First, a programming note: due to Valentine's Day, Dave and Matt will not be doing a Tuesday Night Talks this week. It's almost like they have lives outside of keeping us entertained. Enjoy your Tuesday fix:

• After a big sweep of the Washington schools this past week, E.J. Singler was named the conference player of the week. Singler averaged 18 points and 7 rebounds in the two victories and, as the linked Pac-12 release notes, is closing in on some career milestones.
• As teased yesterday, Benzduck has a new entry up on Duck Downs, telling the Joe Lillard story. As usual, it is well-written and definitely a must read.
• For those of you holding out hope that Oregon can some how find a way into the NCAA tournament this year, the latest Sporting News has the Ducks as a bubble team, with Arizona and Cal both earning invites. The Ducks will try to keep those hopes alive with a trip to the Bay Area this week.
• Finally, fishduck contributor Josh Schlichter has a video breaking down Oregon's swinging gate formation on PATs.

Go Ducks

So, is it time to start the countdown clock for the spring game? Here's your Tuesday fix:

• Former Oregon steeplchaser Geoff Hollister passed away on Monday at the age of 66. Hollister graduated from South Eugene before running for Bill Bowerman at Oregon and becoming Nike's third official employee. RIP.
• Ted Miller has been doing a series of "Top Performer" posts and yesterday featured LaMichael James' performance against the Bears. While Oregon fans may remember this game as the one in which James dislocated his elbow, James had a dominating performance with 239 yards on 30 carries through the first three-plus quarters.
• Miller also had a few other posts from yesterday. First, he offered his thoughts on the Larry Scott extension. Ted also has a post-signing day ranking of the conference, which appears to take into account player departures since January 10th and the latest recruiting class.
• In his weekly look around the conference, Bob Clark examines Arizona's resurgence. After sweeping the Bay Area schools, the Wildcats are tied with Oregon for fourth and only two games back of the conference lead. Oregon also slips to 6th in the weekly rankings.
• There's also a couple of new posts over at fishduck.com. In the latest fishduck minute, Charles has a video opener to this offseason's focus on defense. Jerod Young wonders about the magical abilities of Dana Altman.

Go Ducks!

With signing day only a day away, this morning's quack is surprising light on recruiting news. The news yesterday was that Shaq Thompson has chosen washington over the Ducks. Here's the rest of your Tuesday fix:

• Rob Moseley checks in with LaMichael James, who is in southern California training and preparing for April's NFL draft. It sounds like James is still planning to enroll for spring quarter so he can earn his degree and take part in the summer commencement. Also, with his entrance into the twiitersphere, James has also been busy trying to market himself.
• Aaron Fentress has a feature on Oregon recruit Kyle Long, who went from a two-sport star in high school to playing baseball at Florida State where off-the-field issues led him back to playing football at a junior college. Long has one season of eligibility remaining, though he plans to petition the NCAA for a second.
• Bob Clark has a preview for both the Duck and Beaver baseball teams. It sounds like Coach Horton's biggest obstacle will be trying to replace some of the talent he lost to the pros. Oregon opens the season on February 17 in Hawaii.
• Finally, Charles has a new video up at fishduck.com. His latest post breaks down Oregon's dart play.

Go Ducks!

The quack is a little late this morning, but here you go. Get it while it's hot.

• Bob Clark's basketball column today focuses on Oregon's next opponent: the offensively challenged USC Trojans who limp into tonight's game still seeking their first conference win. The Ducks are also up to #3 in his weekly rankings.
• Rob Moseley's last two positional reviews covered the offensive and defensive lines.
• Aaron Fentress runs down the Ducks and Beavers who have the potential to be selected in this year's NFL draft. Fentress thinks that only LaMichael James, Cliff Harris and Josh Kaddu are locks, with David Paulsen Eddie Pleasant and Darron Thomas all on the fringe.
• Oregon commit Oshay Dunmore was named to the Parade All-American High School team as an "all-purpose" player. If you really want to be impressed, make sure you check out some of his achievements from the last year, which include earning all-state honors for both offense and defense.
• Finally, Josh White from FishDuck has a nice feature on John Boyett, along with a run down of some Oregon's other notable safeties. Definitely worth checking out.

Go Ducks!

