Somebody had to lose. In a long history of gridiron battles, the first-ever top 10 matchup between longtime Pacific Northwest rivals the No. 8 Oregon Ducks and No. 7 Washington Huskies was a doozy — a titanic slugfest between two very polished teams. This time, the Dub ended up with the “W.” After the game, a close friend of mine …
Last year I wrote an article about the Coming College Football Schism where there will be two conferences that are composed of the haves and the remaining conferences’ have-nots. That is already happening; it resulted in the Big 12 becoming a second-rate power with the loss of Texas and Oklahoma, which in turn caused the Big 12 to become a …
Some people take action, stay ahead of trends and live on the bleeding edge of change. And others simply like to watch the world burn. And so here we are with the Pac 4, the smoldering ruins of a storied 108-year-old conference, decimated by inflated egos, overconfidence and incompetence under the failed leadership of former and current commissioners Larry Scott …
With what feels like an imminent media deal coming, it seems there may be a plan to keep this historic conference together. Here is what George Kliavkoff’s plan for the Pac may look like. Phase 1: Survive This is where the conference finds itself now. The Pac-12 needs to sign a media deal that is equal to or ideally ahead …
Hell hath no fury like an underappreciated future Hall of Fame coach. The recent venting from Oregon men’s basketball coach Dana Altman following the Ducks’ 61-58 loss to Wisconsin in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament. Altman was not happy. But his frustration was targeted at a lackluster Oregon crowd, not his team’s performance. Sure, Ducks fans were likely …
If you’re head is still spinning over the uncertainty swirling around the realignment of the Pac-12 Conference, join the club. And there are no real strong signs of clarity at the moment. For now, it appears the remaining 10 schools in the conference — minus USC and UCLA, who quietly moved to the Big Ten — are sticking together, especially …
Recently in a John Canzano Mailbag article, he was asked whether or not the Pac-12 should consider expansion. Canzano’s answer was that the Pac-12 powers that be will talk about it, but probably not do anything about it. It will likely upset some fans who think expansion is the key to the Pac-12’s survival, but the Pac-12 doesn’t really have …
Our beloved rivalry game with the Beavers has not only been renamed, but also particularly uneventful in the last decade (for majority’s sake). Of the last 13 meetings, Oregon State has only managed two wins against our Ducks, however the most important of wins being in the Beavers favor: the LAST one. Our Ducks (particularly the defense) fell apart on national …
Everyone wrote off the Pac-12 in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The highest seed any Pac-12 team was given was Colorado at No. 5. As a result, all five Pac-12 teams were underdogs and the four remaining in the tournament will continue to be underdogs, and that’s absolutely perfect. The Pac-12 is the underdog conference after all; not supposed to …
Good luck, Tyler Shough. If you haven’t already heard, the Oregon Ducks‘ quarterback announced he will enter the NCAA transfer portal after starting all seven games of last year’s shortened football season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I have mixed feelings about the redshirt sophomore’s early departure from Eugene. Shough’s rollercoaster performance was puzzling, dazzling at times but pockmarked with …
When COVID-19 forced NCAA sports into remission last March, I struggled to wrap my head around an Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team with three of the school’s greatest players — Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally and Ruthy Hebard — not getting one last shot at winning a national title. Setting aside the universal disappointment in locker rooms across the country, how …
As we eagerly await the opening game of the No. 14 Oregon Ducks’ football season against the Stanford Cardinal next Saturday, I can’t help but worry. The history between Oregon and Stanford has been filled with a white-knuckle mix of heartbreaking losses, troubling upsets and glorious revenge. But the Cardinal lead the all-time series against the Ducks with 49 wins …