The Oregon Ducks will be dancing for at least another week.

The Ducks, who are the No. 7 seed in the West region of March Madness, upset the No. 2 seed Iowa Hawkeyes on Monday, 95-80. Oregon advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the past five tournaments, along with three other teams from the Pac-12.

Despite being in the round of 32, the Ducks had not yet played a game in the NCAA Tournament. Their first round game against No. 10 seed VCU resulted in a forfeit due to a COVID-19 outbreak on Virginia Commonwealth’s team. This led to a matchup against the favored Hawkeyes, who many believed were capable of making a deep run in the tournament. The Hawkeyes were led by two-time All-American and expected Wooden national player of the year Luka Garza. Garza averaged 24 points per game this season, while converting 55 percent of his shots. He did not disappoint in the matchup against the Ducks, leaving it all out on the court as he put up a game-high 36 points. However, it was not enough to top the Ducks, who were hitting on all cylinders.

The Ducks had four of their five starters score double-digit points, led by guard Chris Duarte, who put up 23. They shot 56% as a team and hit 11 three-pointers, as the Hawkeyes could find no answers on defense. Oregon will now face Pac-12 rival USC in the Sweet 16, with the winner of that game advancing to the Elite 8 to face the winner of No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga and No. 5 seed Creighton.

The Oregon upset comes as one of many in a particularly upset filled March Madness. Among other unexpected outcomes are No. 15 seed Oral Roberts advancing to the Sweet 16 after defeating No. 2 seed Ohio State and No. 7 seed Florida, as well as three other double digit seeds: No. 11 Syracuse, No. 11 UCLA and No. 12 Oregon State, who all reached the Sweet 16. There will be many options for a Cinderella story to make a run deep into the tournament.

Heading into the Pac-12 Championship, Utah had high hopes of coming away with a victory and securing a spot in the College Football Playoffs. However, Oregon had other plans. Cruising to its first Pac-12 championship since 2014, 13th-ranked Oregon dominated the fifth-ranked Utes by a final of 37-15. This puts Utah out of the running to compete for the title.

The game started in Oregon’s favor and never turned. Their dominance started with a 67-yard touchdown drive and ended with 30 more points against a team who only gave up an average of 11.3 points per game in the regular season.

Jumping to a 20-0 lead at halftime, the Ducks were able to hold off a potential Utah comeback as their only 15 points occurred in the third quarter. Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert was 14 of 26 for 193 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Johnny Johnson III had six receptions for a total of 87 yards with a touchdown. But eyes were on running back CJ Verdell who ran for 208 yards with three touchdowns. One came on a 70-yard run, the longest in Pac-12 Championship Game history. A second touchdown came on a 31-yard carry. Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said of his team, “I believe they outwork everybody. They are made of the right stuff.”

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Utah coach Kyle Whittingham sought to see the positives despite such a devastating loss. “Obviously tonight was a huge disappointment,” he said, “But (that) doesn’t detract from the fact that we won 11 football games and were South champions two consecutive years in a row.”

Utah did finish with an 11-2 record with what may go down as their greatest senior class ever.

The Utes final game of this 2019 season is still unknown, but one could speculate between the Alamo Bowl, or possibly the Holiday Bowl or Cotton Bowl. Last year, Utah faced Northwestern in the Holiday Bowl and suffered a stunning 31-20 loss.

Despite a devastating loss to the Ducks, Utah still with one game left has sights focused on a final victory to cap off a well-fought 2019 season. Oregon will play in the Rose Bowl on January 1 against a Big Ten opponent.

A packed house at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, saw their hometown Arizona State Sun Devils defeat the number six-ranked Oregon Ducks in a close 31-28 victory. Unranked Arizona State (6-5) pulled off a stunning upset over Oregon (9-2) killing Oregon’s playoff chances and turning out to be a tough night for the Pac-12. Number seven Utah (10-1) defeated Arizona (4-7) by a score of 35-7 on Saturday. But the Utes needed a playoff contender to validate a Pac-12 title game. That playoff contender was Oregon who will face Utah on December 6. So, with an Oregon loss, Utah peripherally loses, putting them, and the Pac-12, at risk.

