noDucknewby

Good article, albeit a bit long for us ADD types. Sankey has made it clear that he likes the way the SEC has worked the sytem; I just don't see him giving up the systemic advantage they have without a whole lot of motivation ($). Agree with Charles, nothing makes a bit of sense without the SEC moving to 9 conference games. That applies to the ACC as well, although not as much in the big picture of things. I guess the good thing about private equity is that there would more of a hierarchical structure rather than the Game of Thrones system we have now. But Sankey has already said, in essence, let's just take their ideas and do it ourselves then cut them out. This only works IMHO if they figure out a way to settle all future litigation and consolidate the broadcast rights into one negotiated deal, regardless of how the money is allocated (a tiered system is most likely going to happen). At least then the networks couldn't pit the conferences against each other.

A bit of a different (better?) take from ESPN's power rankings: College Football Power Rankings: How did Week 6 chaos affect the top 25? - ESPN WWW.ESPN.COM Week 6 brought chaos. Two of the top five programs lost to unranked teams, and we added five new schools to our list.

So now it's the B1G that's holding them back?

Come on Cal, you can't depend on the refs to bail you out of a 25-point comeback by Miami. All it would have taken was ONE stop or ONE more first down. Sure it looked like targeting to me (and the announcers) but you had way too many chances to put it away and you didn't. How the hell do you blow the coverage like that on Miami's last drive?

I watched the end of that game on the CW. Worst high-def resolution feed I've ever seen, plus Ryan Leaf announcing. So glad we didn't get stuck there. Come on little brother, 2 OTs to beat Colorado State at home? Lame. BSU is going to eat your lunch.

We'll be top 5 for sure, what really matters is where we are a week from now!

I couldn't agree more. The exception maybe being if the Civil War gets extended (I am probably in the minority here, but I hope it survives). We have no need for away games at teams such as Boise and Utah State. Annual B1G/SEC games would be great, but only if both play the same number of conference games. You've got to hand it to the SEC, they've played the game masterfully with their scheduling, playing a late season cupcake while the B1G and the Pac-12 teams were beating up on each other. Every year it seemed someone got knocked out of the playoff while the SEC teams had a defacto bye week. Assuming we're to remain at 9 conference games I'd like to see: 1. Warm-up FCS opponent at home 2. SEC showcase game either home/home or neutral (really neurtral, NOT Georgia in Atlanta!). 3. Civil War at home (screw the barkrats and their cheesy little stadium). Doubt the rodents would agree to this, but regardless we should never have more than one away game in the pre-season.

Who could have seen this coming? Oh yeah, everybody.

Unhappy? No. Concerned? Yes.

The biggest surprise for me was how badly Georgia's defense was shredded. They don't look like championship material at this point in the season. BTW DeBoer can coach. So sad the fuskies couldn't hang on to him. Texas to me still looks like the best team in the country. As good as Alabama was on Saturday, they gave up a massive lead and barely came away with the win. Boise State is probably better than I gave them credit for, but I still don't see them as a playoff team except for the fact that the G-5 is weak and one of them has to go. As for OBD, we aren't there yet. We need to put together four quarters of good football on both sides of the ball. Sure UCLA was 21-point win on the road, but they're just not very good and we should have easily covered on that one. Come on only 6 points in the second half? Playing down to the level of the competition IMHO just like we did in the Idaho and BSU games. It's too hard to turn it back on against someone good after letting our foot off the gas. There aren't too many gimmes left for us. We have to play more consistently if we expect to be a playoff team.

That was good to see. Plenty of times other offensive players have words when the QB gets a cheap shot, nice the QB has his guy's back as well. Sends a pretty good leadership message. While it may not have met the legal definition of targeting, I know a cheap shot when I see it.

I guess we've all got pretty high expectations? I don't remember the last time a conference win on the road by 3 TDs could even be considered "unsatisfying". Yet here we are and I do feel a bit that way. This thing should have been over at halftime 35-3. That pick-6 was a huge deflation that killed our momentum going into the second half. Still, the defense played solidly and we can nit-pick about the UCLA third down conversions, but the bottom line is that the D kept them out of the end zone on their home turf. That will get you a win just about every time. Certainly a "tale of two halfs", which has kind of become trite at this point in the season. Gawd that second half was ugly on offense. What I will say is that our ability to run the ball in the 4th quarter to strangle the last bit of life out of UCLA shouldn't be understated. They knew exactly what we were doing, put everything they had into stopping it and we just forced our will on them.

Agree. If cooler heads prevailed this would have made sense, but the P-2 weren't giving up their ill-gotten booty and the MWC (especially the commissioner that doesn't want to be unemployed) wasn't willing to dissolve. IMHO some kind of merger agreement could have been figured out, but the P-2 struck the first blow and there's no going back from there. The only real winner here is the broadcast/broadband industry, because IMHO when the dust settles there's going to be one less TV contract to pay out. There's no way they're going to pay twice for essentially the same product as the former MWC. Regardless, I'm finding this all quite entertaining in a very schadenfreude kind of way.

