A dive inside of #Rivals100 OL Kevin Banks' top eight, which includes major pushes from both in-state schools, a hometown connection out-of-state and a few head coaches getting more involved

More on Banks + what's ahead in his decision-making process: https://n.rivals.com/news/inside-rivals100-ot-kelvin-banks-top-eight

Iowa has a `1st team big guy. Ouch, if they get that far. Zags have 3 on AP teams....

Major takeaways out of @AllAmericaGame Dallas camp includes notes on some standout performers, including outstanding OL/DL battles + more on recruits from East Texas, The Boot and Oklahoma

STORY: https://n.rivals.com/news/takeaways-from-under-armour-dallas

Nice article today describing in detail Pritchard's more limited, but vital role going forward with healthy Smart and Walker. Can't wait to see this in a full stadium! But when?

I think that she might be giving herself a little bit too much credit but it is still a good video
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Very interesting...

https://www.oregonlive.com/recruiti...ves-oregon-ducks-basketball-offer-report.html

The first postseason run for Oregon women's basketball under Kelly Graves ended against South Dakota. The Ducks hope their next extended postseason stay begins against those same Coyotes.

Five years after South Dakota beat visiting Oregon in the semifinals of the WNIT, the Ducks will face the Coyotes in the opening round of this year's NCAA Tournament in San Antonio. The UO women received a No. 6 seed Monday in the tournament's Alamo Region, and will face the 11th-seeded Coyotes next Monday (7 p.m., ESPN2).

"I'm really proud of this group," UO coach Kelly Graves said following the selection show. "What a crazy ride it's been. But they earned this, and now we've got to go down and do some work in San Antonio."

The Ducks followed their 2016 WNIT appearance by reaching the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight in both 2017 and 2018, then making it to the Final Four in 2019. It's been a roller-coaster ride since, given the loss of some generational players, not to mention the pandemic that canceled last year's tournament.

But Oregon has endured — two of that 2019 tournament's No. 1 seeds, Notre Dame and Mississippi State, aren't even in this year's field of 64, but the Ducks are.

"It's really special, especially for the upperclassmen," UO senior Erin Boley said. "For Lydia (Giomi) and I, this being our last go-round, to be able to do that with this new team and new group, it's very special."

The 2020-21 season has been defined by youth and injuries for the Ducks, not to mention adjustments to the schedule due to the pandemic. The team still figures to be without point guard Te-Hina Paopao as the tournament opens, Graves said, but there's been a chance to mentally reset since a loss in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals.

That defeat, at the hands of rival Oregon State, was the fifth in six games for Oregon. In the nearly two weeks since, the Ducks took a couple days off to clear their heads, then returned to practice reinvigorated, players said.

"Right after the tournament, we obviously went home a little defeated," freshman post Nyara Sabally said. "We decided to step away from it for a couple of days, and I think everyone needed that. But we knew when we got back in the gym it was go time.

"We've had a couple really good days of practice. Now it's time to go to San Antonio and do our thing."

The No. 6 seed is Oregon's lowest since 2017, when the Ducks were seeded 10th before upsetting Temple, Maryland and Duke on the way to the Elite Eight. This year's team hopes to conjure that same magic.

"Nothing else matters except for how well you're playing when the tournament starts," Boley said. "It's completely wide open, and it could be anyone depending on who's hot and who's playing well at the time.

"It feels like a new chapter. It's a new opportunity for us to go out and play together."

South Dakota enters the tournament at 19-5, having won the Horizon League tournament for their third straight NCAA Tournament berth. The Coyotes are one of the most efficient offensive teams in the country, averaging 75.3 points per game while committing an average of 11.2 turnovers, fifth-fewest in the country.

With a victory, Oregon could potentially face No. 3 seed Georgia in the second round, and then No. 2 seed Louisville in the Sweet Sixteen. Pac-12 champion Stanford is the top seed in the Ducks' region.

The Ducks and Cardinal are two of six Pac-12 teams in the field. The Mercado Region includes No. 3 seed Arizona and No. 9 seed Washington State, and the Hemisfair Region includes No. 3 seed UCLA and No. 8 seed Oregon State.

"I don't think a lot of people expect us to do a lot," Graves said. "But a good team — and I do think we're a good team — with nothing to lose is a dangerous team. And we're going in with that attitude."