All I needed last night was an LSU cover to win my money pool. Was that so much to ask? Here's your first dose of off-season quack:

• Oregon finished ranked #4 in both the final AP and coaches' poll released last night. USC finished #6 in the AP with Stanford coming in at #7 in both polls.
• De'Anthony Thomas was named a freshman All-American as an all-purpose player by the Football Writers Association of America. Joining him on the team from the conference were Sean Mannion, Marqise Lee, Dion Bailey (LB-USC) and Eric Rowe (DB-Utah).
• The latest on Jonathan Lloyd is that he's questionable for Thursday's game against Arizona State after bruising his knee in Sunday's game against Cal. Lloyd not playing might mean more action for true freshman Brett Kingma.
• With the Arizona basketball road trip coming up this week, Bob Clark has the Ducks sixth in weekly rankings.
• Ted Miller has his final Pac-12 power rankings in which he wonders which season is Oregon's all-time best: 2001, 2010 or 2011? What does everyone here think?

Go Ducks!

Still can't believe the Ducks are Rose Bowl champions. Last night's game was incredible, with a bunch of standout individual performances. As such, there is a ton of quack out there this morning. I have picked out some of my favorites that I have found this morning. Please feel free to share any that you found in the comments below.

• Rob Moseley recounts Oregon's clock-killing drive in the fourth quarter that ended with a field goal to put Oregon up by 7. After a bunch of quick strike scores, this drive chewed up nearly six minutes of game clock and may have started to put a little pressure on Wisconsin with less than seven minutes left and only one timeout.
• Adam Jude has a couple of stories on some of the individual performances. First, he highlights the play of LaMichael James De'Anthony Thomas, who both rushed for over 150 yards. Next, he writes about defensive MVP Kiko Alonso, whose breakout performance included his key interception.
• Ted Miller has a bunch of videos and posts up on the Pac-12 blog. Here's his post on Oregon ending 95 years of frustration. I also particularly enjoyed his interview with Mark Asper.
• Bruce Feldman shares his thoughts on what the Rose Bowl victory means for the Ducks nationally.

I'm sure that everyone will have lots of other quack to share, so leave it in the comments. Rose Bowl Champs! Go Ducks!

An entertaining Alamo Bowl ending with a Baylor win and a surprising romp by the basketball team makes for a pretty good night. Enjoy your Friday fix.

• Rob Moseley writes that the one thing that LaMichael James is missing is a defining moment in a BCS bowl game. In his two BCS appearances, James has just 28 carries for 119 yards Moseley and Adam Jude also have a some notes up that include some quotes from the team on James and his now infamous picture from Space Mountain.
• Jude thinks that Wisconsin will attempt to do what most Oregon opponents try: to keep the ball away from the Duck's offense. I think it all comes down to is whether or not Oregon can get into a consistent rhythm on offense. If they do, they can put some pressure on the Badgers, which can lead to more opportunities on offense.
• The men's basketball team opened up the Pac-12 schedule with a 92-75 victory against Washington State. As a team, the Ducks shot nearly 70% from the field and were led by Olu Ashaolu and his 23 points. Hopefully the Ducks will carry the momentum into the Washington game on Saturday.
• George Schroeder wonders if the extra time for Wisconsin to prepare will mean another loss for the Ducks.
• Ted Miller had several pieces on Oregon and the Rose Bowl yesterday. In case you missed it yesterday morning, Ted writes that it's unlikely the Ducks will be leaving the national scene any time soon. He followed that up with a post on Oregon's new uniforms. He also has the highlights from yesterday's press conference, including some great quotes from Helfrich. Finally, here's a video preview of the Rose Bowl.
• Charles has his second video previewing what we might see against Wisconsin. Good stuff, as always.
• The Washington State women's basketball team also scored 75 against the Ducks last night. Unfortunately, the Lady Ducks only managed only 47 as both Amanda Johnson and Nia Jackson were out with injuries.

Go Ducks!

Lots of quack out there today, so let's get right to it.

