FishDuck Article Administrator No. 1 Share Posted March 15 Oh, Stewball was a racehorse, And I wish he were mine, He never drank water, He always drank wine. I bet on the gray mare, I bet on the bay, If I’d bet on ol’ Stewball, I’d be a free man today. 1966 – Peter, Paul and Mary According to one gaming site, the favorites for the 2024 Power 4 ... 2024 CFB: Power-4 Dark Horse Title Contenders | FishDuck FISHDUCK.COM Oh, Stewball was a racehorse, And I wish he were mine, He never drank water, He always drank wine. I bet on the gray mare, I bet on the bay, If... 2 1 Two Sites: FishDuck and the Our Beloved Ducks forum, The only "Forum with Decorum!" And All-Volunteer? What a wonderful community of Duck fans! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smith72 Moderator No. 2 Share Posted March 15 USC - say it ain't so Joe! (I mean Jon) Very good analysis Jon. Thanks for the article today. I always enjoy reading your posts and articles. Go Ducks! Spring football is here - finally! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudslide No. 3 Share Posted March 15 A great post, as usual, Jon. And you almost had me reaching for my wallet to lay some cheese down on Va. Tech. As for those ever disappointing (depending upon one's point of view) and always goofy U$C kids, I'd rather be playing an exacta with Stew Ball to Glue All. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 4 Share Posted March 15 The love for USC? Hard to write. But, IMO, it is warranted. With the roster and coaching turnover at UW and Michigan, USC, even with five conference road games in 2024, does not have a daunting road schedule. It is not germane to conference results but playing LSU in Las Vegas is favorable to UCLA having to play in Baton Rouge, and getting Notre Dame in LA is a plus. Penn State at home and Michigan on the road? Not easy for Troy but it is easier than the Ducks tripping to Ann Arbor and also playing an Ohio State team that is favored to win the conference and is ranked second in most of the top 25 preseason polls. USC plays Wisconsin in LA while the Ducks trip to Madison in November. SC has a more difficult 12-game slate than Oregon but not a more difficult conference slate even with the extra conference road game. Thanks for the comments and hats off to my Editor who once again made my scribbling readable and also added terrific illustrations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 5 Share Posted March 15 Great article, well researched, and sound reasoning. I always learn a lot from your writing, Jon, and this one got me pondering. In the B1G, I figured you might slide to Wisconsin, and your Trojan pick surprised me. But you made a great case…could we face Troy in the B1G championship game? My thanks! 1 Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirklandduck Moderator No. 6 Share Posted March 15 USC hasn't recruited and developed well in the trenches for years, I don't see that changing in 2024. The new DC there will need 2-3 years of hardcore recruiting and coaching to get up to snuff. Until then they're a 7-8 win team assuming the new QB pans out. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goutes18 No. 7 Share Posted March 16 ZERO PAC-12 championships with the presumed #1 pick in the NFL draft. Every year since Riley came, they have been a contender to win it all and they fade against good teams. No D and no culture. Even if by some miracle they make it to the BIG championship with a softer conference schedule, the Ducks or Buckeyes will hammer them back to reality. New conference, same story. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevada Dawg No. 8 Share Posted March 16 The VA Tech pick for the ACC was a stunner to me. I do admit, however, that I spend almost no time analyzing the ACC and its fortunes. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckster No. 9 Share Posted March 16 Nice analysis Jon. Would love to see Kansas sneak into the Playoffs. Always fun to watch a long dormant program on the rise. Leipold has done a real nice job there. I'm also in that camp however that has doubts about USC. I agree that the defense should be much improved but there is a fundamental culture flaw that runs deep within that program. Lots of So Cal kids from the powerhouse HS Football teams in the area ... Mater Dei, Bosco, Servite, Centennial et.al. ...filter to SC. These are kids who are very familiar with one another (starting with youth football) that are used to winning and winning big. By the time they hit SC the expectations of continued greatness and ego's are huge. Far as I can tell there is no "De-Recruitment" process in place at SC, or anything close to what has made Georgia under Kirby or Bama under St. Nick so formidable . As a result, you can pretty much count on the SC kids, especially at the skill positions, to fold up like cheap tents if they get behind early or get punched in the mouth by more physical teams. SC is typically a collection of classic front runners, lots of flash and dash but short on grit. Not sure I see that changing much under Riley and Company. Cheers! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 10 Share Posted March 16 NV Dawg, yes Va Tech is a reach but +2000 perhaps makes a small wager worthwhile? Duckster and Goutes18 - I understand all negative takes on the Trojans. I am probably placing too much emphasis on a bowl game in which I watched what seemed to be a more unified team playing behind a QB who didn't try to win the game all by himself. The SC roster is near that of Penn State and behind only Ohio State and Oregon. SC plays 1 of the 3, Penn State, in LA in 2024 and misses the two Os. SC also plays Dark Horse Wisconsin in LA. With UW depleted on both sides of the ball, I don't see a conference game that SC cannot win. I don't see many B1G teams on Troy's 2024 schedule that can match SC's team speed. SC will put up points and the D should improve under the new coaching staff. However, I am not discounting anything you both had to say about SC. Thanks for the comments. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph Moderator No. 11 Share Posted March 19 Some love for VA Tech. Virginia Tech QB Kyron Drones improving in key areas will have Hokies emerging as ACC threat in 2024 season - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Drones showed flashes of brilliance last season as he led Virginia Tech to a resurgence down the stretch 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