Some of the recruiting buzz from @AllAmericaGame's Dallas camp stop and it's jam-packed

Yes Sir!!



Who can become college football's next superpower?

One could easily make the case that, as with the UEFA Champions League in soccer, the creation of the College Football Playoff took a sport already defined by its haves-versus-have-nots divisions and increased them.
Of 28 CFP bids handed out in seven years, 20 have gone to four schools: Alabama (six), Clemson (six), Oklahoma (four) and Ohio State (four). They've won 22 conference titles between them in that span, leaving even other well-run programs -- the Georgias and Notre Dames and, briefly, LSUs of the world -- to forage for scraps.
The top four in 2021's SP+ projections? Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma and Ohio State. They could be the top four in the preseason AP poll as well. If they aren't, it's because Georgia butted ahead of one of them, but that wouldn't be much of a sign of parity. After all, the Dawgs reached a CFP final (in the 2017 season), have established maybe the highest level of recruiting outside of Tuscaloosa and have finished in the AP top 10 for four straight years. A have-not, they are not.
This isn't exactly the 1970s, when nine schools accounted for 69 of 80 spots in the year-end AP polls, but it's not far off. And it becomes easy to forget that one of the names in the current list of dominant forces is a newbie of sorts.
At the end of 2014, Dabo Swinney's Clemson was regarded as one of a few programs on the rise. The Tigers had won double-digit games for four straight seasons and had squeezed out a top-10 finish, the program's first in 23 years, in 2013. They had signed a blue-chip quarterback in Deshaun Watson, who looked the part when given the chance, but he had torn his ACL at the end of 2014. AP voters cautiously started the Tigers 12th in 2015, two spots behind three-time defending ACC champ Florida State.
They ignited in 2015, of course, reaching the national title game, then winning it the next season. They've gone 79-7 over the past six years, ranking No. 1 in the AP poll at least briefly each year and making six consecutive CFPs. Watson was the first of many five-star quarterbacks signed by Swinney, who invested heavily in his pool of assistants, raised the program's overall recruiting game (Clemson averaged 8.0 ESPN 300 signees from 2011 to 2014 and 14.3 from 2018 to 2021) and slowly built a purple-and-orange ACC Death Star. The Tigers had won two league titles from 1989 to 2014; they've now won six in a row.
While so much of this sport is dominated by the same schools that have always been members of the oligarchy -- Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma were on the 1970s blue bloods list, too, after all -- Clemson followed a script that technically anyone with power conference money, an invested fan base and good, old-fashioned commitment can follow: make a good hire, support that hire, win a little bit, recruit better and better, win more and more.
Just because almost no one actually pulls this off doesn't mean no one else can. And someone else will at some point.

Who might that 'someone' be?
To begin answering that, let's first digress and return to a topic I brought up in October, as one of a few potential New Clemsons was getting its season underway. Granted, that piece proved my unlimited jinxing powers -- Penn State, the subject of the piece, proceeded to start its 2020 season with five losses -- but within that piece I laid out what I hoped was an interesting new way of looking at the sport.




While recruiting has indeed picked up for Clemson through the years, Swinney's Tigers broke through without signing quite as many blue-chippers as other national powers. They made a few more big plays and shored up their special teams a bit, but the biggest gains were made in the key plays department. Over the past six seasons, teams have gained an average of at least 9.5 points per game from key plays only 16 times -- Clemson has done it five times, and the other 129 FBS teams have combined for 11.
The Tigers won the national championship game over Alabama in 2019 almost entirely because of those key-play situations -- they won 19 of the game's 28 third downs (they were 10-for-15, Bama 4-for-13) and four of seven fourth downs, and not including an end-of-game kneel-down possession, they scored 37 points in six scoring opportunities while Alabama scored just 16 in six. Toss in a pick-six, and that's how you win by 28 while creating the same number of scoring chances as your opponent.
That was a particularly extreme example -- even the best third-down and red zone teams can't accomplish that often, and applying extra value to a small sample of plays in an already small-sample sport can be fraught. Still, situational football is a real thing, and Clemson has leveraged games with elite play in these situations for a long time. Those numbers aren't flukes.
Which teams are closest to club membership? To take into account both Clemson's on-field improvement and its solid recruiting in the time leading up to 2015's breakthrough, let's look at the 12 programs that have both (a) averaged at least six ESPN 300 signees per season and (b) generated at least a 0.600 win percentage over the past three years.