• Rob Moseley writes about Oregon's struggles in games after a long layoff. Included in those losses are the recent Rose Bowl and National Championship games in which the Ducks were held scoreless during the first quarter.
• It looks like a goducks.com article on Oregon's loss to Virginia was hacked with some fictitious quotes attributed to Dana Altman. The hacked story was picked up by ESPN and a Virginia blogger before the fake quotes were deleted.
• The latest Ask-A-Duck featured David Paulson and you can read all his answers here.
• Ted Miller takes an early look at the conference's potential 2012 Hesiman candidates and De'Anthony Thomas makes the list. Next, Miller runs down the conference's bowl tie-ins and wonders if the Pac-12 can do better. The current bowl contracts run through 2013. And in case you were wondering what the players will receive as gifts from the conference bowl games, Ted has the all the details.
• Lindsay Schnell has a story on the most recent O Heroes effort where a handful of players helped some underprivileged kids shop for their families for the holidays.
• Josh White from fishduck.com has a post previewing the Wisconsin defense.
• It looks like Jabari Brown is off to MIssouri.
• The Lady Ducks pulled off a 79-75 victory over Cal. State Northridge on Monday night. Jasmin Holliday led the Ducks with 23 points and freshman Jordan Loera hit two free throws late to seal the victory.

Also, Don't forget to check out the videos after the jump

Go Ducks!

Continue reading this post »

I don't know about you, but this last weekend was terrible without a full slate of college football. Thankfully, the bowl games start soon. Here's your Tuesday morning quack:

• Aaron Fentress has a story with some details on Oregon's bowl preparations. After practices for four straight days, the Ducks now have a three-day break, though it sounds like many players will spend that time in the film or weight rooms. The coaches are also making use of the time off from practices to go on recruiting trips.
• The Ducks had some trouble putting away Portland State last night, but ended up with a 79-70 home victory. It also looks like Oregon will be without Tyrone Nared for at least the next four games after he suffered a knee injury during a scramble for a loose ball in the second half.
• With the younger players taking a lot of reps in practice the last four days, Rob Moseley has a piece on the progression of Oregon's redshirting freshmen, including some quotes from some of Oregon's starters. And, a Q&A with Mark Asper is included at the very end (or here)---he even answers a question on leg whips.
  
• Bob Clark's look around the conference focuses on the departure of Reeves Nelson from UCLA. Oregon is fifth in his weekly rankings.
• Adam Jude goes over some of the bonuses the Chip Kelly and the rest of the staff can earn with a victory over Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.
• Ted Miller has the Pro Football Weekly All-American team, which also takes into account NFL potential. John Boyett is the only Duck to earn a mention.

Go Ducks!

Looks like the Ducks are getting an early start on the off-season. Here's your Tuesday quack fix:

• The big news from yesterday was the news that Cliff Harris was (finally?) dismissed from the team after being cited for marijuana possession 10 days ago. Adam Jude's article covers some of the memorable moments (both good and bad) of Cliff's time at Oregon.
• LaMichael James became the third Duck to earn All-American honors for multiple seasons after being named to the AFCA coaches’ all-America team. James was honored as an "all-purpose" player with Montee Ball and Trent Richardson claiming the running back spots.
• Aaron Fentress has a preview of Wisconsin, focusing on the challenge presented by Russell Wilson and Ball.
• As many of you noted yesterday in the comments, Oregon sold through its allotment of Rose Bowl tickets quickly. If you didn't get one, it looks like your best option will be to hit the secondary market.
• Ted Miller has a couple of posts up. First, he assesses the Pac-12 after its first season and lists some his likes and dislikes. Next, he wraps up the regular season, including his pick of De'Anthony Thomas for top newcomer.
• Charles Fischer also has the latest fish report from the Pac-12 championship game. As usual, it's another great breakdown, so check it out.
• Bob Clark focuses on the Stanford basketball team in his weekly look around the conference. And, in his power rankings, Oregon comes in at #6.
• Curtis Anderson has a nice story up reviewing the women's volleyball season, which ended in the first round of the NCAA tournament last week. After a season with some very impressive wins, including the upset of Penn State to start the season, it was unfortunate to see it come to an end.

Go Ducks!

FTC disclosure: This contest is sponsored by Gameday Depot and SB Nation.

I can't believe how quickly we have reached the end of another football season. This year's jersey contest saw a record number of users participating, and after 14 weeks we have the final standings. First, congratulations to kachnydotoho for finishing first in this week's ATQ Jersey Contest. He or she gets the $10 gift certificate.

The grand-prize winner this year was Bakkala, who finished with 48 total points and who used 13 points (out of a potential total of 15) over the last three weeks to win. The grand-prize is an Oregon jersey, and you will be contacted via email by Jared to handle the details.

Our sponsorship with gamedaydepot this year also resulted in a $50 gift certificate for the runner-up. With 46 total points, the runner-up and winner of the gift certificate is scudderfan. I will be emailing you shortly with details on how to collect your prize.

