CalBear95

At this point, time to put in the kid. Bo is clearly not the answer here (and probably not for the season if he can't show up for this game)

There was an article (The Athletic maybe?) that quoted some high level Iowa officials (president or some such title) that they were opposed to expansion because they would take less from the current deal. I think that’s the roadblock. OSU (refuse to add the ‘t’ because reasons) would, in my view be very pro expansion

If the Dawgs wear black the visuals are going to be stunning. The Ducks bringing the style, as always. Hopefully their play will match the beauty of their kit.

First, as an English Lit major I am always down for a good Yeats reference. Well played. Second, let’s not kid ourselves. We’re (mostly) all hoping to be invited on that same said journey so… Why do I feel like I am channeling Eeyore in my posts this morning?

Of course he is going to say this. If the Dawgs win then they beat the PAC’s best. It may be true, mind you but the comment is nothing but self serving regardless of how good it may feel.

It’s funny how Mario is getting all kinds of hype based, I believe, largely on his recruiting success at Oregon. I don’t think you can look at his results on the field to justify that hype but maybe I am being cynical in that regard. In any event, DL is having amazing recruiting success and…pretty much no hype. I can totally justify the latter because DL hasn’t coached a single game and so is an unknown quantity in terms of results that mater: on the field performance and championships. But breaking it down, Mario is in some ways no better than DL because he is a known quantity on the field. Relative to what can be measured between he and DL, the latter has equaled his predecessor’s results and, IMHO, bettered them (it would be fair to say DL is riding the foundations Mario built and so cannot be truly graded until year 3 but my point still stands I think). An example of the media willing a narrative into existence based solely on the brand of the program (Miami) Honestly, I’ll take it. Better to be undervalued and outperform than vice versa. Mario’s seat is already warm (even if he doesn’t realize it) and they even haven’t played a game.

Frost’s decision making is, to put it mildly, suspect. The onside kick’s expected value had to be heavily upside down relative to Nebraska’s winning percentage at that point in the game. I am sure there are folks on this forum who dislike or are perhaps, at best, lukewarm to the application of analytics for coaching decisions. But this is a perfect example of why making decisions by gut feel are so dangerous. I would love to see Nebraska’s winning % prior to and immediately after the onside kick. I have to imagine it changed by double digits in Northwestern’s favor. Insanity and I would fire him on the spot for that alone. He isn’t going to learn anything or change his style at this point in his career (or at least won’t without a material event like being fired that forces him to do so)

I am beginning to see articles on this forum that get me a weeee bit nervous. Those that most fit this profile are whether Lanning will leave the Ducks in the lurch when X coaching position opens up. But ‘can Lanning fail’ will work as well. As someone in recovery, you learn to literally take it one day at a time. I know that sounds corny but it’s very true. Now, I in now way mean to trivialize either my or any other person’s addiction by comparing it to the zeal of a Ducks sports forum. But the mantra is apt. Lanning can fail. And he can succeed beyond our wildest dreams. Or be mediocre. Or…. You get the point. Enjoy the present and don’t worry about the future. Trust me, life is far far more enjoyable that way (especially in sports where either catastrophizing or living delusions of grandeur are a fan base’s genetic make up 🙂 ) Go Ducks!

Let’s just get through this season before we worry about a problem that would be down the road a ways. One day at a time.

I couldn’t disagree more with this perspective more vehemently. This type of coaching philosophy is in my opinion, abuse. It hails from a less enlightened era and has zero place in the game. This is not how you develop athletes and can be quite dangerous. It took a pro player dying to end the insane ‘water is weakness’ mentality of pre-season camp. I dearly hope nothing even remotely close happens here. The fact Frost thinks this is something to brag about is shameful

I fear you may be viewing the phrase in too pessimistic a light. I think the point is the Ducks aren’t going to be UGA out of the gate even though DL was their D coordinator. The team is talented and is coming from a system that was offensively conservative which had the downstream effect of placing additional pressure on a shaky D and, as has been noted, didn’t do a fantastic job of helping develop players to achieve their max potential An offseason doesn’t fix that completely. The season will (should) show growth. The unfortunate reality is CFB doesn’t reward growth over the season as does a sport like basketball with its inclusive tournament that makes such teams quite dangerous. The cupboard is by no means bare so ‘not too well’ should not be a realistic expectation of performance. But breaking into a status of being elite year in and year out takes at least two and likely three years when a program shifts gears as radically as Oregon does in transitioning from MC to DL.