1. Georgia Bulldogs

2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

3. Oregon Ducks
Here are the teams that signed more ESPN 300 prospects than Oregon in the 2021 class: Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State. Mario Cristobal is wrecking shop in the recruiting department, but that's only one of two reasons why the Ducks rank this highly. The other? They're in the Pac-12, the only conference not currently monopolized by one of the four powers this piece is built around.
The Pac-12 could have incredible depth in 2021, with most teams returning a vast majority of the brief 2020 season's production. But there's no slam-dunk national title contender, and the first program that can go from good to potentially elite could reap long-term dividends. Washington and USC have high amounts of potential, too, and I'm fascinated by what Arizona State's offense might be capable of this fall. But while an unclear quarterback situation could hold the Ducks back in the short term, whenever Cristobal and offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead get the QB situation squared away, said signal-caller is going to be supported by blue-chippers in virtually every unit on the two-deep. I still give the Ducks the long-term edge here due to potential and recent recruiting.
4. Penn State Nittany Lions

5. LSU Tigers

I think that this tower lighting whenever Oregon wins a track Natty ( I’ll bet that includes cross country) will become famous. Could this tower become the most recognized campus sports monument in college athletics.? It could only happen at Hayward Field... The birth place of Just Do It! Oh Go You Ducks!

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For me, it was more disappointing listening to Coach Altman's postgame analysis than it was watching the dratted Beavers dominate the Ducks. Lack of effort! Lack of urgency? Poppycock to put it mildly!


OSU had done the same to Oregon at MKA earlier in the season. Oregon beat OSU at Gill because they shot over 65% on their 3s, making an incredible 15 from beyond the arc. Going into last night's game I was sure the Beavers would win unless the Ducks made at least 10 threes. OSU cans 10 of 19, we make 5 of 25. If we made 10 we would win the game. Again, coach says lack of urgency...is that why we made 10 less threes than we did last Sunday in Corvallis? Yes, there were a few that were ill-advised, but the bottom line is we make 40%,we would be playing for the Tournament title.


The other reason I was confident the Beavers would win was that OSU has a balanced team which includes an inside presence. The Ducks have no inside presence or scoring threat against a team with some bigs. Eugene O. is a threat against teams like ASU with no rim protectors, but struggles against teams that do: USC for example. That's why we beat ASU. We matched up well. However, a big CORRECTION is needed from my statement that UO has "no inside presence." We DO have a very competent inside threat! HIs name is Franck Kepnang!!! The question and/or statement I hear most often from fans is: why aren't we playing Franck more?


Some may say he's too inexperienced! That's not true! I was appalled when I checked the stats on Franck. The leading shot-blocker for the Ducks is Chris Duarte with 20 blocked shots in 816 minutes of play. How does Franck compare? He is SECOND on the team in blocks with 16 in only 129 minutes of action!! Against Washington in 2 minutes of play he had 2 blocks!! Yeah, but he must be a liability on offense right? In that same game, in those same 2 minutes he scored 7 points!!! Oh, well that's just one game right? Look at this: he has shot the ball from the field 20 times the whole season and made 13...65%!!! Stats don't lie! Furthermore, in his 5 minutes of play against ASU on Thursday he scored 3 points and had one blocked shot. In his 3 minutes last night vs. OSU, he had one blocked shot. Back to his offense....the one shot he took and made against ASU speaks volumes. HE ACTUALLY JUMPED AND SHOT THE BALL FROM ABOUT 7 FEET WITH GOOD FORM AND FOLLOW THROUGH WITH BACKSPIN!! That's something Jordan Bell, Kenny Wooten, and Francis Okoro NEVER (maybe that's too strong, but almost never) did! The coaching staff obviously never taught them or demanded that. Bell, Wooten, and Okoro shot-putted the ball hoping in would find the rim and net.


With the Ducks' success with Bell, Wooten and Okoro, their main roles were to be rim protectors, and any offense was a bonus, right? Well, HELLO! We have one and we aren't using him. Plus he has better shooting skills already then the aforementioned players. My headline says that not playing Kepnang more is "ludicrous" and I stand by that. There's no way the Ducks will go very far in the NCAA Tourney without Franck playing a much bigger (pun intended) role. I don't expect that to happen, but I hope the Ducks prove me wrong. Finally, and which player on the bench exudes the most enthusiasm? Any Ducks fan who follows the men's team can answer that easily: Franck Kepnang!


