Jon Joseph

Thank you, David. With many experienced defenders returning, Dante back at QB with experienced WRs and a solid TE, I think it makes sense to promote both Hampton and Mehringer. Old Ducks do not need new tricks. I hope. Pancho and Nacho? I prefer Portland State in Week 1 instead of Boise State, but the Vikings game in Week 3 is a quasi-bye before Week 4 vs. SC in LA. It's a Wild West start: Bust the Broncos and Corral the Cowboys! Thanks again for another Monday visit.

Traveler, is that you? Looks like a lot of travel is coming up for 66-year-old USC DC, Gary Patterson 😁 AP NewsACC turns to Gary Patterson as supervisor of football off...The Atlantic Coast Conference has hired Gary Patterson as supervisor of football officials. The league announced the hiring Monday after Al Riveron announced last week he is stepping down.

FYI - The photo at the top of the article is a photo of No. 44 Syracuse RB Ernie Davis, who did not make the top 50.

Jeremiah Smith - Up Close and Personal on 11/7 in Columbus - https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ohio-state-jeremiah-smith-closing-174633284.html

Sports Illustrated names and ranks college football's 50 best players. SIRanking the 50 Best College Football Players of All TimeAhead of the 2026 college football season, Sports Illustrated has ranked the 50 greatest players in the sport’s 150-plus-year history. These are the players from the Pac-10 and Pac-12 conference, and the players from the Big Ten who made the list. I did not watch all of these exemplary players play ball, but I did watch many of them, including No. 1 on the list, RB Jimmy Brown, who played his college ball at Syracuse, also ran track, played basketball, and was a lacrosse All-American. 50. Bubba Smith - DE Michigan State - Spartan officials tried to but could not quell the 'Kill Bubba, Kill!' cheers. 43. Dave Rimington - C Nebraska - Will Poncho win the eponymous award this season? 42. Marcus Allen - RB USC - In 1984, I was blessed to be in attendance at the Super Bowl in Tampa Bay where Allen led the Los Angeles Raiders to a 38-9 upset defeat of the Washington Redskins. Allen's MVP Day: 20 carries, 191 yards rushing, including a 74-yard TD run, and another TD. 34. Tommy Frazier - QB Nebraska - Only injuries could hold Tommy down. 33. Matt Leinart - QB USC - Loved it when the Bush-push wiped the smile off the faces of Charlie Weiss and Brady Quinn. 32. One who got away, Portland, Oregon's Ndamukong (who played like King Kong) Suh - DT Nebraska - In 2009, Suh was CFB's outstanding player, and he should have won the Heisman Trophy. 29. Bronko Nagurski - RB/DT Minnesota - I'm old, but not old enough to have watched Bronko run over the opposition. 24. O. J. Simpson - RB USC - Later in life, OJ transferred to Penn State, er, State Pen. 😁 21. Archie Griffin - RB Ohio State. CFB's only 2-time Heisman Trophy winner. Cal RB Chuck Muncie had a better season in 1975, the year Archie won his second award, but 'character' truly mattered in 1975, and Chuck was (in)famous for being on campus only for football practice and the games on Saturday. 18. Charles Woodson - CB/WR Michigan - Charles was Desmond Howard well before Howard showed up at Michigan. But Charles won the award playing mainly on the D side of the ball. He also had a great career in the NFL. 15. Reggie Bush - RB USC - Stripped of his Heisman Trophy for 14 years because of extra benefits; if he played today, he would have made millions of NIL dollars a year. USC going on probation the year the Pac-12 Network launched is one reason the conference cratered. 10. Orlando Pace - OT Ohio State - A great player for the Buckeyes. The 1st pick in the 1997 draft, Pace had a 13-year NFL career and appeared in seven Pro Bowls. 9. Red Grange - RB/DB - Illinois. I did not watch the great Grange play ball. The Galloping Ghost disappeared from tacklers and graced the football field before my time. 7. Dick Butkus - LB/C Illinois. I watched Butkus in the 1964 Rose Bowl, where he helped the Illini to a 17-7 victory over UW 😁. He was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1965. In 1964, Butkus was named the Player of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association. Butkus epitomized the toughness of the Chicago Bears. He was the NFL D Player of the Year in 1969 and 1970. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969, and to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983. ................................................................................. Should SI have named a Duck or two to the list?

