The Kamikaze Kid

The AP must not have gotten the memo. The preseason rankings always must start with: 1 USC 1 fuskies 3-25 don’t matter

Any streaming deal that the Pac signs will feature the Ducks front and center as the biggest international brand the Pac has. If the deal includes payouts for viewership and UO becomes China's team, that could easily dwarf any payout the Big10 could offer.

In these uncertain times, everyone is making a plan B. Reports of someones plan B should be placed in the of course file. The media landscape is undergoing drastic changes right before our eyes. Chord cutting is a real thing and network layoffs reflect that. Streaming is the future but not the present but do you sign a media deal for the present if the present will soon become the distant past? When this is all said and done, I'd expect the Pac to be in a position to be on the cutting edge of the streaming wave with a contract that rewards view shares. The Ducks just may become the Pac's leader in international visibility as an Amazon or Apple or whatever becomes an international leader in streaming sports content. I feel like we are in a classic darkest before the dawn moment.

I hear you but I’m sure the ACC would much rather do it all over again in five years (Or right now) than just be done with it for the next twelve.

Dilly may be good but last year that was Bo throwing to Franklin and handing off to Bucky while being protected by an A+ line. He’ll have a much different roster to work with. Setting up way to high expectations in year one of a massive rebuild may not be the way to go.

With the ACC looking to self implode and get gobbled by the Big and SEC, I see a Pac/ B12 merger on the horizon which may be the best solution in the long run. I don't like the thought of 20+ school conferences but I do think that regional rivalries will always be the heart of college sports.

Popcorn! Getcha popcorn heya!

Pate sees what's going on and what's coming up. UW improves their recent record against the Ducks to 3-15 and believe they're back. USC believes moving to the Big is leaving UO in their dust. SUC going 8-4 and traveling across the country just to do while UO routinely collects 11-1 seasons, playoff births and owning LA recruiting is far more likely. Streaming media deals will soon start rewarding high value schools directly instead of over bloated conference deals that just squander precious resources. UO has been and will continue to be must see TV and that's just the way it is. Someone will always want a piece of that pie.

Uh oh. Not the dreaded vote of confidence!

I think this is where Lanning's zero star mentality will really pay off. Stay humble and just get 1% better every day and earn your respect on the field.

Hey Jon. Always love your takes. You seem far more knowledgeable in the business world than I and I acknowledge that I'm talking way outside the box on this one. What I'm envisioning is a couple different new approaches combining to create a completely different approach to media deals all together. Since the Pac happens to be the last conference up to bat, it may be the benefactor of being the guinea pig for this new approach. First, since ESPN is exploring going streaming only, might it not make sense to partner up with Amazon? Amazon has a far wider reach not only in the US but the entire world than ESPN will ever have. In turn, ESPN already has the broadcast infrastructure that would take Amazon years to develop on their own. It seems to me that a partnership between the two would launch them both to the front by far in the world of sports streaming. Next I'm also talking about a new type of media contract that rewards the schools involved based on viewership numbers as opposed to fixed numbers simply due to being associated with a specific conference. I don't think anybody would mind giving a huge national brand like UO a sizable payout for top level viewership. I just don't think they would want to be anchored to committing large wads of cash to WSU vs Stanford. Also the fallacy of the tiny UO media market vs the huge bay area market for Cal or the LA market for UCLA would be exposed. I see uncharted waters on the media horizon and companies wanting better assurance for the bang for the buck ratio moving forward. Just some thoughts while we count down the days to September.

With so much going on about conferences possibly collapsing, ESPN looking into all streaming, continual chord cutting across the nation, I think staying put and signing a short media deal might be the smartest move. At this point I could see some sort of ESPN/ Amazon partnership develop that absorbs the Pac12 Network. With new frontiers in media delivery on the horizon maybe new types of media contracts develop as well. What if individual schools just started taking in revenue per game based on viewership results? If things headed into that direction, it wouldn't matter what conference the Ducks were in and income per school would be based on value per school. This model would seem to make the most sense for all parties involved. For example, instead of giving every school in the B10 $80M a year maybe tOSU earns $100M while Purdue only earns $20M. It seems like the media outlets could simply funnel the money toward the real money makers and not waste it on the bottom feeders. It seems like some sort of reality adjustment will have to happen sooner or later. I don't the the B10 wants to become the B30. I also don't think schools like UO or FSU want to have to start flying all over the country just to make a buck. In the end this delay in a media deal may be a good thing as it seems the winds of change are blowing all over the place at the moment. Some times the best move is just staying still and avoiding the wrong move.

Howdy AMCDawg. Congratulations on back to back championships. It looks like UGA has build a solid program that is going to be dominant for years to come. I'd say most of us Duck fans are quite impressed with what Coach Lanning is building up here in the Northwest. Outside of simply being over matched in game one last year, our biggest issues that got exposed last year were a shakey defensive roster and lack of QB2 development. Both of which bit us in the butt and knocked us out of the playoff picture. Since then, Lanning has done a major overhaul on the D and has brought in a good freshman QB and just landed the commitment of a potential great one. Things seem to be moving in the right direction. If your Dawg community ever wants to have some fun, feel free to introduce yourselves to the most obnoxious and delusional fan base on the planet. That would be the purple mutts up north that consider themselves to be the one and only true dawgs. You could get to hear for yourselves from dawgman and the dawgpound how their tie for 1st in 91 is the ONLY championship that actually matters and their return to the top is just moments away. Poodles yapping like wolves is all we ever hear up here. If you ever get offended by our dawg put downs, don't worry, we're not talking about you! Anyway good luck next year and hopefully we meet again in the playoffs.

