GeotechDuck

Pac-12 with only the Big-12 still leaves us in mid-major territory. IMO it would need to include the top teams from the PAC, Big-12, and ACC to stay relevant.

The BIG essentially said "no thanks" at the moment to the UW / UO package. That is NOT a good sign for Oregon. The SEC and BIG know that Oregon, Washington, Utah and Stanford have little to no power right now. They can just sit back and wait for the conference to dissolve and see if they can pick up whomever stays on top for cents on the dollar (reduced percentage of revenue sharing) or just let the other schools drop off after they get raked over the recruiting coals. I have a really bad feeling all of a sudden that Oregon is in BIG BIG trouble. How different could this have been if we just found a way to close the deal with Texas, OU, and Oklahoma State last time around? UGH!

The Big-10 has played their hand. They said they are waiting on a decision on Notre Dame to determine if they are going to expand further. it is really easy to read between the lines here. Translation - We really want ND and don’t want an odd number of schools. If ND says no, they stay at 16. if ND says yes, they need one more team. Likely candidates are Oregon, UW, Stanford, or UNC. Oregon and UW expressed interest as a package and BIG essentially said no thanks. If they wanted to get to 20, that would have been an easy yes. I think our hope is that we are No 2 on the board after ND and ND says yes. Not to sure that either one of those are correct. The only other option to stay relevant is a merger between the ACC, Big-12, and PAC-12, taking the largest schools with the best TV markets: Something like FSU, UNC, Miami, Clemson, Oregon, Washington, Stanford, Utah, Texas Tech, Okie State, Houston, Cinci….

Yeah. This is a recruiting disaster. I can already hear the “Oregon is essentially a mid major” narrative coming coach’s mouths.

Ouch.

This is an interesting point. Is this really about football revenue for the BIG? Or is actually about grant money which dwarfs football revenue? Does that play a roll here? There has to be a reason that the BIG added Maryland, Rutgers, and UCLA and not Oregon, who is Top 10 in football viewership.

This would be awesome.

Yes. Oregon should be on the phone non stop right now with the BIG, SEC, and BIG-12, in that order until they have a deal in place. the LA times is writing like it is a done deal. At this point you have to assume they are gone.

This is amazing! Joel wins the internet for the day.

If the Big-10 was really interested in adding more teams, I think they would have made that play now and it would have come out. Unfortunately, I think that ship has probably sailed for Oregon. Oregon doesn't have a major TV market and although we are an AAU school, the Wall Street Journal article that came out ranking Oregon 12th in the Pac-12 (and 375 nationally) in academics probably won't help our case. As someone pointed out above, the ACC is going to be sweating and will probably look to add two more teams immediately to secure their 16 team conference to be in line with the Big-10 and SEC. I agree with TKK. I think Oregon, Washington, Stanford, and Cal need to go to the Big-12 immediately and make a play to join that conference.

The “Oregon is going to be a mid major in two years” narrative should help with recruiting. Unbelievable. I hope Oregon is out in front of this and has a plan to respond quickly. I really believed the addition of NIL and conference realignment would be a huge benefit for Oregon. I am starting to think I was wrong.

Yikes! I hope we have a good backup plan.

Houston is an interesting case, because Houston is a major TV market. Now that Houston is in a Power-5 conference, I am betting they will launch them up that list pretty quickly, especially if they have some immediate success. I guess we will find out when they officially start playing games in the Big-12.

Am I correct that Thompson and Butters have both used their redshirts now and since the May 1st deadline has passed, if either leave between now and the end of next season, they will not be eligible until the following season? If so, it makes no sense for either to transfer until the completion of next season.

For sure. That team is going to need to drain a bunch of threes, as rebounds will not come easy!

The Carolinas are awesome. I lived in Raleigh for 5 years and loved it. It is becoming more expensive, but is still on sale if you are coming from the west coast.

Interesting. I had seen some rumors that he was headed to Memphis. It will be interesting to see how he does the next couple seasons.

Here’s the rub IMO. Johnson is NOT a 1 and done player. Guys that are 1 and done don’t shoot 34% from three in HS. They also don’t have long stretches where they struggle against HS competition and miss out on all star / all American games. Dior is a great player and he would have been a great addition to our roster. But the fact that Altman went out and signed 2 JC guards and 2 more power 5 transfer guards tells you all that you need to know. He wasn’t 100% confident that Dior was going to be able to be the man next year. And I agree. Also, if Dior really believed he was even in the ballpark of being NBA ready, he wouldn’t be scared of a little competition with Will and Keeshawn. I am not in the “we didn’t want him anyway” club. But I am certainly in the “Will >>> Dior” club. If keeping Will caused us to lose Dior, then so be it. It will be interesting to see how Johnson does at Memphis next year.

Is he still a 5*? I thought he was a 4* now. Anyways, that is a bummer to lose a good recruit, but with Will coming back and the guards we signed in the transfer portal, I am guessing he saw the handwriting on the wall and his minutes were going to be somewhat limited next year.

I am not as worried about the completion percentage. Just for reference, Joey was at 55% and Akili was at 56% for their careers at Oregon. They key is that both of those guys made huge plays and made them when it counted most. I can live with Nix's 61% if he is a gamer and is chucking the ball downfield and creating explosion plays.

Great list! If I had to pick 5 players, there is no way that Rid is not on that list. He could have potentially broken 2,000 points had he stayed for his senior year and we made a run in the tourney. And at 150+ assist a year, he probably would have ended up first on that list too.

I see a Benson / Pritchard situation here. Barthelemy is going to start, but it will be hard to keep Dior off the floor. He is going to get minutes.

If you are going to pay a kid millions of dollars, go get a proven college QB like USC did.

The biggest head scratcher was Kenny Wooten. That dude was so athletic and a good defender. If he would have stayed, I wonder if he would have developed a jumper and earned a spot somewhere. And speaking of head scratchers, what ever happened to Addison Patterson? He was playing really well for the Ducks late in the season, and was in line to start or take on a big roll with the team as a sophomore. Then one practice into is sophomore year, he just pulls the plug and transfers to Nevada, forcing him to sit out for the season. Then, before he ever suits up for a game, he is gone from Nevada. Finally, he transfers to Salt Lake City Community College in August 2021; however, he is not on their official roster and there are no stats to be found. It is like he just disappeared. I still believe that kid had NBA potential.

He didn't just disappear. I believe he tweaked his leg/ankle at one point. Then he smacked his head hard in the AZ game and was held out. Then 2 games later, at USC, he hits his head again and gets stitches. We also know that came down with Mono sometime February. Dude was seriously banged up and sick. He was playing at a VERY HIGH level before all that happened...shooting 57% from the floor and 50% from three in the previous 8 conference games before all that happened. He was KILLING IT. If he can stay healthy, he is the type of player that can win us a conference title and help his team make a deep run in the tournament.