HDuck

3 B1Gs in the Elite 8 at this point. Friday will bring opportunities for Michigan and Michigan State. The most ever single conference participants in the Elite 8 is four: 2025, 2016, 2009. Some controversy over Nebraska having just four players on the floor late in the loss to Iowa that led to an easy Iowa basket. But, close up video of the Nebraska bench has just emerged...

Picked the Toejams Was scheduled to take a visit to Eugene in June. Will he still do so? 6-0, 160 lb, he his going to have to gain some weight to matchup with Big Ten RBs and TEs

A side note, only because it's USC. The loss to Beavis today was their first inside the remodeled, reoriented, rebuilt baseball stadium. They have been playing off campus in Irvine for two seasons and returned to campus this season. Ducks are just starting a 6-game non-conference slate: @UC-San Diego x 2, @UC-Santa Barabra x 3, home for U Portland before traveling to Michigan. May seem odd in the midst of a B1G schedule, but games in the Southland may be good planning based on late March weather that is typical for Eugene.

Ducks win 6-0 in about 2-1/2 hours on the clock.

Beavis thump USC 12-4 in L.A. Only second loss for Toejams (24-2) and first loss at home (18-1) Wright State beats Ohio St, Virginia beats Maryland, Oakland beats Michigan. Not a stellar day for B1G.

Women's basketball..... Guard Elisa Mevius entered the transfer portal, per Talia Goodman of On3. The news comes after her season was cut short following an ACL injury two games into the 2025-26 season. The Ducks lose a key two-way player and a former starter in Mevius. Mevius entered the season as Oregon’s only returning starter from the 2024-25 season. The guard transferred from Siena to Oregon ahead of her junior year. She started in 19 of her 28 appearances for the Ducks as a junior, but missed the program’s 2025 NCAA Tournament run due to a broken hand. Mevius led the team in steals during her first season in Eugene and shot over 30 percent from beyond the arc. Mevius was averaging 12.5 points per game, 3.0 assists, 1.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals before going down with injury in the late stages of Oregon’s game against Montana on Nov. 8, 2025. The Ducks lose a 3x3 Olympic gold medalist in Mevius and one of their best defenders.

Does make one wonder if he's already conveyed something to players? Doubt it though. Too much risk for a leak.

There is an interesting column in The Athletic about "What has happened to Cinderella?" The author points out 2-3 factors. Among them: Realignment. Teams like Houston, Cincinnati didn't use to be in Power 5 basketball conferences. Now when they win it is a Power 5 win, not a mid-major upset. The upper-tier mid-majors have realigned themselves into Power 5. There is more Power 5 depth. Obviously, the no-wait transfer portal. Iowa's upset over No. 1 seed Florida included 4 guys who played the prior year for Drake and the guy who made the winning shot came from Robert Morris. Those 5 guys would have been wearing low-mid-major jersey's a year ago. Obviously, NIL has created some transfers as well. The best talent is moving from Cinderella to Power 5. The distribution of talent has affected the absence of some traditional blue-bloods. These schools are not in Sweet 16: Kentucky, Kansas, Gonzaga, N. Carolina, UCLA, Indiana, Syracuse. Losing Kwame and Shelstad is a BIG blow. But, there are several examples in this year's Sweet 16 of programs that have reinvented themselves. The question becomes, does Oregon currently have the staff (and NIL) that can reinvent? In the games I've watched, there may be more good players spread across college basketball than there has ever been. Can/will Oregon contend for them? The "Cinderella problem" also has implications for the Tournament. If there are fewer legitimate Cinderella programs, then we should not be surprised when the at-large selections are largely taken by Power 4 conferences, and teams on the margin such as those in the New Pac may be relegated to a slot for the conference champion only. Or, perhaps, this is a reason to justify expanding the Tournament beyond 68 teams? Open new at-large slots to replace the ones consumed by the Power 4?

On3Oregon guard Jackson Shelstad plans to enter transfer portalOregon guard Jackson Shelstad plans to enter the transfer portal, a source told On3.

Kentucky - even with a reported $22 million NIL Kansas Gonzaga first time since 1990 that at least one of those 3 hasn't been in Sweet 16 Others which fell short: N. Carolina UCLA Indiana - also wasn't part of the 68 this year

Looks like 6 - B1G 4 - SEC 3 - Big12 2 - BigEast 1 - ACC 16 Seeds left, with 6 B1G 1- 3 (Michigan) 2- 4 (Purdue) 3- 2 (MSU, ILL) 4- 3 (Neb) 5- 1 6- 1 9- 1 (Iowa) 11- 1

Let me repeat for emphasis. The Ducks had loaded the bases in the 11th. They get one run across, they win. They didn't.