Remember, you can get either (1) officially licensed Oregon Ducks hoodies, jackets, t-shirts and more at the Addicted to Quack licensed store, or (2) your very own custom tees at the Addicted to Quack custom store.

This week's top ten and the season top ten are below the jump. You can view the full standings at the official Google doc spreadsheet.

Continue reading this post »

All that stands in the way of a third-straight conference title and another trip to the Rose Bowl is UCLA at Autzen on Friday.  Here's your Tuesday quack:

• Rob Moseley writes today about the Ducks preparing for UCLA and looking for their third straight conference title.  With the game scheduled for Friday evening, the Ducks and Bruins are both working on a short week of preparation, the UCLA also has to deal with the firing of Rick Neuheisel, which was announced yesterday.
• With the Neuheisel firing, this may be our last opportunity to enjoy a Weasel Stomping Day.  George Schroeder writes that the UCLA mess is probably not what Larry Scott envisioned in the inaugural Pac-12 championship game.  Finalyl, Neuheisel wasn't the only conference casualty: Dennis Erickson was also given his walking papers and a final decision on Wazzu's Paul Wulff is expected today.  
• The all-conference teams were announced yesterday and the Ducks had a total of 12 players named.  Of note, LaMichael James, De'Anthony Thomas, Eddie Pleasant, Dion Jordan and Josh Kaddu made the first-team, with Thomas also sharing offensive freshman of the year honors with USC's Marquise Lee.  The biggest Oregon oversights were probably the complete absences of Darron Thomas and Michael Clay.  
• In basketball news, the Ducks take on UTEP tonight, who are led by former USC coach Tim Floyd.  It also appears there is no news on Jabari Brown, which Altman expressing doubts about the possibility of a reconciliation as more time passes.  
• Bob Clark has switched focus with his weekly look around the conference from football to basketball.  His topic this week is the poor performance of the conference as a whole in the early part of the season.  
• Benzduck runs down six of the best games that have pitted Oregon and UCLA against each other.  He even sneaks in a few UCLA wins.  
• Finally, here's the latest fish report following the Oregon State game.  In the latest installment, Charles takes a look at the sweep-read play that the Ducks have begun incorporating in their game plan.

Go Ducks!

Well, we have reached the final week of the 2011 Jersey Contest.  Good luck to everyone who is still in the running.  And, to everyone else, you still have one last shot to win a $10 gift certificate to gameday depot.  Here are the final set of games:

• Oklahoma at Oklahoma State
• Wisconsin vs. Michigan State
• Texas at Baylor
• Virginia Tech vs. Clemson
• Georgia (+10.5) vs. LSU (-10.5)

Continue reading this post »

FTC disclosure: This contest is sponsored by Gameday Depot and SB Nation.

Cliff Harrising arises above the chaos to win this week's ATQ Jersey Contest. As a reward for being either absolutely brilliant or extremely lucky, he or she gets the $10 gift certificate. Remember, you can avoid the crowds this Black Friday and get either (1) officially licensed Oregon Ducks hoodies, jackets, t-shirts and more at the Addicted to Quack licensed store, or (2) your very own custom tees at the Addicted to Quack custom store. Cliff Harrising, look for a confirmation email with instructions on how to claim your prize. The rest of you, remember that there is still a $50 gift certificate up for grabs to whoever finishes first for the entire season, so keep playing.

This week's top ten and the season top ten are below the jump. You can view the full standings at the official Google doc spreadsheet.

Continue reading this post »

As many have said since Saturday night, the Ducks still have a ton to play for this season.  I have no doubts that they will come out prepared and looking to erase the memory of the USC game on Saturday.

• Moseley's feature today looks at how the Ducks will refocus after Saturday's loss.  Like many fans, Chip prefers having another game to try and bounce back after a loss.  Moseley also notes a couple of Ducks who are finalists for national awards: LaMichael James for the Doak Walker award and Jackson Rice  for the Ray Guy award. 
• In a similar vein, Aaron Fentress writes that there was a different feel to the Oregon practice on Monday.
• Bob Clark reports that Tony Woods traveled with the team to Nebraska on Monday and may even be in uniform for Wednesday's game.  There is also no further update on Jabari Brown.  
• Charles Fischer also has the latest Fish Report up at fishduck.com.  This week's segment takes a look at some modifications to the outside zone read that showed up on Saturday.  Fellow fishduck.com contributor Dale also has a post on prep WR Dwayne Stanford II who was at the USC game and is set announce a verbal commitment tomorrow.
• Ted Miller has an update on the Pac-12 network.  Ted also shares his thoughts on Arizona hiring Rich Rodriguez.    
• Everyday Should be Saturday attempts to guess what might have been going through Chip Kelly's head during the game with USC on Saturday.  Nice work.
• In cross country news, Jordan Hasay finished second at the NCAA championships after being outkicked and finishing just 0.6 seconds behind the winner, Sheila Reid of Villanova.  Overall, the women finished fifth.  On the men's side, individual qualifier Luke Puskedra finished in sixth.