And don't get me started on our players for the past 10 years going for fakes and leaving the floor on defense. In high school we had drills for that, and the whole team would run wind sprints for such nonsense! The big shot in the game was Lucas' 3-pointer, and instead of getting closer to him with his arm straight up in his face, L.J. Figueroa reached diagonally. I love LJ's effort, but sorry they aren't being taught better. Do they watch game film? How does the coaching staff consistently allow such pathetic lack of fundamentals?


The idea that we lacked effort and urgency to me seems like a slap in the face to players like Chris Duarte and Eugene (from Eugene!) and others who are obviously playing their hearts out. OSU played tight defense on the perimeter, trying to deny the three, knowing if we drove to the hoop they also had some bigs who could deny those shots too.


I really like our team and how unselfish they are, which is a credit to coach Altman. But not playing Franck is appalling. Furthermore, leaving the quick Jalen Terry on the bench, who provided instant offense with 4 threes in 2 minutes against Washington, and was used sparingly thereafter (how's that for a confidence builder?) was IMHO a big mistake. It's amazing how the Ducks won so many nail-biters and won the Pac-12 title again. However, the opportunity for so much more, I fear has been lost with the misuse of Franck and defensive faults never being corrected. Good luck Ducks at the Big Dance!

A poster on ScoopDuck posted this on there. I thought that I would pass it along.

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Compete against the Rivals experts for the best NCAA Tournament bracket with a chance to win a free subscription. Join our Tourney Pick 'Em game here:

EUGENE, Ore. – Alyssa Brito put the exclamation point on No. 5 Oregon’s 8-0 run-rule win over Sacramento State with a game-ending grand slam in the sixth inning to wrap up the final weekend before opening Pac-12 play.

How it Happened: The Ducks’ offense got off to a slow start offensively, but Oregon starter Raegan Breedlove picked up the slack with an efficient outing in the circle. She set the Hornets down in order in the first and third innings, and got out of trouble in the second and fourth innings on inning-ending double plays. The freshman worked five scoreless frames with four strikeouts before giving way to Brooke Yanez, who tossed a perfect sixth inning with a pair of punch-outs to earn the save.

The Ducks did all of their damage offensively in the fifth and sixth innings. Haley Cruse put Oregon on the board in the fifth by driving in the first of three two-out runs in the frame with an RBI single to right, scoring Ariel Carlson. After Cruse stole second, Allee Bunker followed one batter later with a two-run single up the middle to plate Hanna Delgado and Cruse, making it 3-0.

Oregon used the long ball in the sixth inning to put the game away. Mya Felder led off the inning with a towering solo shot to left center, stretching the lead to 4-0. Following a pair of walks and a base hit, Brito came up with the bases loaded and two outs, and crushed a 2-2 pitch over the left center wall for a game-ending grand slam.

Quotable: Head coach Melyssa Lombardi

“Today was kind of the opposite of yesterday. Yesterday we got to rely on a lot of runs being scored, today our hitters got to rely a little bit more on our pitchers giving us an opportunity to win the ballgame, knowing that the hits and runs are coming – and today they just came a little late.”

Infielder Alyssa Brito

“Our motto right now is just passing the bat. It’s contagious, we get hits and I just feel like every time we get something going, we score – and we’ve been really good at responding when opponents score on us too.”

Notable: Oregon’s 16-1 start is tied for the second-best through 17 games in program history and only the fourth time the Ducks have won at least 16 of the first 17 games … The Ducks scored seven of their eight runs with two outs, bringing their total to 69 two-out runs on the season … Oregon has hit multiple homers in each of the last five games, hitting 13 over that stretch … Brito’s grand slam was the first by an Oregon player since Jasmine Sievers hit one on March 8, 2020 … The freshman drove in nine runs over the weekend and now leads the team with a .420 batting average … Bunker drove in seven runs in the three games this week and leads the team with 25 on the season … Carlson drew three walks in a game for the second time in her career, working a base-on-balls in all three plate appearances … Breedlove’s five innings were a season-high while she matched a season-high with four strikeouts … Yanez picked up her second save of the year and retired all 14 batters she faced over the weekend, striking out nine of them.