A CBS take on Florida and Michigan - There's no doubt that Michigan hired a coach with more bona fides than Florida - IMO, Florida is getting too much preseason love because of the conference in which it plays ball https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-wild-card-florida-michigan-2026/

Thank you, Steven A, for posting this article under BIG, Info, Predictions, Etc. Although the article appears on Ducks Wire, the B1G predictions are courtesy of Mother Ship USA Today, a site that generally underrates Big Ten teams. But USA Today predicting five Big Ten teams to finish with five or fewer wins would be an improvement over last season's six teams that were not bowl eligible. https://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/football/2026/07/11/oregon-football-big-ten-record-predictions-win-loss-2026/90858145007/ FWIW, here are my thoughts on these predictions. I hope other Forum Friends will chime in. 1. Ohio State - 12-0/9-0 - UNDER - 11-1 or 10-2. With its 2026 schedule, at Texas, Indiana, USC, Nebraska, and Iowa, and home vs. Oregon and Michigan, and with the losses on defense to the NFL, I do not think OSU will go undefeated. This is a far more difficult regular season schedule than Ohio State played in 2025. In the 2025 postseason, Indiana and Miami showed that the way to defeat Ohio State is to put QB Julian Sayin under pressure. There are several opponents on the schedule, including OBD, that have the talent on defense to duplicate the Hoosiers and Hurricanes game plans. I do see Ohio State finishing no worse than 10-2 and returning to the CFB playoffs. 2. Oregon - 11-1/8-1 - UNDER - 10-2 - Predicting Oregon to lose at Ohio State is not out of line considering Oregon is 2-10 against the Buckeyes. The schedule does favor Oregon in that Northwestern will be the opponent with the game in Autzen the week prior, while Ohio State plays at USC. After a Week 5 bye, Oregon plays eight B1G opponents without a break, and has to travel to the Eastern time zone twice in November. I think this means a second loss for Oregon, but at 10-2 the Ducks return to the playoffs. 2. Indiana - 11-1/8-1 - EVEN -The Hoosiers' schedule is more difficult this season than in Curt Cignetti's first two seasons, but is still easier than the Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, and USC schedules. Both Ohio State and USC visit Bloomington, with the Hoosiers' most difficult games on the road at Michigan and UW. In two seasons under Curt Cignetti, Indiana has not lost in Bloomington. (And also in Atlanta 🤬.) I think Indiana returns to the conference championship game and the playoffs. So long as Oregon is a top 8 playoff seed, I'd as soon see OBD miss the champ game and have a 1st round game in Autzen. In the two seasons of the 12-team playoff, teams with a first-round bye are 1-7, including Georgia and Kirby Smart going 0-2 in the Sugar Bowl. Only Cignetti has cracked the long 1st-round bye code. The B1G question for Indiana: Will TCU transfer Josh Hoover come close to duplicating Heisman Trophy winner Mendoza's play at QB? 4. Penn State - 10-2/ 6-2 - EVEN - Matt Campbell is welcomed to the Big Ten with a dream schedule. No Ohio State, Oregon, or Indiana on the schedule, with USC visiting Happy Valley. Road games at Michigan and Washington will be challenging. With a joke of an out-of-conference schedule and a strength-of-schedule in the 50s, will a 10-2 record qualify PSU for the playoffs? 