It was a pretty great weekend for Oregon sports. Yeah, the NCAA investigation into the football team is still ongoing, but at least it'll be over sometime soon. In good news, the basketball and baseball teams both got the job done on the road.
- Oregon's hopes for a spot in the NCAA tournament are still alive, as they squeaked by OSU 74-73 at Gill Coliseum last night. Garrett Sim kept the Ducks in it early with 25 points, and Devoe Joseph and E.J. Singler came alive in the second half. The Ducks staked out a couple large leads in the second half, but the Beavs never went away and had a chance to tie it up late, but a last second three came up short, giving the Ducks the victory. This sets up a huge game on Thursday night against Colorado, who knocked off Cal last night to stay tied for 4th in the conference with the Ducks.
- George Schroeder praises the return of the rivalry between Oregon and OSU. It was a chippy game, with physical play throughout, and a few altercations. Garrett Sim and Jared Cunningham were called for offsetting technical fouls (which gave Cunningham 3 fouls halfway through the first half), and Ahmad Starks was called for a flagrant foul for shoving Garrett Sim down on a fast break. While it was an ugly game to watch at times, it was good to watch both teams battle.
- After a scary game and a half that had me thinking "here we go again" the Oregon baseball team is absolutely killing it. After dropping their first game, they are on a 7-game winning streak, averaging over 8 runs per game. The Ducks closed out the series against 17th ranked Vanderbilt with a 7-6 win, getting some huge hits late to take the lead, and then holding on late after Vandy threatened late. The Ducks open at home on Tuesday night against Portland.
- The Ducks are at the combine, and LaMichael James has had a strong showing so far. While his 40 time (good for 2nd best among running backs) is slightly disappointing, he showed his athleticism across the board. SI.com named him a "riser," though unfortunately Darron Thomas was named a "slider" after a not so great performance. James was also listed as a "top performer" is four of the six combine drills.
- Good ol' Cliff Harris. He's at the combine as well, though hasn't participated in drills yet. But he's been going through interviews, and called his driving issues "bonehead" mistakes. Hopefully he has finally learned and will be able to move forward from his time at Oregon.
- It's not all great news for Oregon athletics. The women's basketball team continued to slide as they fell 68-53 to OSU, causing Joe from Autzen Zoo to call for the firing of coach Paul Westhead.
- We talked a bit over the weekend about Oregon's NCAA violation document dump, and speculated a bit on what could happen to the Ducks. No one has a clue so far, though Joey Kaufman speculates at Pacific Takes that Oregon won't get hit with USC-level sanctions. This seems to be what most expect. Ted Miller guessed that Oregon will not get horribly punished, but won't get a slap on the wrist either.
Got anything else? Leave it in the comments. GO DUCKS!