No question the Civil War means a lot less at this juncture, but giving Beavis a good butt-whupping never gets old in my book. College football is a completely different sport than it was just 5 years ago and traditional rivalries are being replaced by new ones, all part of the New World Order. That said, the Civil War (or whatever it's called) will always matter to me and a lot of other Oregonians and I hope it continues.

Great memories for sure! I have a couple of personal favorites: 2009 the Civil War for the Roses, winner take all. With a 4-point lead Chip masterfully runs the last 9 or so minutes off the clock culminating in a fourth down conversion where Masoli absolutely levels the rodent safety to ice it. Sitting in the stands with my brother, just watching the clock tick off those final seconds as the crowd goes nuts. Still gives me goose bumps. 2010 top-ten matchup against Stanford, down 21-3 in the first half. Oregon gets a TD then Chip goes for the onside kick and gets another to close the gap at halftime. In the second half LaMike pulls off a 76-yard TD to turn the game into a blowout. Doubly good day, we caught two steelhead that morning in the Willamette, one right underneath the Autzen footbridge. If that's not a sign then I don't what is! And yes Fright Night was amazing too as others have said. Damn the stadium felt like it was going into orbit there was so much energy.

Personally I don't take issue with what they're doing, i.e. looking out for their own best interests. After the SoCal exodus the remaining P-12 members would have had zero qualms about raiding another conference, even if it caused it's ultimate demise. That's how the game is being played now. I don't like it, but that doesn't change the state of affairs. Crap rolls down hill, B1G>P-12>MWC>Big Sky; SEC>Big-12>AAC>Sun Belt/Conference USA. There's no way all the existing conferences survive and the broadcast giants probably don't want them to (same teams, fewer broadcast deals). As for the P-?/New MWC they've got a decent shot at solid G-5 status and access to the 12-team playoff (unless of course the SEC and the B1G change the rules again, which is certainly possible). The MWC not so much. They've lost their best brands and any replacements would be of lesser caliber. We're getting down to the bottom of the barrel here. Another point, there's no way Stanford and Cal come back to the Pac. They snubbed the Big-12 for the academic status of the ACC, there's no way they affiate with a bunch of cow colleges. Clearly this is an extremely volatile situation. I'm content to sit back with my popcorn and watch the show. Yep the Pig-2 pilfered a whole bunch of $ they weren't entitled to, but who ever said the legal system is fair? I'm over it, we'll be just fine, lack of resources isn't one of our problems.

Control what you can control. September polls don't mean much. Last week's #9 ranking was a bit generous if you ask me after the way we looked against Idaho and BSU. Kind of sucks to get leap-frogged by Miami, but in all honesty they've played much better as a whole than we have up to now. IF (and it's a big if) we are 6-0 after tOSU game then we'll be back in the top 5 for sure, probably top 3. Even if we lose to tOSU (unless it's a blow-out) we're still probably top 10 and favored to win every game on the rest of our schedule except maybe Michigan in the Big House. I guess my point is that whether we're #3 or #9 after week 3 just doesn't matter much. If we're out of the top 10, then that's another matter.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about the defense in the first half. If I remember correctly the bark rats were 6 of 9 on third downs and conseqently we couldn't end their long drives. That said, the second half was just about perfect on both sides of the ball. The defense completely shut down the rodents and our offense wore them down to the point where we could pretty much score at will. Probably could have scored on that last drive with Moore if we wanted to as well. This second half is what the team is capable of and is now the standard going forward IMHO.

Agree there is a need for 7:00 inventory, but why would they cut deals for both the P-? and the MWC? I'm betting they play hardball as they have done in the past with only one of the conferences getting a heavily discounted deal and the other just SOL.

Okay I'll also point out the obvious that none of this matters without a TV deal and who is even willing to explore a new contract until the P-? comes up with the minimum number of members. And why would any carrier be in a hurry? They had no problem sitting back and watching the P-12 die. One less conference for them to pay for, why would you think ESPN or Fox would throw the new P-? a lifeline when they wouldn't do it for the P-12? The carriers have all the advantage and no sense of urgency. This just seems like a losing proposition to me. Apple or CW maybe. Everyone else has already staked out their share.

Just stop it. You can't play the victim while gobbling up another conference, possibly causing its demise. Conference realignment is all about the bottom line, plain and simple. Nobody involved gets to claim the moral high ground so just stop pretending.

Thee who is without sin cast the first toke!

The conspiracist in me thinks this may have been the end game for the P-2 all along. We really don't know what went on behind closed doors in their negotiations. They may have taken a postion that the MWC couldn't possibly agree to (unequal revenue sharing?), then poached their four "best" teams on their way out the door. Pure speculation I know, but what evil lurks in the hearts of men (or women commissioners) . . .? Never a dull moment in the new world order of college football.

Point taken "certainly" may be somewhat overstated but in a matchup who are you going to bet your house on? I'll take LSU.

We're heavily benefitting from our #3 pre-season ranking. This doesn't look like a top-ten team to me (at least at to this point) and we're certainly not playing like one. USC looks for real, granted LSU may be mediocre but they're certainly better than BSU or Idaho. Per usual I'm cautiously optimistic, but at some point we HAVE to show improved play or it's going to be a long season.