Today we found a great article in the Register Guard by Rob Moseley about the incoming freshmen for the Oregon football team. This is also going to be Chip Kelly’s first recruiting class as a head coach. The recruiting class is the highest ranked that Oregon has ever gotten coming in ranked at #13 nationally by both Scout and Rivals.com. These freshmen have some very lofty goals for their next 3 or 4 years playing for the Ducks and Oregon fans can only hope that these players turn out to be as good as they have been ranked coming out of high school. It should be fun watching these freshmen grow up over the next few years. To read all about the incoming freshmen for the Ducks check out this link: http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/sports/25020426-41/class-oregon-freshmen-championship-heimuli.csp

A big question mark going into this season for the Oregon Ducks was their wide receiver position. During the winter term of this past year the Ducks lost Jamere Holland and Garrett Embry from the position due to disciplinary reasons. The Ducks took an even bigger hit at the position towards the end of this recent spring term when it was announced that Tryrece Gaines and Diante Jackson were ruled academically ineligible for the season. Huge things were expected out of Gaines and Jackson and it is certainly a big disappointment to lose them. That leaves Drew Davis and Jeff Maehl as the only returning receivers this year who made a big impact last year and a bunch of freshmen who are going to have to step up and play right away. The Register Guard’s Rob Moseley wrote a great article about the Ducks young receivers, their depth at the position, and some expectations from the position this year. To read this article check out this link: http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/sports/25019445-46/huff-ducks-maehl-lowe-players.csp

As you may remember a couple of weeks ago we posted an article about the different scenarios for how the new “Pac-12″ would be divided and also about how they would schedule games. It looks like for now at least, the Pac-12 will still play a 9 game conference schedule as it is currently in the Pac-10. Commissioner Larry Scott also talks a little bit in this article so it is not completely speculation as the previous article about the same subject was. If you want to read more about it check out this link: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/collegesports/2010/07/14/pac-10-expansion-updates-on-the-division-and-schedule-issues/

For those UO and OSU fans out there trying to find some good articles about the teams before the football season starts need to look no further. We have found a very good two page article from the Statesman Jounal about the excitement that you can feel building as the college football season nears and it talks extensively about the Ducks and Beavers. To read this article check out this link: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20100714/COLUMN0304/7140433/1127/SPORTS

*On a side note it was reported recently that James and Jacquizz Rodgers were involved in a minor car accident over the weekend but everyone involved was fine.

In case you have not seen it yet the UO has installed new turf at Autzen Stadium. The turf is a newer version of the same type of turf that was installed originally in 2002. Along with adding new turf the infamous crown in the middle of the field was also taken out so now the whole field is flat instead of the the middle of the field being sloped. Lastly, the Ducks added a new pac-10 logo to the turf which can be seen at this website (Thanks to KVAL) : http://www.kval.com/sports/uo/97628984.html

There have been rumors circulating recently that WSU athletic director Bill Moos is trying to arrange a WSU vs. UO match-up at Qwest Field, home of the Seahawks. While the details are far from finalized it would definitely be a great venue to showcase a Pac-10 conference game and also gives the Cougs something to look forward to as well as some national exposure. However, as I said this deal is far from finalized and if Oregon doesn’t end up accepting the deal there is a plan B. That plan B is the Oregon State Beavers. Oregon State is notorious for traveling to big stadiums to play games in order to gain national exposure as well as the monetary benefits that come along with playing in a big stadium (see OSU vs. TCU in the new Cowboys stadium scheduled for Sep. 4). For the sake of the Pac-10 as a whole I hope that one of these deals will follow through as a conference game at Qwest Field would draw a lot of fans as well as be very exciting for both teams involved.