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Oregon senior quarterback Justin Herbert had the worst passing sequence of his college career with two consecutive interception pass plays in the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Ducks offense had a tough time all game, averaging just 17 yards in the second quarter alone. Scoreless for two consecutive quarters, Oregon put up 21 points in the fourth, with Arizona State almost matching with 18. However, two field goals by the Sun Devils in the second and third quarters respectively seemed to be pivotal in a well fought victory. Herbert, who began to make quite the name for himself, seemed to have lost some allure with his defeat to a first-year quarterback.

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Arizona State’s freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels had quite an impressive game, throwing for 408 yards with three touchdowns. Receiver Brandon Aiyuk had 161 yards with seven catches. A huge 81-yard touchdown reception in the fourth put the game just out of arms’ reach for the mighty Oregon Ducks. Junior Eno Benjamin ran for 114 yards on 31 carries, proving an impressive team effort all around for the Sun Devils.

The Oregon Ducks (9-2) will host Oregon State (5-6) on November 30 at home, while Arizona State (6-5) takes on Arizona (4-7) next on November 30 at home as well.

One UCLA cheerleader had a rough night during the Bruins’ mens’ basketball home game against Oregon on Thursday night.

UCLA Cheerleader Falls Twice During Timeout vs Oregon

Sophie Lellis-Petrie seemed to lose her balance and fell hard on her lower back while attempting to complete a pyramid during a timeout.

Then, just seconds after that disastrous routine, she hit the ground again after one of her cheer-mates carried her off the court so she could receive medical attention.

The young man rushed so quickly that he tripped on a bag and the pair came tumbling down, with him falling on top of her.

“Say a prayer, light a candle for that young angel of UCLA,” ESPN analyst Bill Walton said during the telecast, per SB Nation.

Luckily, Lellis-Petrie was not seriously injured and eventually returned to the court for the 10th-ranked Bruins’ 82-79 comeback victory over the No. 5 Oregon Ducks.

UCLA trailed by as many as 19 points during the game.

LOUISVILLE, KY – MARCH 21: Cheerleaders for the UCLA Bruins in action against the UAB Blazers during the third round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at KFC YUM! Center on March 21, 2015 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

The University of Oregon unveiled on Thursday the Marcus Mariota Sports Performance Center, a huge, state-of-the-art facility funded by Nike co-founder Phil Knight. 

Marcus Mariota Sports Performance Center Unveiled At University Of Oregon

The 30,000-square-foot venue, named after the school’s 2014 Heisman Trophy winner and Tennessee Titans’ second-year quarterback, combines “sports performance, sports science, sports medicine and technology in one efficiently designed space,” according to a release from the university.

According to the Daily Emerald, the center also came with an estimated price tag of $19.2 million.

“My mom just sent me the text,” Mariota, 22, said after Titans practice Thursday. “I’m going to look at it right now. I heard it’s pretty ridiculous.”

The quarterback–who was selected by the Titans as the second overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Oregon– won the Heisman in 2014 after passing for 4,454 yards, 42 touchdowns and just four interceptions, and running for 770 yards and 15 touchdowns. The Ducks made it to the national championship game, but lost to Ohio State.

In his rookie season with the Titans, Mariota passed for 2,818 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while winning three of the 12 games he started. He also ran for 252 yards and two scores and caught a touchdown.

“The goal of this project was to create one space where we could utilize the most state-of-the-art technology to improve student-athlete wellness and emphasize our commitment to the health and safety of our student-athletes,” Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said in a release. “Thanks to the incredible generosity of Phil and Penny Knight, we now have a world-class facility that is going to take the student-athlete experience at the University of Oregon to a level not previously seen anywhere on the collegiate level.”

Greg Skaggs, Oregon’s director of athletic medicine, went on part-fact-finding trips to NASA and Australia in order to research the facility’s construction.

“We focused on creating a space that would allow us to objectively measure a student-athlete’s development and readiness,” Skagg said in the release. “This data will give us the best opportunity to individualize training to maximize performance and prevent injury.

“Unlike other university performance centers, this facility is designed to make real-time interventions into a student-athlete’s training program and well-being.”

Mariota knew of the project and of many of the details. However, he will likely have to wait a few months before seeing it.

“Probably next year,” Mariota said when asked when he would visit his alma mater to see the new center. “I was going to try to go back during the bye week (Titans are off Dec. 4), but it depends on if they’re playing well or not, because that’s going to be the week of the Pac-12 championship game (Dec. 2). I haven’t really decided yet.”

