Goutes18

I agree. Baylor, ND, Arkansas and the Ducks are all quality teams. Solid path to 8 wins and split those four and they could have another 10 win season. I still don’t think Oregon should sweat that game.

I agree that the so called experts discount how hard it is to run the table in the PAC-12. Team by team, I think Oregon has a pretty manageable schedule after week 1, but the difficulty factor of all the conference games makes it more difficult in reality. People outside the conference just don’t get it. That being said, there is no usc and Utah is at home, so the Ducks path to 11-1 before going to Vegas is reasonable if not historically probable. Also have to weigh in on byu’s schedule - 6 cupcakes, plus Stanford and Boise and 4 bigger names. Not that daunting. They were overrated last year and start overrated again this year. Played in a crappy bowl and lost to a crappy team. It is true that byu will get a big benefit from joining the little 12 and it will be interesting to see how they do once they are in conference play every year. It was a tough transition for Utah to move to the PAC-12 when it came to facilities and depth early on and I expect the same from them. Yes I don’t like them.

Oregon and Utah are positioned to do well again with the talent coming back. I think Oregon has the edge on offense based on who comes back. 5 returning OL for the Ducks and Utah loses their best 2. New QB at Oregon, but should be an upgrade and I would count as a returning starter - just at Auburn. Defense may be more even with both losing their best players. Injuries for both teams on defense last year makes this a little hard to call.

I see it a lot like leaving a job that you may not be getting the pay or opportunity you deserve, or do not have a good relationship with your boss. Sometimes a tough decision because there are good things about it and sometimes not tough at all. I think what you say when you leave is important especially now since it will be on social media and in print forever. My advice to my kids if they are going to leave a job might help some transfers: First of all get good advice before you make a rash decision - be thoughtful about short and long term implications Be honest but don’t come across bitter or disingenuous (Dye). Be succinct and don’t make it personal Be respectful for the opportunity you had Don’t burn a bridge with how you leave - even though leaving may burn the bridge - don’t make it worse

I agree on most of these with a few caveats. I think Arizona is an E with 4 wins and will be a tough out for a lot of teams - good coach with not enough talent but de Laura steps up to get them there. Will be the best 3 or 4 win team in the conference and the bruins will be the worst 8 or 9 win team based on schedules. Oregon gets 10 wins - No way they lose to the pretenders at byu I feel obligated to take the under on washington as a show of support for this site! Maybe they get 6 but not over.. Utah should be an over, but could easily be 9 wins. To get 10 we need to only lose to FL and OR. Sounds easy, but Utah has NEVER had a season where they won every game they were supposed to - Lost to SDSU, the Beavers and one other last year before the rose bowl, so I am not on board with the 12-1 pick, but REALLY want to be. I just don’t know what to expect from WSU - somewhere between 4 and 9 wins.

Great article. As an outsider I enjoy being able to read all the well thought out posts and started following because of the rules and decorum. I find enough things to depress me on my own, so a little more balance works for me. Also fun to see another fan base’s view of the world and a mutual dislike of the Trojans. Here is some non-duck perspective - all is not lost: Oregon has the most talent in the PAC-12 (USC closing fast) and a real quarterback (or two) this year. New coaching staff looks like an upgrade from Mario in terms of coaching and game planning (we will see on recruiting in a year or two). And they have swagger - hope you saw your OC talk about being the only school in the west that is like a southern school - Trojan wire did not like that. There may be a disadvantage for Oregon nationally in the NIL arms race, but still can be at the top of the PAC-12 (behind the cheaters in CA) - Imagine being in Salt Lake, Pullman, Tucson, Corvallis etc. The Oregon brand has a coolness and enough money that they will continue to get athletes attention - enough to be playoff level IMO. The SEC schools have been outspending on recruits for years - just more visible now! There is a very clear path to the playoff for the ducks this year

Hard not to like Herbert, but not top 5 yet in my opinion - top 10. Another year or two. My top 5: Rodgers Mahomes Stafford Allen Jackson Hard to leave Joe Burrow off, but Lamar gets forgotten because he was hurt last year like most of the Ravens Easy to leave Brady off because he “retired” and I just want him to go Wilson also top 10

Thanks for the props to the Utah team and coach Whit for how they worked through the tragic loss of two young men. Living it here was something I won’t ever forget. Also, I assume leaving Utah off the non-conference schedule list was just an oversight. They are at Florida, with SDSU and Southern Utah at home. I think it is very possible that Utah and Oregon are both one loss teams when they meet in November. Sure wish it was in SLC!

The Zags are so often the sweetheart pick out west with a gaudy record, a couple of quality wins and a likable team and coach, but just not good enough to win it all. My sentiments again this year. A path to the final four if they pick it up, but the teams they would likely face seem like tough outs to me. If Kerr Kriisa is back by the sweet 16, AZ should make the final 4 and a good chance to win it all. Full disclosure - I have a future Wildcat (class of 26) at home so may be feeling some bias, but we have watched them quite a bit this year and at full strength they look strong.

