noDucknewby

Fair points all. Like it or not (I don't), but all conferences are mostly judged by the performance of their bluebloods. The Pac-12 has heard for years (annoyingly so) that they aren't relevant unless USC is good. Despite the fact Texas hasn't been relevant for a while now, they are still the conference bell-cow in perception. Oklahoma does have playoff appearances, but no wins. Like it or not both conferences take a shot in national perception with their most recognizable brands leaving. Sure we have Oregon and Washington, you have OKSt and TCU, but none of these programs are considered bluebloods by the rest of the country. The advantage the B12 has had over the P12 in the past few years is that one B12 team has risen to the top with a record good enough to get them to the playoff. The P12 routinely cannibalizes itself, it seems every year a team seemingly headed to the playoff gets knocked off in November. As for which conference is better? This is a bit of a cop-out, but really all conferences not named the B1G or SEC are on similar footing, struggling to stay relevant and maybe even to survive. Hats off to TCU for a great season, but honestly their playoff appearance seems more like a Cinderella one-off than an indication of the strength of the conference going forward. Yes Georgia was a beast and probably could have beaten anyone on that day, but damn that was an ugly beatdown. I guess the advantage that Oregon had was we had 12 games left in the season to redeem ourselves. TCU finishes the season with two losses and probably not a lot of momentum headed into 2023 IMHO. From my perspective as a P12 guy I don't care much for the B12 commissioner coming in and acting like he can cherry-pick the P12 anytime he feels like it. Sure it's mostly posturing, but it pisses me off. That said, the partnership between the P12 and the B1G is dissolving, so why not screw them and put a B12 team in the Rose Bowl instead? I'd really like to see more marquee matchups between the P12 and the B12, then we'd see who the better conference is. We'll get a bit of a feel for that when the Ducks head to Lubbock in September.

I feel pretty confident in our offense although cohesiveness on the O-line could be an issue, especially if Klemm leaves. That said, our "skill" position players are loaded with talent and experience with the possible exception of depth at tight end. We need to keep Nix healthy, the offense was completely different after he got injured. Let's start by blowing some teams out and letting him rest in the 4th quarter!

Works for me, hopefully he take Penix with him. Wouldn't that get the Fuskies panties in a wad ha ha.

Totally agree, this needs done now. Projections last month were for a deal to be announced sometime in January. By my calendar tomorrow is the 31st and still nothing on the horizon (at least officially). I get it, there's a lot of moving parts but the conference desperately needs some positive forward momentum. We need to quit talking about the LA traitors and move on with a new TV deal and a new member or two. If SDSU slips through our fingers, then that's a collossal failure and it seems like they're running out of patience. Let's get this thing done.

Glad it's official, now we can keep our fingers crossed for Klemm returning.

The underachieving defense of 2022 is certainly a head-scratcher. There's a lot of emphasis here on play calling and rightfully so, but there are other factors at play (yeah I did it). The perfect play call won't work if the players aren't coached up properly and can't execute it. That said, if TL can't call plays (we all remember what happened at Alabama) then we are not getting our money's worth out of him IMHO. He's the highest paid DC we've ever had by a sizeable amount. One season is too small a sample size and I expect the 2023 defense to look completely different, but let's face it the bar is set pretty low right now.

Looks like Klemm might be safe for now? Sources - Bill O'Brien returns to New England Patriots as OC WWW.ESPN.COM Bill O'Brien will return to the Patriots after agreeing to a deal Tuesday to become New England's next offensive coordinator, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter and Chris Low.

With all due respect, literally no one who follows the Pac-12 forgets how the Larry Scott TV deal worked out. Yeah it's hindsight now, but there's no way the top-tier P-12 schools would agree to a long-term contract like that again. IMHO the new contract will come due about the same time (or earllier) than the B1G to perhaps allow for a return of the LA schools or of course the exit of Oregon and Washington if it goes the other way.

Yep. DL has assembled an all-star coaching staff and they're always going to be desireable to other programs and as in this case the NFL. I crave the longevity of the Bellotti/Kelly coaching staff but that's probably not happening ever again with the new world order in college football.

