We spent most of last week going over different expansion scenario's for the Pac 10 and examining the problems going on with the Oregon football program. We actually start off this week with the same two items. Washington AD Scott Woodward says he thinks the league is talking to Texas and Texas A&M. He also talked about the future formation of four sixteen conferences which is exactly what we were talking this past week. It is one thing for us to kick it at around at the blog but it gains considerable traction when a Pac 10 AD talks about the possibilities.
Expect things to heat up between now and July 1st as far as expansion goes. Any Big 12 school that desires to move in time for the 2012 has to give notice by then or face stiff penalties.
Ducks move into first place in Fulmer Cup standings
As for Oregon the hits keep coming. Chip Kelly addressed the media with his solution to the Ducks current off the field problems.
"If a player doesn’t live up to the standards we have for the football program, then they’re not going to be here,'' Kelly said Friday. "But I’m also not going to follow our kids around every Friday or Saturday night so I can see what happened to them.'' From Oregon Live
I guess the question is Chip what type of standards are you talking about? A few hours later LB Kiko Alonso was picked up and charged with a DUI early Saturday morning. With that latest infraction the Ducks have now pulled into a tie with Duke for the lead in the Fulmer Cup standings. For those keeping score at home DUI's are worth two points.
The Oregonian also asks the valid question of whether Chip Kelly has instituted double standards while disciplining players. Some violators have been suspended. Others remain Ducks. Is there a double standard at work? One player he didn't mention at the press conference was QB Jeremiah Masoli who was accused of burglarizing a UO frat house.
Sunday was also bit eventful for the Ducks as Sr WR Jamere Holland was kicked off the team after he went off on his face book page in what was seen as a profanity laced challenge to Chip Kelly and the white race in general.
The post read: "How you (expletive) kick kinko (sic) off the team on some weak (expletive). ... he slipped up but ive been slippn up, and I'm still here, that (expletive) ... could damage for the ducks, that (expletive) is weak, weak (expletive), quote me."
After the post went viral on the Internet, a second post appeared on Holland's page reading: "chilln thinking of another status to (expletive) with the readers heads, I wish I could block whites as friends and only have blacks LOL, cause apparently I'm misunderstood." Oregon Live
Deadspin posted the actual screen shot on their website. Not sure if you get any Fulmer Cup points for just being stupid.
If you're facebook savvy you can see that Darron Thomas the backup QB behind Masoli gave a thumbs up to Jamere Holland's status update.
University of Oregon President Richard Lariviere was quoted by the Oregonian as saying the conduct of the football team is simply unacceptable.
"The University of Oregon has clear expectations of how its student athletes are to behave both on and off the field of play. Lately, several of our athletes have fallen far short of these standards. This is simply unacceptable.
The University of Oregon does not tolerate inappropriate conduct from any of its students. I know Athletics Director Mike Bellotti and Head Coach Chip Kelly share my concern about recent events involving UO players and are working hard to address these incidents. I have every confidence that they will restore the UO athletic program's long and proud tradition of sportsmanship and integrity. Our loyal fans and alumni expect no less and neither do I.
The Oregon athletic programs long and proud tradition of sportsmanship and integrity?
Whatcha talking about Prez?
Trojans trying to avoid spanking
In other bad boy news USC met with the NCAA this week to defend allegations of a lack of institutional control in its football and basketball programs. Neither side are commenting on any specifics but the NCAA's lead investigator said it was the longest hearing he had ever been involved with.
There is a lot at stake for USC because the timing of their violations would put them in repeat offender territory which could technically hammer them worse. The administration of USC seems pretty confident but most insiders think the Trojans will come out of it with a bowl ban, loss of TV dollars, and a loss of scholarships. Whatever the penalty expect it to be over by 2012 when the new TV contract comes into force.
It would be pretty strange if the Trojans only ended up with a slap on the hand after an investigation that took three years to complete and a hearing that may have been the longest for the NCAA in the last decade.
Stay tuned.
Huskies Split
The Husky basketball team split with the LA schools and I would say the margin of error now is pretty slim when it comes to qualifying for the NCAA tournament. The Huskies play there last three conference games on the road and they need to sweep the Oregon schools and WSU to keep being taken seriously unless they win the Pac 10 tournament.
This week the opponent is WSU in Pullman. The Huskies blew them out with a great second half in Seattle earlier this year but was we know this team just isn't the same on the road. For Quincy Pondexter whose career is coming to an end it has to remind him of his freshman season at Washington. Expectations were high for one of the strongest freshman classes in the country but the struggles on the road doomed the teams tournament chances.