No big news this morning, but we got all sorts of random Duck notes. Here's your quack:
- There has been rumbling of a college football playoff in the last couple weeks, and George Schroeder's piece today is how the Pac-12 and Larry Scott is quietly in favor of expanding college football's postseason. This is a huge step, because the Pac-12, Big 10, and Rose Bowl have been key in killing any playoff hopes. But it seems that these groups may finally be changing, and if it does, it would likely be for the 2014 season.
- In more Pac-12 news, Jon Wilner has the latest on the coming Pac-12 network. The Pac-12 studios have broken ground in San Francisco, and should be up and running by August 15th. Get on the phone with your cable provider, and make sure you have it before kickoff on September 1st.
- Bob Clark rounds up some basketball notes. Some Pac-12 teams are looking at expanding midseason non-league games. Carlos Emory is drawing praise from Altman. Also, be prepared for Matt to keep complaining about EJ's hairband, because it looks like he's not cutting his hair anytime soon.
- Dion Jordan comes in at No. 20 in Ted Miller's Top 25 countdown. Jordan improved immensely over the season, and I can't wait to see what he can do next year. For more on Jordan, Joe Soriano from Autzen Zoo had a piece on him this morning.
- Phil Steele has the latest BCS Championship odds, and Oregon comes in as a 12/1 favorite, tied for 5th with Florida State. LSU is first with 19/4 odds, and USC is just behind with 5/1 odds. Looks like Oregon was dinged a bit with Darron Thomas' decision to leave for the NFL.
- With Baseball starting this weekend, Oregon is picked to finish 7th in the conference, though only 11 teams play in the Pac-12, as Colorado doesn't have a baseball team.
- Oregon softball dropped from 11th to 19th in the latest rankings after going 3-2 in their opening weekend. While being ranked is nice, there are 6 Pac-12 teams ranked ahead of the Ducks. As always, the Ducks will face a ton of high quality teams.
- Lastly, an interesting piece from Ivan Maisel on the rise of junior days. If you follow recruiting, you know that Texas and USC have held their recently, and these camps typically produce a high number of commitments for these traditional powerhouses. These have been going on for a while, but the NCAA has very few regulations on them, and the trip must be paid for by the PSA. Right now, junior day isn't as big for Oregon as other schools, in large part because of the expense of getting to Eugene. Hopefully NCAA regulations could make things a bit more favorable.
GO DUCKS!