Are Our Beloved Ducks the No. 1 program in all of Big-10 (B1G) sports? I had checked into this during the spring, and later heard we did well, but I wanted to investigate and report to my Duck-Buddies who read this site, and chat in the forum for us all to enjoy. I actually had to take a break from my gaming fun at JackpotCity in New Zealand as it was quite the task to gather the information, and organize it into a format that allowed us to see a true comparison of B1G programs.
WHO are the Champions?
As many of you know, I am not a fan of conference tournaments; to me, the true champion is the one who wins the regular season conference championship based on a ton of games. I do not think that rewarding a team who gets hot for three days, versus the grind of a long season is the right way to determine a champion. So in my analysis–if I exclude Tournament winners, those teams and their fans will howl that they too, are champions.
I could handicap them or apply different values between regular season champions versus conference tournament winners, but again–the fans and the marketing programs at each school will claim otherwise. What about regular season championships that were split between two teams such as Oregon and UCLA in Baseball? I assure you that both programs are claiming themselves the “Conference Champion,” just as conference tournament winner, Nebraska also is.
Fine. Count them all.
B1G Indoor Track Championships. (Screenshot from GoDucks.com Video)
There are unique variables that both reward and hurt the West Coast teams, such as not having Ice Hockey, Mens/Womens Lacrosse, and Wrestling. Yet the LA schools are strong in Mens/Womens Gymnastics, Mens/Womens Soccer, as well as Womens Basketball and of course–Track and Field. Most of the B1G members would grumble about Oregon’s Indoor Track titles, but they are just as important as Mens/Womens Tennis titles.
For those who want to see the official listing right here, you will note they forgot to credit Nebraska for a Baseball Tournament, but I did not and included it below. The regular season conference championships are counted as “Champions” below, while conference tournament winners are listed as “Tournaments,” and the total score lists the number of winners in each category, and the final total score for each school.
WE are the Champions
As you see above, I separated out the regular season championships, and the conference tournaments. Some sports can claim three champions such as the Baseball example given above, thus I gave all three schools credit in that instance. You will note that Our Beloved Ducks really gave the conference a B1G butt-kicking in our first year, as we have the most regular season championships, and total championships in all sports.
There will be some who will try to discredit all the minor sports won by the Ducks; hello? Oregon won the primary sport that everyone is concerned with….football. The degree of separation above among the number of championships is quite astonishing, and will be surprising to a Buckeye fan I know who told me in the fall that, “it is good that Ohio State finally has some competition.” Whew! Oregon doubled the number of regular season championships over the Buckeyes, and exceeded even their final total that was cushioned by conference tournaments.
The former Pac-12 teams, the west coast teams, (WCTs) make up 22% of the 18 teams in the B1G, yet we nearly doubled our winning per capita of just four teams, who then captured 38% of the total Big-10 championships. Five of the original B1G teams did not win any championships, (Maryland, Rutgers, Iowa, Purdue, Illinois) while all four of the WCTs won championships. Even lowly Washington won one!
Everyone thinks they can give advice to Rob Mullens! (Photo by Steven Chan)
Last fall I wrote that the 2024 football season would be the “surprise” introduction of Oregon to the Big-10, as none of the original B1G teams and their fans really believed the former Pac-12 was that strong, and that Oregon would not hold up to the relentless power of the B1G as the season wore on. Not only did the Ducks continue to surprise teams each week, but our Athletic program surprised the conference throughout the year.
For any complaints we all have about Rob Mullens on occasion…he had Oregon punching above our weight class in terms of funding and the number of sports offered. It was not just a surprising athletic program performance, it was stunning. Very few ADs around the country could accomplish what Mullens has done, and note that Oregon achieved this in one of the two Super-Conferences! Let me know your thoughts because…
“Oh, how we love to ponder about Our Beloved Ducks!“
Charles Fischer (Mr. FishDuck)
Eugene, Oregon
Top Photo by Eric Becker
Share your thoughts about this team in the only free, “polite and respectful” Oregon Sports message board, the Our Beloved Ducks forum!
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Charles Fischer has been an intense fan of the Ducks, a season ticket holder at Autzen Stadium for 38 years and has written reports on football boards for over 26 years. Known as “FishDuck” on those boards, he is acknowledged for providing intense detail in his scrimmage reports, and in his Xs and Os play analyses. He is single, has a daughter Christine, and resides in Eugene Oregon where he was a Financial Advisor for 36 years.
He now focuses full-time on Charitable Planned Giving Workshops for churches and non-profit organizations in addition to managing his two Oregon Football Websites, of FishDuck.com and the Our Beloved Ducks forum. He is a busy man!
He does not profess to be a coach or analyst, but simply a “hack” that enjoys sharing what he has learned and invites others to correct or add to this body of Oregon Football! See More…