's a lot of talk about labor and entitlement to compensation. That's a very interesting point to make because if playing football or any other sport for a university can be reclassified as labor (seems easy since it already is for the NFL/MLB/NBA, etc.) then its only a matter of time until the courts get involved in determining if universities should be required to pay athletes and not just in scholarships. I'm not sure how that plays out in court, but suppose it goes the way the NIL rulings went, then universities would start offering contracts to players much like free-agency. This would get messy quickly and could turn college sports into something unrecognizable if it even survived. College sports would either become D-League's for any sport that has a professional league where going straight from high-school isn't likely. In the end, it would likely spell the end of any university sanctioned sport that isn't profitable which would lead back to club/intermural leagues....which is where they all started originally.

I want to comment on just two of your points although I mostly agree with your post. I would point out that most of the "blue blood" schools are in "backwater" towns. Penn St., Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Clemson, and Michigan are all located in small towns. Many of these are an hour or three from a major city but so is Eugene. Your second point that I quoted is valid for sure and that's where Oregon is unique. We don't have much homegrown talent in the area whereas most of those schools I listed have a lot of talent to choose from in their region.

I must have missed what Leach said....can you elaborate because I'm sure it was humorous, if not dead on accurate?

Great graphical representation of how quickly and effectively mc throttled the offense to mediocrity...and then you nailed the key takeaways with your bullet points. I've never been to jail but I imagine the feeling of getting paroled must be similar to what I'm feeling now that miami has a new coach.