Even after all of the headlines the University of Oregon football team has made this off-season for their poor off field behavior, Chip Kelly is taking yet another risk and giving a player a second chance. CB Marcus Davis has been confirmed as being enrolled in summer classes at the UO. Davis was on the University of Texas roster but was “suspended indefinitely” during the season. Coach Kelly has assured reporters and fans that they have thoroughly investigated Davis’ background and that Texas coaches also spoke on his behalf. Only time will tell if this is going to come back and hurt Kelly or the team in the future but there is no arguing Davis has a great talent at the defensive back position. To read more about Marcus Davis and his transfer to Oregon check here: http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/sports/24943621-41/davis-texas-transfer-police-report.csp

As you may have heard by now the Pac-10 recently expanded and has added two new schools to effectively make the conference now the “Pac-12”. While the official name of the new conference has yet to be determined we will refer to it as the Pac-12 for simplicity. The University of Colorado and University of Utah have accepted invitations to join the conference and all signs point to them competing in the conference beginning in the 2011-2012 school year. This wasn’t the exact line up that commissioner Larry Scott was hoping for when he decided to pursue expansion but it seems that the expansion still does provide benefits for the current Pac-10. By adding two teams to bring the total to 12 the conference can now host a conference championship game in which the winner gets an automatic BCS berth. This is very good for the conference because it means that one conference loss does not mean that a schools chance of making a BCS game are hurt significantly as it is currently. For example, last year Nebraska went 6-2 against other Big 12 teams but those two losses were good enough to place them atop the Big 12 North division and consequently they were able to play in the conference championship game and have a chance for an automatic BCS berth. This is also great for the conference because it increases the chances of getting more than one team in the BCS, especially if there is an upset in the conference championship.

The biggest criticism coming from the expansion is the fact that there will now be two divisions with six teams in each and not every team will play each other as they do now. The Pac-10 is the only BCS conference that still uses the round robin format that requires every team play each other. While these divisions most definitely wouldn’t affect interstate rivalries such as OSU-UO or WSU-UW it is unclear what affect it will have on non-interstate rivalries such as UO-UW. Many fans believe that it will hurt the conference to not have games such as UO-UW played every single year.

Check out ESPN blogger Ted Miller’s take on the new “Pac-12”: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5299014

Also, be sure to check out Ted Miller’s possible options of how the new divisions will be split:

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac10/post/_/id/10588/a-conference-divided-what-will-pac-10-divisions-look-like

Rose Bowl adds to UO\’s growing brand regognition

While the Pac-10 rivalry season kicked off last weekend with the “Big Game” between Stanford and Cal, there are two northwest rivalries that will be taking place in the next couple of weeks. This weekend the 102^nd meeting ever between Washington and Washington State will take place in Seattle. Even though the Huskies and Cougars have struggled for the past few seasons the Apple Cup is always guaranteed to provide a good game and also a lot of heart. The Huskies and Cougars always have a lot to play for in this game and it will show. Washington (3-7, 2-5 Pac-10) is looking to win the Apple Cup and then beat Cal the following week to finish with 5 wins. This would be a nice step in the right direction for the Huskies who went winless last year. The Cougars (0-8, 1-10 Pac-10) have avoided a complete winless season by beating SMU earlier this year however they will look for their only Pac-10 win in the last game of the year. Last year’s matchup in Pullman had both the Huskies and Cougars fighting for one Pac-10 win and the Cougars ended up coming out on top in that game.

In the other northwest rivalry, the “Civil War”, the Ducks and Beavers are preparing for the biggest matchup in the school’s history. The 113^th meeting between the Ducks and Beavers will take place next Thursday December 3 in Eugene and what is at stake is very clear to everyone. Win the game and you are going to the Rose Bowl. Lose the game and you have a year to think about the Rose Bowl that could’ve been. The Ducks (9-2, 7-1 Pac-10) have not been to a Rose Bowl since the 1994-95 season. What an accomplishment it would be for Chip Kelly to lead the Ducks to a Rose Bowl in his very first season. The Beavers, like always it seems, have come on very strong late in the season. They have put themselves in the position that they were in last year as well. Win the Civil War, and go to the Rose Bowl. The Beavs couldn’t get it done last year at home and because of this still have not played in the Rose Bowl since 1965. Is this the year Mike Riley finally takes them to the top of the Pac-10? This game is definitely going to be an exciting one that every football fan should enjoy.