OregonDucks

Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel addresses Oklahoma departure after Brent Venables' comments WWW.YAHOO.COM After a whirlwind of news and quotes about his departure from Oklahoma Tuesday, Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel addressed those comments with media. Seems to still be an open question, after the young OU QB performed poorly this weekend. According to OU Coach Venables, he was not: "Venables said that Gabriel ultimately wanted to play closer to home in Hawaiiand was looking for a change of scenery after offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby left for Mississippi State. 'You can't make a guy stay,' Venables said. 'The guys is trying to find the next thing; the next chapter for him. I'm sure there was probably some disappointment that (Gabriel) wasn't more highly thought of in the NFL. He had an amazing year. He was a fantastic quarterback. But we didn't run anybody off or things like that.'" However, Dillon Gabriel seemed to side-step the question: "'Honestly it's so far gone,' Gabriel said. 'I just know God's got me right where I need to be. I've got a smile on my face every day because I'm in Eugene, Oregon, around a bunch of great guys. Of course, those are guys that are my brothers for life and guys I've played with. Like I said, it's people I still talk to on the team, players-wise. You focus on what you can control and that's right where I'm at. Like I said, I'm happy. I know God put me right where I need to be and I think that's all that needs to be said, honestly.'"

Now its: UCLA: Hey, he’s inexpensive, why not give him a shot?

LOL. UNLV fans should start a GoFundMe with a goal of $97,000 before Saturday…

I understand that bridges have been burnt but why not just merge with the Mountain West, at this point, to avoid the exit fees? If Utah State joins, who are you trying to leave behind? • Hawaii • UNLV • Nevada • Air Force • New Mexico • San Jose State • Wyoming Are the above programs much worse than the current and future PAC-12 programs?

LOL. It would be funny to see MC tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth, in a close game later this season… #CoachingIntervention

Opinion Opinion: Pac-12 revival deserves nickname worthy of cheap sunglasses Opinion: Pac-12 revival deserves nickname worthy of cheap sunglasses WWW.YAHOO.COM When I think of the resurrected Pac-12 adding Utah State and other, it's reminiscent of a vendor hawking cheap sunglasses in Mexico. "People in on the joke know these sunglasses by a nickname: Foakleys, short for Fake Oakleys. That’s what the new Pac-Whatever is. It’s the Fake Pac-Whatever. I’ll call it the F-Pac-W. This resurrected league can welcome Utah State into the fold, slap a Pac logo on its chest and hope no one notices the imitation, but anyone who remembers Reggie Bush or Marcus Allen or Bill Walton or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will spot this conference for the gimmick it is." "...As the F-Pac-W scrambled for members this week, it all came off as a little pathetic." "It’s going to be a nice little conference that will possess some geographical alignment – a rarity, nowadays. The league will pack a punch with the best of the Group of Fives. The same could have been said of the Mountain West, particularly in hoops."

Pac-12 might be resurrected, but former power conference is no longer as relevant Pac-12 might be resurrected, but former power conference is no longer as relevant WWW.YAHOO.COM The zombie Pac-12 was resurrected, then it ran into an opposing force that we haven’t seen too often in college sports: Common sense. "When Memphis, Tulane, South Florida and UTSA decided on Monday to remain for now in the American Athletic Conference, it was a massive win for new conference commissioner Tim Pernetti. It was also a massive win for logic, financial prudence and reality." "...Oregon State and Washington State, the two original Pac-12 leftovers who decided to bring the conference back, aren’t valued much more than Memphis." "...the new Pac-12 was not going to be a power conference no matter which of the potential members jumped in. And the notion of a $12 million per member payday, which had been the carrot for a school like Memphis (currently making around $8-9 million in the AAC) was merely theoretical and based on calculations from the Pac-12’s paid consultants that few people across the college sports industry actually believed." "A conference of Boise State, San Diego State, Colorado State, Fresno State, Oregon State, Washington State, Utah State and UNLV is…essentially the same league that those schools just decided to leave, albeit without a few bottom-feeders. And that's totally fine. In fact, it makes a lot of sense geographically and culturally. But if television networks were paying roughly $5 million to those schools when they were Mountain West members, what exactly is the case for doubling that for the same product under the Pac-12 banner? That’s why, across college sports, this entire Pac-12 play has been viewed as bizarre and nonsensical. And it’s why, even at the small handful of AAC schools they targeted, there was more confusion than enthusiasm about the kind of league they would have actually joined." "The Pac-12 might have been a power conference at one time, but now we know the truth: It’s not what it used to be."

Word gets around and NIL collectives who make promises and fail to deliver will ultimately hurt the colleges they support.

I'm not surprised that the AAC teams decided to stay put. For those teams it's not worth the uncertainty (e.g., TV revenue) and additional travel. Perhaps the two conferences merge down the road? I'm shocked that the Pac-12 added Utah State. Why, unless it was meant to further destabilize the MWC? UNLV and/or Hawaii would have been much stronger choices. Lastly, I'm no lawyer, but the Pac-12 lawsuit is weak. The 8 Pac schools remaining, after the LA schools left, should have just voted to dissolve the conference and equally distribute the remaining assets, instead of just exiting the conference.

Up against some pretty cool college football traditions: * Army/Navy game * ND's "Play Like a Champion" Sign * Ohio Script / Dotting the "I" * Wisconsin's Jump Around * VT's Enter Sandman Surprised that USC's Traveler isn't on the list.

Every conference is top heavy, including the SEC where Alabama and Georgia have dominated for a decade. It’s what those teams do in the post season that matters and those two teams have won a lot of championships. If USC was able to live up to their potential and/or we added Texas and Oklahoma, when we had the chance, the PAC-12 would have been viewed very differently and commanded more TV money. It’s a shame that the PAC-12 isn’t around anymore, as it was a strong conference.

This. I don’t understand why some teams don’t have to play on Friday night but others do. However, I feel like the Saturday night games were bait and switch, as I remember reading somewhere that the four West coast teams wouldn’t have to play late night games on Saturday in the B1G.

Hernández: USC's loss to Michigan a reminder that Lincoln Riley falters under pressure Hernández: USC's loss to Michigan a reminder that Lincoln Riley falters under pressure WWW.YAHOO.COM USC should have beaten Michigan, but curious play calls from Lincoln Riley raise questions as to whether he can lead the Trojans to a national title.

Not many teams had success against Saban. Luckily for Georgia and every other team, Saban is now on the set of ESPN College Gameday every Saturday. It's too bad we never got that Chip Kelly vs. Nick Saban matchup, when Kelly was running the uptempo spread offense at Oregon (and Nick was complaining that it wasn't fair). Bama would probably have won but it would sure have been entertaining.

There should be no conference officials. All conference referees should be hired, trained and employed by the NCAA.

SEC physics.

I wanted Oregon to sign Cam Ward before Dillon Gabriel became available. He’s a very talented QB.

LOL. What’s the over/under for UCLA attendance for an 8pm game on a Saturday?

Tennessee is taking it to OU in Norman.

It's still the civil war game.

Wow. Vandy's kicker pulled the kick in 2 OT to lose the game.

Vandy can win with a TD in 2 OT.

Nevermind. Missouri scores on first play of possession. Heading to 2 OT.

Go Vandy. Scored TD on first possession in OT. Missouri's ball.

The SEC is over-rated. The UCLA game was a lot closer than the score.