Last season, I didn't have much good news on Friday morning, but the men's basketball team is giving us something to cheer:
- Oregon hadn't won at Maples Pavilion since 1986, but the Ducks pulled out a victory after giving an up early lead. Stanford roared back to take a 6-point lead early in the second half, but a Dana Altman time out refocused the team, particularly on rebounding. The Ducks effort on the boards led to a 33-29 advantage, and a 20-6 advantage in second chance points. And there is no shortage of bad pun headlines after the victory, but Tako won the day with this comment in the game thread. I think the RG copied him.
- Unfortunately, it wasn't such good news for the Oregon women. They missed their first 15 field goal attempts, and fell into a 19-1 hole. That won't get it done against the fourth ranked team in the country. The Oregon men must have passed their poor shooting onto the women, because the Ducks shot only 25 percent on the game, which led to them being outrebounded 68-32. Other than that, the Ducks didn't too too terribly, forcing 18 turnovers (to only 11), and holding Stanford to 44% shooting.
- George Schroeder's column today is on Ernie Kent, and what he's been up to over the last year. It's a good read, but also pretty sad.
- Speaking of sad, Rob Moseley asks if you've gone back and re-watched the BCS Championship Game, and also gives some extended thoughts on what happened during the game. I haven't re-watched the entire game yet, though have watched sections from time to time, and it was pretty bittersweet. I'll re-watch the whole game at some point soon. There are a lot of interesting formations that the Ducks ran on both sides of the ball that are worth giving an extended look.
- Oregon baseball is right around the corner, and the accolades for the team are piling up. Oregon is a consensus top-15 team this season, and recently was picked 10th in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Preseason Coaches' Poll. They are the second highest ranked Pac-10 team in the poll, with UCLA sitting in the top spot. Baseball America ranked the Ducks at 14th, and has a good writeup on the team, as well.
- Today's Oregonlive recruit profile is on Colt Lyerla, the Ducks only five-star commit. With those hips, and a 40-inch vertical jump, Lyerla will make things happen no matter what position he ends up at.
- In another bit of recruiting news, recent Oregon commit Roderick Byers may be at risk. He's long favored Clemson, but has never received an offer. Well, Clemson recently lost a four-star DE, and may offer Byers at the last minute.