Go Ducks!

Only two weeks left.  Here are your week 13 games:

• Arkansas at LSU
• Clemson at South Carolina
• Ohio State (+8.5) at Michigan (-8.5)
• Washington State (+6.5) at Washington (-6.5)
• Florida State at Florida

Here are the updated standings.  As always, the rules for the contest can be found here: PickEmRules

Continue reading this post »

FTC disclosure: This contest is sponsored by Gameday Depot and SB Nation.

clown1020 arises above the chaos to win this week's ATQ Jersey Contest. As a reward for being either absolutely brilliant or extremely lucky, he or she gets the $10 gift certificate. Remember, you can avoid the crowds this Black Friday and get either (1) officially licensed Oregon Ducks hoodies, jackets, t-shirts and more at the Addicted to Quack licensed store, or (2) your very own custom tees at the Addicted to Quack custom store. clown1020, look for a confirmation email with instructions on how to claim your prize. The rest of you, remember that there is still a $50 gift certificate up for grabs to whoever finishes first for the entire season, so keep playing.

This week's top ten and the season top ten are below the jump. You can view the full standings at the official Google doc spreadsheet.

Continue reading this post »

What a game this weekend.  One more win and the Ducks will wrap up a spot in the inaugural Pac-12 championship game.  On to the quack. 

• Rob Moseley's USC preview today is on receivers Robert Woods and Marqise Lee, who will pose the biggest challenge to our secondary of the season.  
• Aaron Fentress, meanwhile, writes about Chip Kelly's penchant for going for it on 4th down.  Against Stanford, Oregon converted two of three chances on 4th, with both conversions going for touchdowns.  Fentress also writes about Boseko Lokombo scoring his third touchdown of the season off of a 4th-quarter pick of Andrew Luck.   Finally, Oregon players appear to be shrugging off the recent comments from Matt Barkley.  
• Man, what's up with that Ted Miller?  What does he have against the Ducks?  First, he puts Oregon back on top of his power rankings.  Then, he has some glowing things to say about Oregon in his weekly rewind, devotes his video segment to the Ducks and finally wrapped it all up with a long post on how the Ducks have recovered after the opening-season loss.
• In Bob Clark's look around the conference, he focuses on conference juniors that may decide to leave early for the NFL.  
• FishDuck also has his latest breakdown from the game.  This time, Charles includes some discussion on defensive plays.  Good stuff, as always.  Also, FishDuck contributor Dale has a nice story on De'Anthony Thomas' fast start to his Oregon career, which has already included 13 touchdowns.
• Oregon is looking to add additional temporary seating at Autzen for the final two home games of the season.  The towers still need to be approved by the city and the current plan is to remove them before the conference championship game.

Don't forget to check out the videos after the jump.

Go Ducks!

Continue reading this post »

In case you missed it over the weekend, here are the updated standings.  As always, the rules for the contest can be found here: PickEmRules

And, I'd like to apologize in advance for this week's uninspiring slate of games:

• Nebraska at Michigan
• Washington at Oregon State
• Cincinnati at Rutgers
• Iowa at Purdue
• Vanderbilt at Tennessee

Continue reading this post »

FTC disclosure: This contest is sponsored by Gameday Depot and SB Nation.

Congratulations to bzzz61 for winning this week's ATQ Jersey Contest and the $10 gift certificate from Gameday Depot. Be on the lookout for a confirmation email with instructions on how to claim your prize.

There's another $10 gift certificate up for grabs this week a long with Oregon Duck jersey (grand prize) a $50 gift certificate (runner-up) for the entire season, so keep playing.

This week's top ten and the season top ten are below the jump. You can view the full standings at the official Google doc spreadsheet.

Continue reading this post »

Anybody know which stage the Stanford game is taking?