5. Washington - 9-3/6-3 - OVER - UW is a tough out in Seattle. UW plays on the road at Purdue, Nebraska, and Michigan State and plays Penn State and Indiana at home. I do not believe UW will defeat OBD in Autzen. The key game in the season is the game at USC. Washington has a terrific scheduling break playing SC in Week 5, the week after OBD plays SC in LA. Will USC be fired up for the game against UW after a victory over Oregon, or down in the dumps after losing to the Ducks, as I expect will be the case? Even with a victory over Oregon, can SC's defense carry it to back-to-back wins against two of the Big Ten's most talented QBs? Win the game vs. SC and split with Indiana and Penn State in Seattle, don't choke away a road game it should win, and UW is a playoff dark horse. But that's a lot of Ifs. WOOF! 6. Iowa - 9-3/6-3 - UNDER - Iowa will again be one of the best 4-loss teams in CFB. QB is a huge question mark. 7. USC - 8-4 - OVER - With Fresno State replacing Notre Dame on the schedule, I think SC has a good chance to go 9-3 with home losses to Oregon and Ohio State and a road loss at Indiana. I think the home game against Washington will decide whether the Trojans finish with three or four losses. I'm hoping for 9-3 so Riley carries on as SC's HC. I don't see Gary Patterson producing a better D than D'Anton Lynn, now the DC at Penn State. Maiava is a solid QB, but his two top receivers, including the Biletnikoff winner Makai Lemon, are off to the NFL, as is solid TE Lake McRee. Many talented freshmen in South Central, but they are freshmen. 8. Michigan - 7-5/5-4 - OVER, with a home win against Oklahoma and a chance to finish 10-2 and qualify for the playoffs. However, the schedule is one of the top 10 most difficult in the country, and how much will QB Bryce Underwood improve with better coaching? 9. Illinois - 7-5/4-5 - OVER - At least 8-4. Stop underrating Bielema and the Illini. 10. UCLA - 7-5/5-4 - OVER - At least 8-4 and with one of the easier conference schedules, a chance to go 9-3. A Week 6 game against the Bruins coming off a Week 5 bye is a possible trap game for OBD. Bob Chesney's JMU team did not stop scoring in Autzen in the 2025 1st-round playoff game. 11. Wisconsin - 6-6/5-4 - OVER - With Joseph at QB, the Badgers win at least seven games. 😁 12. Minnesota - 6-6/3-6 - OVER - 7-5. 13. Michigan State - 6-6/4-5 - UNDER - 5-7 or 4-8. It will take some time for Fitz to turn Sparty around. OBD best beware of a Friday night game in East Lansing on November 20th, with an 8 PM Eastern kickoff, coming between home games against Michigan and Washington. OUCH! 14. Maryland - 5-7/3-6 - UNDER, and so long, Coach Locksley. 15. Nebraska - 5-7/2-7 - OVER - QB Anthony Colandrea, who was the 2025 Mountain West Player of the Year at UNLV, is on paper at least a decent replacement for Dylan Raiola. I think Nebraska finishes no worse than 6-6, after going 3-0 out-of-conference and again qualifies for a bowl game. Will this be good enough to save Matt Ruhle's job? Ruhle is 2-24 vs ranked opponents in his career, 0-8 at Nebraska. 16. Northwestern - 5-7/2-7 - OVER - 6-6 and bowl eligible. 17. Rutgers 2-10/0-9 - OVER with at least three wins but not bowl eligible. 18. Purdue - 1-11/0-9 - OVER with three or four wins. It figures that the team at the bottom of the B1G plays 11 P4 opponents, including Notre Dame and Wake Forest out-of-conference. Thanks again, Steven, and Beat Boise!

Best of luck, young man, but I think you made the Wong decision. 🤬 https://duckswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/ducks/recruiting/2026/06/27/oregon-football-recruiting-blake-wong-commitment-byu/90720058007/?utm_content=engagement&itm_medium=onsite&itm_campaign=re

Phil Steele's Top 25 On3Phil Steele releases 2026 preseason poll, ranking all col...Phil Steele has released his 2026 preseason poll as he ranked all teams in college football from No. 1 to 138.