Legend. RIP

If super conferences (20+ schools) are on the horizon, then the Pac, B12 and MW should just reconfigure themselves into two 20ish school conferences. The Pac 10 + B12 Texas schools TT, Baylor, TCU, Houston and BYU + MW schools SD St, SJ St, Fresno St and UNLV + SMU or UTSA would make a solid multi time zone conference with nearly every major media market west of the Mississippi. The B12 could have the remaining MW and add others as they see fit. I think the B10 and SEC will gobble up the Prime ACC schools and the remaining ACC schools probably join up with the AAC or something like that. Seems like some sort of epic seismic shift is on the horizon. If ESPN and Fox see it to their advantage, I could see them altering media agreements to accommodate it. Personally, 20+ schools per conference seems too big to me but I'm probably too old school for these newfangled times.

At this point, I'd just like somebody to get the Pac presidents on record as to what their goal even is. If the true goal is to maintain their self image as the Ivy league of the west, then it would save us all the trouble of hoping for a positive outcome by sticking together.At that point "Conference of Champions" will simply mean gymnastics, la cross and tennis trophies. If they actually want big three sports relevance and the revenue that comes with it, then they should be pursuing expansion ASAP without looking down on any school that could help them achieve those goals. I see a glaring fork in this road. Lip service to achieving both goals will just end up find them achieving neither. I believe this is why GK is in an impossible negotiating position and no new news has developed in months.

100% Jon. The Pac's biggest problem begins and ends with this statement which is why I see no positive outcomes on the horizon. To me the answer would be bring in SD St and UNLV now. Get whatever deal you can now and go after the B12 Texas schools for the next contract cycle, Locking up SoCal, the southwest and Texas would give you as solid of media rights footing you could ask for and could be achievable. But just knowing that these schools don't have that Ivy league vibe kills this direction before it even starts.

Another factor that should get more plays for the offense is more three and outs by a much improved defense. I can't believe how much I've dreaded third and twelve the last couple of years. I'm so hoping that quickly becomes a thing of the past

The Ducks would still be in the PAC so scheduling wouldn’t be effected. I’m positive the B12 would take the Ducks at a 100% rate plus extra in a heartbeat. They could wait out a B10 invite there without dividing up a crumb equally with Cal, WSU and the rest. I don’t see any leverage the PAC would have to say no to this plan.

At this point, it wouldn't surprise me if the Ducks don't just sign their own separate deal and just stay in the Pac. It's become obvious that the market can no longer accommodate bloated conference contracts. It's also evident that the Ducks are the only Pac school with any true marketability across the country. A sinking Pac would be in no position to object and the UO could get a much better deal for itself. If ESPN has 90M for the entire Pac, I could see them just making a deal with UO for half that and letting the other schools fight over the rest. Cal vs WSU is not moving the needle on the east coast but Cal vs UO still would. The Pac is a sinking ship and UO is the only life boat. They should start acting like it.

Great take Hayward. I'd add that for UO it's like being a five star in the portal but as a package deal with his three 1 star brothers.

Spot on Charles. I don't think this subject gets near enough attention. If the Pac were the Titanic, the presidents would have replaced Captain Scott only after the water was passed the third deck. Even now with the water up to the life boats, they seem to still be up on the roof clinking glasses with each other marveling at the beautiful star lit sky. Even at this time, I don't think they understand the gravity of the situation.

I wish he had fuskies and SUC tied for preseason #1. It would just make the inevitable face plant back to reality even more enjoyable.

Yes. I should have clarified my steps. Short term, sign whatever deal you can and bring in SD St and UNLV now. THEN talk with B12 Texas schools about joining the Pac after both media deals expire. As Charles mentioned, it would be in the Pac's best interest to keep UO happy with enough payout that they don't seek out a better pond to swim in elsewhere.

I like your domino theory. Here's mine. First, we have to pretend that the Pac presidents want to prioritize athletic viability rather than academic superiority. Step 01. Pac signs whatever short term deal they can get. Being front runners in streaming may payoff big down the road. Step 02. Pac bring in SD St and UNLV doing their best to fill the void left by USC and UCLA leaving. Step 03. Bring in Texas schools from B12 (TCU, Baylor, TT and Houston) Step 04. Sign much better media deal closer to B10 and SEC territory. If Utah and Colorado leave for B12, bring in Fresno St and maybe even San Jose St for an even tighter hold on California. This new conference would then dominate the pacific NW, and Bay Area, be competitive in SoCal, own the SW and share Texas with the SEC. The new and improved Pac would be a solid third place conference with many competitive teams in the big three sports and stretch across three time zones in great markets further improving media exposure. Of course this would only happen if athletic relevance was a priority of the Pac presidents. Unfortunately, they seem content to think of themselves as the Ivy league of the west coast. This is why ultimately the UO should pursue joining the B10.