It's not just Jon cheerleading for the B1G....it also means money. Money to Oregon and UW from their share of Tournament Units. A conference earns one unit for every game its teams plays, now including the semifinals and championship game. For 2026, the unit is $2.15 million, which is paid out in six equal installments over six years. Those 1/6ths per year are then shared with all conference members. The so-called reduced media shares for UO and UW do not apply to Unit payouts. Both UO and UW get a full share. When a team makes the Sweet 16, that's 3 units (64>32>16) x $2.15M. $6M+ paid out over 6 years, split among all the schools. The more schools that make the Sweet 16, Elite 8....the better. Iowa will play Nebraska, Michigan St may play UCLA. Unfortunately, that may take Units off the table when the loser can't advance. There are 135 participation Units paid total. 8 for First Fours. 64 for the bracket. Then 32, 16, 8, 4, 2,1. Some conferences have made modifications, but not yet in the B1G. For example, part of the deal for Gonzaga joining the Pac12 was that they would keep half of each Unit they earned, then the other Pac schools would split the other half. The SEC pays an appearance bonus. For example, in the first 3 rounds the SEC pays the team $100,000 out of the $2.15M before the remainder is split among all members. So, when you see conference commissioners bitching about a team being left out, it's more than just boosterism...it's money.

Leading up to today, the 16 teams playing their opener at home all won. Today, so far, 7 of the 8 teams (including Texas) won at home. The 8th game is underway - UW at TCU. 8 more women's home games will be played tomorrow. These 7 games today did not involve powderpuffs. But, Texas thumping Oregon was not even the high margin which included home court wins of 54, 42, 29, 23. Until there is more parity among the women's teams, and the games are played on neutral courts, I can't get too excited about a blow out loss.

Iowa fans love going to Tampa. They are 4-3 in Outback Bowls, including a W this past December 31.

Interesting graphic. Which schools have two Current head coaches who have been in post-season CFP and men's Final Four? Then, after you figure out which one of the 7 had those two coaches at their Current School when they did it....add in the fact that same school had the current women's coach also in a Final Four at the same school.

Oram column was about Mark Few? 27 seasons including COVID year. Tournament departure: Round 1: 3 Round 2: 10 - including 2026 Sweet 16: 8 Elite 8: 3 Title loss: 2 I didn't realize he had never lost a Final Four opener. Not sure I agree with Oram on his perception of the New Pac as being a competitive conference upgrade year in and year out?

I imagine the schools that escaped probably believed there would no longer be a Pac12 conference after their departure and under NCAA rules the Tournament shares are then handled differently. The conference did set a precedent with denying voting rights to USC/UCLA, but I don't recall they denied them revenue shares that came until their contract expired. I'm not sure Libey believed OSU/WSU would do what they have done in that regard in handling shares for the other 8 differently. The precedent was a policy, not a court ruling, and like so many judge interpretations based on policy the same circumstances can lead to different decisions depending on the judge. Different judges convey different sentences when circumstances are identical. Different circuits make different decisions on the same circumstances, reverse a lower court decision in one instance but not another for identical circumstances. It was apparent when the escapees gave notice, they intended to live up to the current Pac contract until it expired. They gave early notice, but were not leaving early. It is too bad OSU/WSU couldn't honor the same principle.

When USC/UCLA were "stripped of their voting rights" were they also informed they would no longer receive various revenue pieces from the conference? I don't recall that was part of what the other 10 did? If not, I assume it was because the Pac decided the true effective date was their departure, not the date they gave notice of their future departure. When Libey said it was the date they gave notice of departure, and if that is applied in other similar cases, it would simply incentivize any schools leaving a conference to never give notice until 12:01 am after the end of their current contract. That would not be a good faith effort and could harm those who stayed behind. OSU and WSU benefited via advance notice that the departees gave. They benefited operationally and they took revenue they did not earn.

"Pac 8 + Gonzo kiss the tournament Goodbye." Well, I guess Utah State is still in it with a game vs Arizona on Sunday. But, will Coach Calhoun still be in it (Pac) by the end of next week?

I had picked Texas. My pre-game concern was that the Zags just don't have the depth they have had in some recent years. No great picker accomplishment, just explaining my logic. We've seen the same thing affecting the Ducks in the past. Especially if you get one of your main horses in foul trouble or injured early. If you don't have depth, you can be in real trouble in a one-and-out scenario.

Next game is playing Texas on their home court where they are 19-0 this season. I understand why the women's game requires this to get butts in seats, but doesn't mean I have to like it.

The WSU Board granted $20 million earlier this month (March 2026) to WSU athletics, while the Oregon Legislature granted $10M to OSU athletics in March 2024. But, little has been revealed about how OSU and WSU are using the bag they got from the December 2023 Judge Libey decision. Would like to see more transparency from both institutions on that.

Well, if anyone is still wondering why the organization is still called the Pac12, instead of the Pac8, Pac9, the Pac, the Best of the Rest, etc. the NCAA unit payments on the books to the Pac12 is the answer.