As I've said before, I don't like it but I think if the right opportunity comes we have to go. Just because the P12 has a more or less guaranteed spot coming in 2024, that doesn't mean the expanded playoff won't change in the future. The unfortunate TCU debacle in the natty did not help the argument for anyone outside the "Power 2". Ultimately it's all about money and I just don't see programs being able to compete while earning around half of what the B10 and SEC will be making. Eventually the money gap becomes a talent gap, I just don't think that's avoidable. Gotta put Oregon first here. I just can't help but foresee the B1G and the SEC scooping up all the at-large spots, consistently putting 3-4 teams in the playoff every year, so yeah it will be really hard to win the B1G, but a third or even fourth place would probably get us in. If the powers that be decided they want the "the 12 best teams" we could be screwed.

My thoughts exactly. If Lupoi doesn't work out, DL may already be lining up his replacement.

Not to be critical, but this was painfully obvious to anyone who watched the games.

Of course he had to be thinking about ASU at times, but it's a pretty ridiculous take to think that cost us the loss to the Biebers or the Fuskies. We scored enough points in both of those games to win--if blame must be laid, then it falls on the defense. Washington didn't punt once the entire game if I remember correctly and in the CW our defense couldn't stop a vanilla rushing attack that didn't throw a pass the entire fourth quarter. That said, laying blame is just counterproductive. KD makes for a convenient scapegoat, but's that's just doesn't reflect the reality of our two conferences losses.

ROFL so hard I can't hardly post anything. What a gag job. The LA teams are clearly being held back by the P12.

Fun read, but can't say I agree with 1-4. MM and Company's Rose Bowl butt-whooping of FSU in the first ever CFP would be #1 for me. The Fiesta Bowl win against Colorado gave us our highest ranking ever at the time and catapulted the Ducks into the upper echelon of college football, that would be my #2. The 2011 Rose Bowl win breaks the long drought, big moment in Duck football at #3. Herbert and Breeze, two homegrown Oregon boys win offensive and defensive MVPs in the 2019 Rose Bowl would #4 for me.

Well it clearly wasn't meaningless to the team. That wave of winning excitement probably brought Funa and Big Sala back, maybe even Dorlus. For me as a fan this was a big game, otherwise we go into the offseason with another loss and losing 3 of our last 4 like 2021. Barf. For Lanning as a coach this is huge in terms of player retention, recruitment and momentum going into 2023.

I hate Texas but hate the Fuskies more. Just can't root for either team, but I'll still watch. P12 will still be 2-2 in bowls if they lose, I'm OK with that. The good news is that one of them has to lose and I hate them both, so that's a win for me regardless ha ha.

I like this matchup. It will be a tough early test road game, especially with Shough coming back. That said, they're no Georgia to be sure and we get a tune-up game with Portland State in the opener so I like our chances. Oh yeah and we've go Bo.

Agree, he's the most improved player on defense this year IMHO.

When you have a staff of young, precocious wunderkinds this is bound to happen. Can't really blame them for being upwardly mobile and much of their success can be attributed to Lanning's system, which means he'll find someone just as good (or better) to replace them with.

My take FWIW- All it takes is enough. The defense made the stops they had to and the offense was able to score with the game on the line. Hats off to the players and coaches, they didn't quit when they easily could have. They really wanted this win and it showed (same for NC, but somebody had to lose). Dillingham's offensive magic can't be overstated. I was just scratching my head why we weren't attacking their green corners deep after NC started stacking the line. When we finally started stretching the field good things happened. Dilly would have made better and faster adjustments. Feel pretty positive about the future of this young defense. Without their three best players (although Dorlus might be considered top-three), the defense seemed to take a step forward. Backers Brown and Funa had career days and the young corners held their own against a really good QB. Damn special teams really stink. We can't seem to kick touchbacks any more and kick coverage makes me cringe every time there's a return. Our punts were shaky and Delgado's decision not field the punt in the second half gave us the ball at our own 1-foot line when when we desperately needed to score. I'm just not impressed with Lorig so far, this an area of critical concern next season. Just love the storybook ending with Chase Cota. His toothy grin was thrilling to watch, very happy for him and the Cota/Oregon legacy.

Doesn't seem to be too big of a hurdle for Group of 5 Mountain West Conference.

Too bad Hawaii is such a dumpster fire, they seem like a natural fit.

Agree. These programs are not there yet, but have the potential to be competitive in a Power 5 conference plus they have substantial population bases and Vegas is probably the biggest up-and-coming sports city. Fresno and Boise may be better in football but they just don't bring the eyeballs. Just hard to excited about any of them though.

I just don't see him transferring to be a backup just to play with little bro. Nix is obviously starting next year. He might not even start in Corvallis. Hawaii would probably be a sure thing, and great storyline don't we play them next year?