Good stuff from the guys

Ducks to Travel to “Bubbleville”


EUGENE, Ore. – No. 20 Oregon will play two games next month at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., as part of an event dubbed “Bubbleville.”

The Ducks will play Missouri either Dec. 2 or Dec. 3 and a yet-to-be-determined second opponent on the other day.

Bubbleville is a collegiate event hosted by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Gazelle Group that will feature 40 men’s and women’s teams playing a combined 45 games over 11 days (Nov. 25-Dec. 5). It takes the place of several events that were altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic and will be conducted under tribal, government, and NCAA health and safety protocols and testing requirements. Games will be played without fans in attendance.

Oregon and Missouri have met five times with the Tigers holding a 5-0 series lead. The two teams last played a decade ago. No. 9 Missouri escaped McArthur Court with an 83-80 victory on Dec. 2, 2010, during head coach Dana Altman’s first season at Oregon. The Tigers were 15-16 in 2019-20.

The Ducks will open the 2020-21 season by hosting Eastern Washington Nov. 25 at Matthew Knight Arena.

It will be the fourth meeting between Oregon and EWU. The Ducks lead the series 3-0. The two teams last met Nov. 9, 2018, in Eugene. Current UO junior Will Richardson had five points and two assists as a freshman in an 81-47 Oregon win.

Coming off a 23-8 season a year ago, the Eagles were the preseason favorites to win the 2020-21 Big Sky Conference title. EWU won the league with a 16-4 record last season.

The Eagles will be led by Big Sky preseason player-of-the-year Jacob Davison who scored 18.4 points per game as a junior. EWU also returns junior Kim Aiken Jr. who led the league with 9.7 rebounds per game while averaging 13.3 points.

I know the softball program doesn't get much love but Lombardi is proving to be the real deal which I thought she would all along. Her class today had the 6th, 13th, 15th and 28th rated players according to Extra Inning Softball. Two pitchers and two infielders. All programs continue to get it done!!!

If I had to pick the weakest position group against Stanford I would say the defense line. Early in the game they were getting gashed. No pass rush. They got better and had some good moments , but needs to improve. I do think Stanford O line looks like they are close to being back to what they have usually been with the exception of last season

Other thoughts

1) I expect Sewell to be the the 2nd best defensive player on the team, behind KT, in his first season. He actually missed a couple but he is a freak just like his high school film showed.

2) Tyler Shough is going to be really good. His pass to Pittman on the one handed catch was as good a deep ball as I have seen in years. Only place it could have been thrown with really good coverage. He was nervous and made a couple of really bad decisions. He forced a few plays that were not there. Hopefully he takes a big jump in game 2.

3) As good as Verdell was, Travis Dye earned some more carries. Verdell the man, but would like to see Dye get at least 10-11 touches a game

4) I think Mykael Wright will be a first round draft pick and the best corner on this team. All the Db's need to get their hands off guys and look for the ball. Other than that , they are really talented on the back end

5) I believe the WSU game will be the most difficult of the season. I think if Oregon wins, they will run the table. Hard to tell how good they are after only playing the Beavers, but they look pretty damm good and the QB looks nothing like a freshman. Duck Defense will have to play much better than last week

A look across the conference:

Five-star OL Bryce Foster is "on the right path" toward making a decision and insists that all five finalists remain in the mix

The All-American goes in-depth on what should be a critical month ahead leading into his December reveal: https://n.rivals.com/news/five-star-ol-bryce-foster-on-the-right-path-toward-a-decision

I just checked. It is supposed to snow on Friday. Saturday it will be windy and cold.
Temperatures are forecasted to be in the 40s and 30s. Since the game will be played in the late afternoon/ early evening it will go into the 30s. With the wind chill it will feel much colder.

Not much has changed:

We now know polls mean don't squat, lol, and I think the men are a contender, assuming the usual with an Altman rebuild. 20th and 10th, respectively. Over achievement with the women wouldn't surprise either.

Men's


Women's

How many turnovers would you expect this week in Pullman? I'm going Oregon drops three and collects 5 due to the weather. They'll be even for the year if it comes out that way.

Bettors have staked the Ducks as 8 point favorites as the lines opened. The Ducks should be favored in all their conference games so all they have to do now is win.

I held these until this morning so you guys could read them while I'm driving up to Seattle.