I agree that the schedule is very manageable. The GA game is most likely a loss, but no USC and Utah at home in a revenge game should easily put them back in the PAC-12 championship game.. BYU is wildly overrated (thanks to ESPN contract) and way too slow to play with the Ducks - stop even talking about them. Lanning is doing a great job managing expectations and working to underpromise and over deliver. MC brought in a ton of talent but never got all he could from them. With the team he has, Lanning should be off to a good start as I think he will be a much better coach. Oregon has the most talent in the conf this year (sorry USC), but I will respectfully disagree that Oregon’’s TE’s are better than Utah’s.

I think he has all the tools to be an impact player in the NFL and I hope he lights it up. That being said, I don’t think he went 100% all the time in the two Utah games. The Utah OL was good by the end of the season, but not as strong at pass blocking and I was worried that we would not be able to handle him. Thought Sewell was the one with the motor and more of a force to contend with - always getting to the ball. Saw Thibs dominate in some other games, but didn’t seem to bring it all against the Utes. Give the Utah coaches some credit for game planning to take him out of some plays, but they aren’t best in class when it comes to that.

I think that Chip and UCLA will have a hard time besting the 8-4 record next year. It was a bit of a gift in a down year in the PAC-12. Easy non-conf gives them a good start, but agree that they pick up losses to Oregon, Utah and USC as well as dropping at least one other conference game that they would be favored in (just like every other team often does). I am going to make the call that AZ is the team that beats them - great recruiting class and the game is later in the season when they will be getting better. 8-4 is the top end and likely they will be 7-5. The record has improved, but some of the key players and positions have not. DTR looks good against average defenses, but line isn’t good enough to help him be good against better teams. New DC should help, but I don’t think they have the talent on defense to take a big step in 22. Sad that UCLA had the chance to stomp on USC while they were down and didn’t do it. I agree that there just isn’t the commitment from the school or community to make this program great.

Nice win for the Ducks. How do they not have a better record? Should have won against the wildcats and did what they needed to tonight. Plenty of talent - how much is coaching and how much is players that are just inconsistent? Either way, no one will want to play them in the pac-12 tournament. My take on Walton as a neutral observer - not a homer tonight, but his usual insufferable self that cannot go 2 minutes without some inane irrelevant comment. Makes me crazy every time he does a game.

The conference revenue numbers show that It is really money that wins championships. We should get all our money back from idiot Larry Scott. Missed opportunities at every turn. As far as expansion goes, I would have to agree that more is not necessarily better. Utah was in a lesser conference and playing 75% of your games against teams no one cares about sucks. That being said picking up a couple of key schools could make sense. Strong media markets and fan base in areas that are recruiting targets - so definitely not Kansas - limited options for sure but maybe TxTech and OKSt. To be perfectly honest, the last expansion may have helped a TINY bit and was necessary to get a conference championship in place, but you can’t add 6 or 8 more schools like that. UT and CO were the big winners in the deal. The unfortunate reality is that usc has to be better and help drive interest. They are really the only other school besides Oregon that can pull nationally and if they are better, then all those ambivalent socal fans will tune in and help the tv deal as well. And it would be great if Utah stays good and plays the picked on underdog role some fans can pull for!

Spoke to a friend - diehard auburn fan/grad who follows everything about them. He felt like Bo Nix would be a good addition for the Ducks. Gritty competitor that can make big plays. Did say he was polarizing as a team leader and mistakes could be frustrating at times from a QB with that much experience. Has to be an upgrade from AB. Utah game planned to stop the run and make him beat us and he couldn’t do it even with a depleted and at times suspect secondary (see Rose Bowl highlights). Some of it on the receivers but he missed way too many throws. Utah fans NOT happy to see Bo Nix there.

Also totally disagree that Whit made it toxic. Urban took the rivalry way up (urinal cakes with a Y on them) but Whit toned some of that down. Utah has changed and the holy war is beyond just football and is tied into the big religious divide here (and yes I know Whit and many Utes are Mormon). The rivalry heated up because Utah got better and started to win and the cougars are terrible losers and many Utes are bad winners now that they can rub it in after years of being run over and looked down upon. I don’t do the local boards because they are mostly toxic and a waste of time. I enjoy the passion on this site and the honest dislike (hate) for that w team!

Utah fan weighing in - I would say that the Ducks are probably the most followed and liked team in the PAC-12 for our fans outside of our Utes. The Ducks have the highest coolness factor and swag for sure. Most hated is easily USC. I am sure it felt like a lot of anger last year, but really just pent up frustration from past losses and not getting over the hump and winning the championship game. I like this site - always looking around to see what is happening with the competition. Had to put my two cents in.