On Deck: Oregon opens Pac-12 play when it hosts Utah for a weekend series at Jane Sanders Stadium, starting Friday at 5 p.m.

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon got monster production offensively from players up-and-down the lineup while the pitching staff turned in another solid couple of efforts in an 11-0 win over Sacramento State and a 14-6 victory over Oregon State on Saturday at Jane Sanders Stadium.

Game 1: No. 5 Oregon 11, Sacramento State 0 (5 innings)

Brooke Yanez and Raegan Breedlove dominated in the circle while Alyssa Brito drove in a career-high five runs to lead Oregon to an 11-0 run-rule victory over Sacramento State in game one of the doubleheder.
How it Happened: Brito got the scoring started for the Ducks, blasting a two-out, two-run homer to left field in the first inning to score Hanna Delgado and make it 2-0. After going scoreless in the second, the Ducks broke things open with five runs in the third inning.

Haley Cruse led off the third with a double, before Allee Bunker drove her in with a bloop single to left, making it 3-0. Brito followed one batter later with her third RBI of the game, a single to left field to score Delgado to stretch it to 4-0. Rachel Cid made it 5-0 on a sacrifice fly two batters later before Terra McGowan capped off the big inning with a two-run homer to left field.

The Ducks added four more in the fourth inning to put the game out of reach and bring the run-rule into effect. Brito continued her stellar day at the plate with a two-run single up the middle, scoring Cruse and Delgado to put Oregon up 9-0. Shaye Bowden made it 10-0, Ducks with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly before Cid singled one batter later to drive in Brito and make it 11-0.

Oregon pitching dominated from start to finish and nearly tossed the team’s second five-inning perfect game of the season. Yanez struck out the first six batters of the game and retired all 11 she faced before Breedlove got the final out of the fourth inning on a dazzling play at shortstop by Brito. A single to lead off the fifth broke up the perfect game, but Breedlove retired the next three to finish the win.

Game 1 Notables: Yanez picked up her seventh win of the year, tossing 3.2 perfect innings with seven strikeouts … The shutout was Oregon’s fifth of the season … Brito set season-highs with her five RBIs and three runs scored while tying a season-high with her three hits … Delgado scored a season-high three runs while going 1-for-1 with two walks … Maddie Hopper turned in her first multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-2 … The Ducks recorded double-digit hits for the third straight game.

Game 2: No. 5 Oregon 14, Oregon State 6 (5 innings)

Oregon jumped out to a big lead early on then traded blows the rest of the way before finishing off a 14-6 run-rule win over Oregon State to cap off the doubleheader sweep, led by Allee Bunker’s two-homer, five-RBI game.

How it Happened: After Oregon starter Samaria Diaz set the Beavers down in order in the top of the first, the Ducks came out firing on all cylinders, sending 10 batters to the plate to put up seven runs in the bottom half. Bunker got her monster game started with an RBI double to score Cruse and put Oregon on the board before McGowan plated Bunker on a chopper to third making it 2-0.

The Ducks really poured it on after that, adding a pair of runs on a two-run single by Mya Felder that bounced off the top of the wall, scoring Brito and Cid. Lexi Wagner delivered the exclamation point on the big inning, crushing a three-run shot to left field that made it a 7-0 Oregon lead after one.

The Beavers responded with back-to-back homers to lead off the second inning, before scoring another on an RBI double to make it 7-3. Bunker got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the inning, ripping a solo shot out to left center, putting the Ducks up 8-3 after two.

After Oregon State added another run in the third, the Ducks answered with yet another crooked number, scoring four runs – all with two outs – to stretch the lead to 12-4. Cruse started things off with an RBI single through the right side to make it 10-4, before Delgado doubled to right center, driving in Cruse. Bunker continued her stellar performance at the plate with a two-run shot for her second homer of the game.

Oregon State again answered, this time adding two more on a two-run homer in the fourth, cutting the Ducks’ lead to 12-6. Oregon, however, would score the single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to finish the mercy rule win. After McGowan came in to score on a fielder’ choice and error in the fourth, she put the finishing touches on the win with an RBI double down the left field line to put the Ducks up eight and end the game.