• Rob Moseley writes about the improving defensive line which had a breakout game against washington.  The iine will face a bigger challenge this weekend with a Stanford offensive line that boasts two of the top OL NFL prospects in the country.   
• In his weekly column, Bob Clark discusses the NCAA proposal to pay some athletes an additional $2,000 per year.  Oregon also continues to hold at #2 in the north in his power rankings.  
• Moseley also has a long article on Tony Dungy becoming a part of the Eugene community.  It's lengthy, but a good read.
• As many of you noted yesterday, Miller had a long post on "poor ole Oregon" in which he picked Oregon to beat Stanford this weekend.  Of course, on Sunday night and earlier Monday, he still had Stanford #1 in his power rankings and was predicting them to play in the BCS title game.      
• In women's basketball news, it looks like perennial power UConn will play a home-and-home series with the Ducks starting next year in Eugene.   Also, Oregon freshman Janitah Iamaleava suffered a knee injury last week and will be out for the season.   

Go Ducks!

In case you missed it over the weekend, here are the updated standings.  As always, the rules for the contest can be found here: PickEmRules

As with the last two weeks, you may now submit picks via the comments (in lieu of or as a "backup"), under the following rules:

1. Any comment picks will automatically overwrite any picks made via the form, regardless of timestamp (i.e, submitting picks via the form after you made your picks via comment will not count). If you wish to change your picks that you have made via a comment, you will need to make those changes via comment as well (i.e., reply to your original comment with your changes).
2. If you make your picks via comment, there is no need to also include your passphrase or email.  Just include your picks (and justification, if you are so inclined).
3. When you make your picks via comment, the picks must be clear (i.e., no witty nicknames that I have to try and translate). If I can’t resolve your pick with minimal effort then it won’t count.  Note, this also includes things like: "all home teams."   You *must* explicitly pick each game.

And, here are this week's games:

• Oregon at Stanford
• Michigan at Illinois
• Texas at Missouri
• North Carolina State at Boston College
• UCLA at Utah

Continue reading this post »

FTC disclosure: This contest is sponsored by Gameday Depot and SB Nation.

Congratulations to abraves257 for winning this week's ATQ Jersey Contest and the $10 gift certificate from Gameday Depot. Be on the lookout for a confirmation email with instructions on how to claim your prize.

There's another $10 gift certificate up for grabs this week a long with Oregon Duck jersey (grand prize) a $50 gift certificate (runner-up) for the entire season, so keep playing.

This week's top ten and the season top ten are below the jump. You can view the full standings at the official Google doc spreadsheet.

Continue reading this post »

Today's theme: Apparently the huskies are not completely terrible.  Here's your Tuesday version of Hate-week quack. 

• Rob Moseley has some quotes from David Paulson, Eddie Pleasant and Carson York about the rivalry and preparing for Washington.  No bulletin-board material here.  
• Aaron Fentress writes that the Ducks realize that they have reached the meat of the conference schedule with consecutive games against washington, Stanford and USC.  
• Adam Jude takes a look at the contributions from Keith Price and Chris Polk and the emergence of washington as a threat in the conference.  
• In case you missed any of them, here's a summary of Ted Miller's blogginess from yesterday: Oregon holds at #2 in his weekly power rankings, a Halloween-themed post, his weekly rewind, and his updated take on the Oregon-washington rivalry.
• During this week's look around the conference, Bob Clark highlights some of the big conference matchups that will take place this month.
• Not to be lost in all the festivities of Hate Week, it was reported yesterday that the Ducks signed four-star point guard Dominic Artis out of Valencia, California.  Artis had originally been a UCLA commit and also had offers from the likes of Kansas, Memphis, Arizona and St. John's.    

Go Ducks!

In case you missed it over the weekend, here are the updated standings.  As always, the rules for the contest can be found here: PickEmRules

As with the last two weeks, you may now submit picks via the comments (in lieu of or as a "backup"), under the following rules:

1. Any comment picks will automatically overwrite any picks made via the form, regardless of timestamp (i.e, submitting picks via the form after you made your picks via comment will not count). If you wish to change your picks that you have made via a comment, you will need to make those changes via comment as well (i.e., reply to your original comment with your changes).
2. If you make your picks via comment, there is no need to also include your passphrase or email.  Just include your picks (and justification, if you are so inclined).
3. When you make your picks via comment, the picks must be clear (i.e., no witty nicknames that I have to try and translate). If I can’t resolve your pick with minimal effort then it won’t count.