FPI 7/12 - Seven B1G and 12 SEC teams, 75% of the SEC conference, in the FPI preseason top 25 On3College Football Rankings: ESPN releases preseason FPI ah...ESPN has officially released its preseason FPI power rankings on Thursday ahead of the 2026 college football season.

Domers vs. Ducks? YardbarkerWhy Notre Dame, Oregon are likely to be in CFP national c...Plenty of teams enter the 2026 season with College Football Playoff aspirations, but two programs separate themselves from the pack in a way that points toward a head-to-head game in Las Vegas on Jan.

FWIW, Pete Fiutak is the man at College Football News, not Yahoo. I think Fiutak's call of the Trojans' biggest game coming in Week 4 against Oregon is spot on. This game against SC's biggest recruiting rival for West Coast talent is a season and program-defining game. SC has been good in LA under Riley, but Riley is 1-6 on the road in the B1G. With a trap game at Rutgers the week before playing Oregon, Penn State, Indiana, Wisconsin, and UCLA, and home games vs. UW and Ohio State in addition to Oregon, SC going a predicted 9-3 is optimistic. QB Maiava's two top receivers, including the Biletnikoff winner Makai Lemon, are off to the NFL, as is TE Lake McRee. A lot of good freshmen are on the roster, but they're freshmen. Does new DC Gary Patterson still have his fastball? And is SC ready to battle on both LOS? https://collegefootballnews.com/college-football/usc-football-preview-2026 Future odds have Oregon at a -5.5 favorite. One question for Oregon: Is there a kicker on the roster with the chops of Atticus Sappington? If there is, we didn't see him in the spring game. USC Trojans On SIEarly Betting Odds Released for USC Trojans' Big Ten Show...USC will face an early season test when Oregon makes the trip down to Los Angeles for a highly anticipated matchup on Sept. 26. Typically, a November matchup,

Movin' On Up! https://www.espn.com/college-football/recruiting/story/_/id/48503376/2027-college-football-recruiting-class-rankings-top-teams-schools