Game 2 Notables: Bunker homered multiple times in a game for the first time in her career … She’s now driven in three or more runs four times this season … Bunker is also the first Oregon player to hit multiple homers in a game since Deijah Pangilinan hit a pair on March 7, 2020 vs. LMU … Three other Ducks drove in multiple runs … Wagner finished with three RBIs on her three-run homer … McGowan went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored … Felder was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored … Makenna Kliethermes struck out a career-high eight batters, recording eight of her nine outs via strikeout to pick up the win … Oregon scored seven of its 14 runs with two outs.

Quotable: Head Coach Melyssa Lombardi

On the offensive production…

“I loved the power that our team displayed today. I really loved that top-to-bottom the entire lineup refused to give away an at-bat. They went up there with their plans and they took some confident hacks. I really loved how we handled ourselves at the plate.”

Infielder Allee Bunker

On her big game in game two against Oregon State…

“I definitely had a different mindset going into the second game because I knew that it was a whole new game and my team needed me. We knew Oregon State was going to come out swinging so we were going to need everyone.”

Overall Notables: Oregon has recorded double-digit runs and hits in each of the last four games – all of which have been mercy-rule victories … The Ducks scored in eight of the nine innings they came to bat in the doubleheader … Oregon has had 24 extra-base hits in the last four games, with 11 home runs over that stretch … Brito went 4-for-6 with five RBIs, five runs scored, a double and a homer in the doubleheader … Bunker was 4-for-6 with five runs scored and five RBIs over the two games … McGowan drove in four runs while going 3-for-7 with three runs scored … The Ducks scored 10 of their 25 runs with two outs, bringing their total to 62 on the season … Oregon pitching combined for 19 strikeouts to just one walk in the doubleheader.

On Deck: The Ducks wrap up the weekend with a rematch against Sacramento State on Sunday at 10 a.m.

UO Jamaican, Kemba Nelson just won the 60m in a collegiate record setting time of 7.05.

Lots of 2022 and 2023 offers out lately.

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The only game that was decisive was the first of the day.

I have to wonder if UCLA might have played themselves out of the dance, given the way the PAC12 has already been rated lately. Four straight losses are not going to play well. It's a case of a good bunch of shorter guys losing to an OK team with more height, Neither team brought any quality depth to the floor. For the Ruins the past couple weeks have been rough. They appear to have jumped out of a not fully functional airplane and I'm not sure the chute has popped open yet. Might have been on of those kids' backpacks they were wearing.

USC's win might have been chalk but Utah ran an eraser over it a few times before losing in double OT when they had four players watching the end after fouling out. The Trojans may have the best coach in the conference, according to whomever cast ballots, but I thought the game was badly managed, particularly in use of Mr. Everything. Not winning this in regulation was part of a game where both teams did what they could to lose, rather than one of them taking charge. It was yet another version of USC blowing half-time leads, a consistent habit over the past few weeks.

I didn't see the finale but have to wonder how Colorado didn't dominate the game game and win walking (or running) away. Cal may be an improving team and have lost quite a few games but, short of by adding The Great Kreskin to their roster, it seems unlikely they should have come so close to knocking the Buff's out. Possibly something happened that I don't know about to facilitate the score. In my defense, the USC game ended way past my bed time and I was too weak from excitement to push the buttons on the remote.

Back to the future, Oregon's motor sputtered a few time before getting up to full throttle and they turned it off to coast into a glider-like landing. Coaches like to have some things, that fans gloss over, to focus on after each game. While I'm willing to remain unfocused, Altman may be fretting over the lack of dominating very minute or the array of hackable foul shooters the Ducks had at the end of the game (and that they got the ball in their hands). Those didn't matter in this game but could in the future.

Way to the positive side, yet another twenty point scorer and once again a different one popped into the box score. A couple of players, at least, had their best games of the season. It's becoming not "pick your poison" but "take your poison" vs Oregon. It's going to require a couple failure farts, big sputters, for the Duck to lose now, something entirely possible when playing the rest of their schedule against teams who are all-in, beginning with their arch rival.

Lastly, I can stop holding my breath and enjoy the games for whatever they are. My final wish, that Altman coaches another 20 win team this season has come true. He did it while some of the blue-bloods dropped off of the continuum this year.

I'm not going to proof read this before I hit "Post". Maybe Altman will do it for me.