Troll Week: Presented by Stanford

Nathan Roholt FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Wikimedia Commons In the modern lexicon, there isn’t a word that reveals one’s level of online presence better than the word “troll.”  (For those unfamiliar with the term, check out Wikipedia’s page on the subject.  If you are still unclear on the definition, find the person in your life that spends the most time on Reddit and have them explain …

College Football Nation: The upsets have arrived and Mack Brown survives another week

Jeff Hostetler FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

  I was starting to get worried that too many teams would finish the season undefeated, until today.  As the season goes on we are finally getting to see the upsets.  Upsets are what we live for in college football, as long as our team isn’t on the wrong end of the stick.  Watching the impossible become possible is what …

How the Pac-12 Wins Seven Straight Titles

Nathan Roholt FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Amazing Moments Last Monday, I addressed the cracks that were beginning to form in the SEC’s mantle atop college football.  Saturday’s games helped to widen those cracks, as the conference saw member schools challenged by programs such as North Texas and lose a game to Rutgers.  The conference that had enjoyed a long-standing reputation as college football’s best now has …

PAC-12 Talent Rankings: Who’s on Top?

Chris Charbonnier FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

There is no debate: in college football, nothing is more important than talent. The overwhelmingly positive correlation between talent and winning says it all. While many factors go into becoming a successful, winning program, no other has as much of an impact as talent. There’s a reason coaches take recruiting so seriously. This week, we look at the four most …

Oregon Will Beat Stanford This Season

Victor Flores FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

The Oregon-Stanford game this upcoming season will surely be one of the best games of the year between two of the best teams in the country. An early prediction: the Ducks will win. Now, there are a million reasons why this result might happen. Maybe Stanford suffers a bunch of costly injuries leading up to the game. Maybe Oregon will …

The Absolute MUST-WATCH Games in 2013

Sam Arney FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Kevin Cline Photography With football season less than a month away, it is time to announce my top six games of the season.  If you missed my bottom six, you can check them out here.  I am excited for any game that involves the Ducks, but more excited for certain ones.  Here are my top six and why I can’t wait to see them. 6. Nicholls State – August 31 …

US Open Failures Remind Us That Nothing Is Guaranteed

Joel Gunderson FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

Last weekend, as the world watched Phil Mickelson stumble to another second place finish in The U.S. Open at Merion, I couldn’t help but correlate his failures to a more local team. The squad that huffs, and puffs, but can never blow the house down. It’s too soon to compare the Oregon Ducks football team to “Lefty,” who has come …

Who Will Lead the PAC-12 Down the Stretch?

Bryan Holt FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

The last month of regular season baseball is upon us as the race for the PAC-12 championship inches closer and closer.  Oregon State and Oregon sit 5th and 6th, respectively, in the national poll.  The Ducks and Beavers have been battling all year to be on top the conference standings, with the rest of the teams fighting to get into …

“Horton-Ball” Sweeps Stanford Away

Josh Schlichter FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

The walk-off home run might be the single most triumphant way to win a sporting event, but I think that an Oregon baseball player would call a walk-off bunt the most fulfilling way to win a game.  On Sunday afternoon, Mitchell Tolman delivered one of the most exciting plays all year for the Oregon baseball team, converting a walk-off squeeze …

Ducks Make Major Statement With Win Over Stanford’s Appel

Josh Schlichter FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

  Remember when we were pleading for Oregon to have a good performance against an elite starter?  Well, the Ducks just delivered in spectacular fashion against one of the premier starters in all of collegiate baseball.  It’s no mistake – Mark Appel has been ranked as the number one draft prospect by various scouting services for a while now.  Ever since …

Offseason Stat-Plosion: The Team Efficiency Index

Sean Goodbody FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

It’s 2013, and statistics are ubiquitous in college football: yards per play, 3rd down conversion rate, points per game, defensive efficiency, time of possession, attractiveness of fake girlfriends, turnover margin, blah blah blah blah.   We’ve got all kinds of “objective” statistical methods to “measure” how “good” a football team “is.”  This clearly ain’t Knute Rockne’s football. The problem with all these objective …