Athlon Sports predicts the 2026-27 college football (CFB) playoff (PO) field. https://athlonsports.com/college-football/playoff-12-team-preseason-projections-predictions-2026 Forum Friend Stevan A. posted this article that was reposted by Sports Illustrated in an article with the lede: Oregon Fans Will Love This Prediction. Are you whipping me? Athlon again predicts that five SEC teams will be in the 12-team PO field and that Oregon will again be knocked out by Texas in Arlington, Texas, in the PO semifinals. Why, especially with the championship being played in the Pacific time zone for the only time under the current format, would Oregon fans be pleased with a 2025 re-run? With the talent on both sides of the ball Oregon brings back in 2026, this OBD fan finds the Athlon predictions and the Sports Illustrated article offensive; another semifinal loss would be a Duck treading water. Five SEC teams in the field with the SEC going to nine conference games? After an unworthy 3-loss Bama team and an unworthy Oklahoma made the field last season? A loss in a conference champ game should not eliminate a team from PO contention. Using this criterion, 3-loss Bama made the field and not 2-loss BYU. BYU lost twice to a PO team, Texas Tech; one of Bama's losses came against a bad Florida State team, and Georgia avenged its regular-season loss to the Tide and decisively defeated Bama in the SEC conference champ game. 3-loss Texas deserved a spot in the PO instead of an Oklahoma team the Longhorns defeated 23-6. Alabama's 1st-round PO win at Oklahoma was illusory, as evidenced by Bama suffering a historic Rose Bowl humiliation. Notwithstanding the Big Ten winning the last three PO titles, and Illinois, Iowa, and Michigan defeating Greg Sankey's PO-worthy SEC teams in 2024 and 2025 bowl games, played with few opt-outs except for Michigan defenders in 2024 when Michigan defeated Bama, the middle of the SEC continues to be preseason ranked well above the middle of the B1G. Athlon, with its headquarters in Nashville, has delivered another SEC-centric PO projection. Athlon is far from the only site to favor the middle of the SEC over the center of the Big Ten. Who cares except for the fact that the PO committee does the same when seeding the PO field? However, no one knows the voodoo practiced by the Grapevine Gurus behind closed doors. Notwithstanding ESPN and Bill Connelly's SP+ 2026 preseason rankings that have Ohio State, Oregon, and Indiana respectively ranked 1st, 2nd, and 5th, the SEC dominates the top of the rankings with 13 of its 16 teams ranked in the SP+ top 31; the Big Ten has eight of 18 teams ranked in the top 31. Illinois is ranked 32nd, behind 16 Tennessee and 25 South Carolina teams the Illini defeated in the last two postseasons, including last season's win over the Vols in Nashville. While still hoping to find a life (😁), I totaled the SP+ team rankings and strength-of-schedule rankings for the Power Four conferences to determine the average team and SOS rankings. ACC - Rankings - 44.70/ SOS 48.47. B12 - Rankings - 44.25/ SOS 50.93 B1G - Rankings - 35.11/ SOS 25.16 SEC - Rankings - 22.25/ SOS 12.18 Georgia, with an SOS of 25, has the lowest SOS ranking in the SEC. Thus, every 2026 SEC team in the preseason plays (in a stentorian voice) 'A Gauntlet Not Faced by Teams in the Lesser Conferences; The Schedules Just Mean More! Teams like Illinois and Iowa would be fortunate to win five conference games in the SEC!' All righty then. However, we don't see these results when the teams meet on the field of play. And in my opinion, Tony Petitti, in not whining over 3-loss Big Ten teams not making the PO, holds the high ground, and many who laughed at Tony's 24-team PO proposal, except for ESPN and Grag Sankey, have come around to the B1G point of view. To reiterate, Oregon fans will not be pleased if Oregon loses a semifinal game against Texas in Arlington, Texas. It's condescending to suggest that a semifinal loss is all that Ducks fans expect. Steve Sarkisian's team qualified for one 12-team PO appearance; his PO record is 2-1. Dan Lanning is 2-2. Ryan Day is 4-1 with a title. Curt Cignetti is 3-1 with a title. Kirby Smart is 0-2. No SEC coach has more than two PO wins. On the way to winning it all in Las Vegas, start with a win over Boise State! FYI, below are the SP+ rankings for B1G vs SEC in 2026. No. 1 Ohio State at No. 6 Texas. No. 12 Oklahoma at No. 14 Michigan. No. 52 Mississippi State at No. 45 Minnesota. Rankings for Oregon's out-of-conference opponents and a few other top contenders for the 2026-27 title. Boise State - No. 38 / SOS 73 - Boise is the highest-ranked G6 team. Oklahoma State - No. 39 / SOS also 39. Week 2 is the home opener for the Cowboys. Notre Dame - No.3 / SOS 62 ... Miami - No. 8 / SOS 49 ... Louisville -No. 27 / SOS 60 ... Texas Tech - No. 7 / SOS 71, in a PO field with 68 FBS teams ... BYU No. 53 / SOS 53 But it's an even playing field, right? 🤪 Sorry, Pawall, but the middle of my conference can beat the middle of your conference.