Seattle is a football town through and through. No other way to put it. I would not group us with the rest of the west coast in that regard

1) ruh roh for UCLA. 2) The irony of a San Diego location for the next meeting (a potential travel partner market for UCLA should they be forced to stay). 3) Go Bears. Sounds like my fellow alumnus has his teeth into an unexpected Lee Corso.

I think this is right. To me success is less than Ls vs Ws. Success is whether there is demonstrable change that shows a clear through line to an identity and output that can realistically lead to a high level of play consistent w/a very dangerous top 10 team. I do think the Ducks will be fierce this year but may not be better than Utah or Suc. Or maybe they will. But while I want to see the Ducks in a NYD bowl game this year, strong evidence that the rest of the conference is playing for 2nd place next year and beyond is good enough for me.

Sorry the UC/CSU came across as defensive. I didn’t mean it to be anything other than an FYI I don’t think UW or Oregon jump the Bay Area schools as, from a market perspective that would not make sense. I suspect they all get invited at the same time so as to avoid defections from the perception of being ‘passed over’ yet again and concluding it just isn’t going to happen in the near future so tie onto X conference for Y years

Deleting as accidental duplicate

Cal is the lead school in the University of California system (it was the system as just the University of California, hence Cal). CSU is a different and far less powerful university system. With that said, Cal and Stanford make a ton of sense as it locks up the rest of the California market that matters. And they are respectively the best universities in their class which matters to the B1G. Ultimately I think Cal, Stanford, UW, and the Ducks go as that gives the B1G a monopoly on the west coast as well as nighttime football inventory

There is a truism that says once a candidate verbally commits, it just lets the other programs know who they are competing against. Yeah, realignment FUD will be a thing. But it’s also good to see articles about how the B1G isn’t done and that Oregon is on the list. IOW, the program is set and isn’t going to fall into oblivion

Exactly. You don’t want to be figuratively selling traditional media in a paid search driven market

What is interesting is he probably is betting (correctly if Sankey’s “contiguous” principle is to be believed) that the SEC is in no way a threat to pick off any PAC schools. I don’t know if a Big 12 raid of the PAC forces Warren’s hand. So long as the SEC isn’t expanding (which won’t happen until the ACC GOR expires or is vacated), detente is preserved. BUT, if you believe Warren’s ‘aggressive no passive’ comment then I would assume they would not wait for some newly augmented Big 12 media deal to expire to acquire the BA and PNW media markets. IOW, I agree with you. Wondering if they are waiting on new media deal before the next rout as they want the option of extending non-full membership shares?

The challenge with any of these fan based media share results is that they often lack the methodology that backs out both double dipping as well as numbers driven by TX and OU (and SC and UCLA) That is why content from The Athletic is more trustworthy than something some fan posts on the internets to show why some reporter just doesn’t get it. That may not apply to what you referenced but the moral remains the same: trust non-expert driven data cautiously

That isn’t Wilner’s logic, it’s the B1G’s: Rutgers gets you the NY Metro area w/r/t media value??!!?

I cannot disagree with any reason underpinned by the quality of PAC refs. I know these aren’t professionals and are probably really great people but I just don’t understand how they are so consistently bad relative to any other conference.

Dude could say they aren’t expanding and ND would know that doesn’t apply to them. This is a garden variet hedge answer and deserves little scrutiny or angst

This will be an issue in the short term. USC and others are going to sell how the Ducks are now a Tier 2 program, etc. Beating the snot out of SC will help