And, here are this week's games:

• LSU at Alabama
• South Carolina at Arkansas
• Utah at Arizona
• Missouri at Baylor
• Kansas State(+21.5) at Oklahoma State (-21.5)

Continue reading this post »

FTC disclosure: This contest is sponsored by Gameday Depot and SB Nation.

There was no no need for random.org this week, as we had only one user pick all five games correctly.  Congratulations to Al Orange for winning this week's ATQ Jersey Contest and the $10 gift certificate from Gameday Depot. Be on the lookout for a confirmation email with instructions on how to claim your prize.

There's another $10 gift certificate up for grabs this week a long with Oregon Duck jersey (grand prize) a $50 gift certificate (runner-up) for the entire season, so keep playing.

This week's top ten and the season top ten are below the jump. You can view the full standings at the official Google doc spreadsheet.

Continue reading this post »

A big win at Colorado followed up by more Cliff Harris issues.  A decent amount of quack out there this morning.

• Well, shit.  Cliff Harris was out driving again yesterday.  Without a seatbelt, license or insurance.  Harris has been suspended and will be withheld from all team activities.  Here are stories on the latest incident by  Moseley and Aaron Fentress, 
• Moseley's feature today is on Oregon's punt coverage team which has been outstanding this year.  Rob notes that the teams is currently ranked first in the nation in net punting and has allowed only 41 yards on 27 punts.  That is pretty remarkable.  
• Fentress also looks at Oregon's penchant for having big second halves, particularly in games where the Ducks are close or losing at half.  Fentress notes that in 10 such games, Oregon has outscored their opponents 257-68 after the break.
• Bob Clark today examines the generally poor records former conference coaches have had at other schools, including Bob Toledo, Mike Price, Dick Tomey and others.  He uses this as a caution to Mike Bellotti to not be too eager to find another coaching gig.  Personally, if Bellotti truly wants to coach again, I hope he finds the right fit and finds a lot of success, even if it is in the Pac-12. 
• Oregon and Stanford again swapped places in Ted Miller's weekly power rankings, with the Ducks back in the #2 position.  Miller also tabs Josh Kaddu as his weekly defensive standout after his performance against the Buffaloes on Saturday.  Finally, Darron Thomas was one of four conference QBs named as semifinalists for the Davey O'Brien award. 
• Also, KEZI talks with Terrell Turner about how guests on his "Rollin' Live with 45" segment seem to have big games after their appearances.  
• While there is still no official plan on what to do with Mac Court, it is currently being used for club sports and intramurals.  The plan that seemed to have the most traction a year or two ago was to use the site as a new home for the architecture school, though a decision had never been made on whether to renovate the existing building or tear it down and build something from scratch.

Go Ducks!

In case you missed it over the weekend, here are the updated standings.  As always, the rules for the contest can be found here: PickEmRules

As with last week, you may now submit picks via the comments (in lieu of or as a "backup"), under the following rules:

1. Any comment picks will automatically overwrite any picks made via the form, regardless of timestamp (i.e, submitting picks via the form after you made your picks via comment will not count). If you wish to change your picks that you have made via a comment, you will need to make those changes via comment as well (i.e., reply to your original comment with your changes).
2. If you make your picks via comment, there is no need to also include your passphrase or email.  Just inclue your picks (and justification, if you are so inclined).
3. When you make your picks via comment, the picks must be clear (i.e., no witty nicknames that I have to try and translate). If I can’t resolve your pick with minimal effort then it won’t count.

And, here are this week's games:

• Oklahoma (-13.5) at Kansas State (+13.5)
• Michigan State at Nebraska
• California (-5.5) at UCLA (+5.5)
• Arizona at Washington
• Oregon State(+6.5) at Utah (-6.5)

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FTC disclosure: This contest is sponsored by Gameday Depot and SB Nation.

Congratulations to HeyitsHoag for winning this week's ATQ Jersey Contest and the $10 gift certificate from Gameday Depot. Be on the lookout for a confirmation email with instructions on how to claim your prize.

There's another $10 gift certificate up for grabs this week a long with Oregon Duck jersey (grand prize) a $50 gift certificate (runner-up) for the entire season, so keep playing.

This week's top users and the top of the overall scoreboard are below the jump. You can view the full standings at the official Google doc spreadsheet.

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