Thanks for all of the great posts today! Sayin waltzed through a Big Ten regular season playing with a significant roster advantage on both sides of the ball, including the nation's best defense. No Oregon or Indiana were on the 2025 schedule. Michigan was a dysfunctional mess. Indiana in the conference champ game and Miami in the 2nd round of the playoff punched the Buckeyes O in the mouth. Sayin was pressured like he hadn't been all season, and he didn't step up. In fairness, the Ohio State run game that had been average all season fell apart in the postseason. Moore's game against Texas Tech was symptomatic of the entire offense going against one of the best D's in CFB. The Oregon O line was overwhelmed by the Red Raiders D. Even Poncho had a tough game with a couple of bowling ball bad snaps. The Ducks O was also shut down twice by Indiana against Iowa in Iowa City and stuttered against Northwestern and Wisconsin. Oregon lost twice to the national champion, but Dante won two playoff games, engineered victories against Northwestern and Wisconsin, and led an incredible late-game drive in a torrential rainstorm to beat Iowa. UW under Jedd Fisch has been a very tough out in Seattle, but the Huskies were not a threat to defeat Oregon. OBD controlled this game as impressively as Ohio State when the Buckeyes played in Seattle. Even in the debacle that was the Bloomington-South Peach Bowl, Dante led a terrific 2nd possession drive to knot the score. His breakdowns came in a stupid, IMO, 1st play of the game call, a muffed handoff to an inexperienced RB, an O-line breakdown, and a defense that couldn't get off the field. But Indiana did go 16-0. When you put up 69 points against Oklahoma State, and 56 points against Rutgers, the Total O stats will not tell the whole story. Dante was a young and inexperienced QB in 2025 with his OC with one foot out the door during the playoffs, and a dinged-up WR and RB corps. How the O-line gels and how much Dante has improved, along with the dreaded injury bug not infecting the team, are the keys to a possible championship in 2026. Whether Dante is better than Sayin or not, USC best be ready for both Moore and Sayin and also ready for DeMond Williams and UW, and on the road against Rocco Becht and Penn State, and Josh Hoover and Indiana. Riley is 1-6 in true Big Ten road games. I think and hope that SC struggles to go over 8.5 wins. Beat Boise!

If you have time on your hands, here's ESPN's Bill Connolly's take on 138 FBS football teams. How about the P4 saying goodbye to the G6 with the G6 having a playoff of its own? The next time UTEP will challenge the P4 for a playoff title? In this version of the multiverse, how about never? Ditto our friends in the Pac 8 + Gonzo. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/49287901/bill-connelly-2026-fbs-college-football-conference-previews If you read this article cover to cover, you may want to consider getting a life. Except for the Boise take, this CFB junkie passed on the Groveling Group of 6.

Brandon Finney, not some Domer who plays against inferior competition, should be ranked as CFB's No. 1 CB. Oregon Ducks On SIThree Big Things to Know About Oregon Cornerback Brandon...Oregon Ducks defensive back Brandon Finney Jr. has solidified himself as a top defender in the country, as he is a mixture of smart football and pure athleticis

From B12 Media Days, the Commish Gives Us a DUH 🤪- B12 is Behind the B1G and the SEC - Who Knew 🙃- On3Brett Yormark admits Big 12 has 'a ways to go' to measure...Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark acknowledges the league has 'a ways to go' to measure up vs. its Power Four rivals in the Big Ten and SEC.

On3's Ari Wasserman Ranks the Big Ten QBs - Give us Moore, Please - On3Big Ten quarterback rankings: Top 10 signal callers headi...Ranking the top 10 Big Ten quarterbacks heading into the 2026 college football season.

The game from Boise Coach Danielson's public POV - In the Boise locker room - 'OK men, let's go flock up some Ducks!' SuperWest SportsBoise State's Spencer Danielson details mindset ahead of...The Boise State Broncos come to Eugene, giving Oregon one of the best Group of 6 teams in the nation as an opener.

Good point. But opening with PSU would give a new O-line a chance to get a game under the belt before the tougher games. On the other hand, it's a quasi off week before playing at USC.

To date, eight B1G programs are in the Rivals Top-25 recruiting ranking - Rivals2027 Industry Football Team Recruiting RankingsA list of the top 2027 Football teams in order of recruiting rankings solely based off of the Rivals Industry Ranking

A Preview of the Defending Champion (🤪) Indiana Hoosiers - https://athlonsports.com/college-football/indiana-football-2026-hoosiers-season-preview-prediction

Athlon Sports on G6 to P4 QB Transfers starting with OK State Drew Mestermaker - https://athlonsports.com/college-football/group-of-6-power-4-transfer-quarterbacks-byrum-brown

CBS Sports' ultimate CFB roster starts with the Oregon QB room. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/ultimate-college-football-roster-2026/