The No. 1-seed Oregon Ducks (31-6) defeated the No.4-seed Duke Blue Devils (25-11) 82-68 in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday, and the recruiting class of 2016 was right there to celebrate alongside current Oregon players and fans.

Oregon Ducks Basketball Commits React To 82-68 Win Over Duke

The Ducks’s new commits include four-star talents Payton Pritchard (West Linn; Oregon), small forward Keith Smith (Rainier Beach; Washington) and M.J. Cage (Mater Dei; California).

“They are showing everyone what I already knew,” Smith said, commenting on why he chose the Ducks. “I was already excited to be a Duck, but this is just icing on the cake.”

Pritchard recently clinched his fourth straight Oregon 6A state championship. Not only was he pleased to see his future team win, he also admitted to being intrigued by the Elite Eight matchup against Oklahoma.

Pritchard committed to the Oklahoma Sooners as a junior, but later chose (and signed with) Oregon.

“Great win, especially against Duke,” he said. “And next game should be a great one. (I’m) very happy and proud to be a Duck.”

The Ducks’ recruiting class is currently ranked 12th in the country by Rivals.

The Oregon State Beavers, meanwhile, made the NCAA tournament as the No. 7 seed in the West for the first time since 1990 after defeating Arizona State 66-75, but then lost their following two games to California and VCU.

Caption: ANAHEIM, CA – MARCH 24: Elgin Cook #23 of the Oregon Ducks goes up for a shot against Luke Kennard #5 of the Duke Blue Devils in the second half in the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament West Regional at the Honda Center on March 24, 2016 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

The eighth-ranked Oregon Ducks withstood Washington’s early strength and a late flurry of points to defeat the Huskies 83-77 in the Pac-12 Tournament quarterfinals in Las Vegas on Thursday.

No. 8 Oregon Beats Washington 83-77 In Pac-12 Quarterfinals

Chris Boucher led the Ducks with 19 points and 11 rebounds. “We knew they were going to try to get up in our space and deny us,” said Oregon’s Elgin Cook, who also had 19 points. “We were all sped up at first, and I just wanted to tell everybody to calm down and keep their composure.”

The Ducks (26-6) got off to a slow start, but built an 11-point lead midway through the second half. Andrew Andrews helped the Huskies come back, scoring 10 of his 19 points in the span of just a few minutes to help Washington (18-14) pull within two late. Andrews hit a pair of 3-pointers and turned a steal into a pair of free throws that cut Oregon’s lead to 71-69 with 5 minutes left. Oregon also held on by scoring four free throws in the final 33 seconds.

Tyler Dorsey and Dillon Brooks added 17 and 15 points for the Ducks respectively. Oregon had a 46-33 rebounding advantage.

“We had bad turnovers today. We didn’t make very good decisions. We’ll have to clean that up,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “But our effort on the boards, I think, was the difference in the game. We were able to make just enough plays to get by.”

The Huskies’ chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament bracket. Marques Chriss led Washington with 19 points.

Oregon finished the regular season strong, winning their last five games to earn their first conference title since 2002. The Ducks previously defeated the Huskies 86-73 on Feb. 28. Cook scored 26 points.

On Thursday night, after an aggressive start by Washington, the Ducks settled down and came back, forcing the Huskies into difficult shots, scoring in transition after turnovers and misses during an 11-0 run that helped them gain a 39-38 halftime.  

The Ducks gained a little separation about halfway through, after Dorsey scored a three and Dwayne Benjamin scored on a three-point play to put Oregon up 64-54.

“To look at this season as a failure would be kind of dumb on our part,” Andrews said. “So you just take everything and learn from it. We had an incredible season. I said, we beat all the odds as far as what the media thought and what the coaches poll thought. So I couldn’t be prouder of the guys in this locker room.”

Oregon will now face No. 15 Arizona in Friday night’s semifinals. The Arizona Wildcats (25-7) defeated the Colorado Buffaloes 82-78 in Las Vegas on Thursday. Washington will likely now head to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) held in New York on March 29 and 31.

Caption: LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 10: Elgin Cook #23 of the Oregon Ducks is guarded by Malik Dime #10 of the Washington Huskies during a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 10, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oregon won 83-77. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The Oregon Ducks (28-6, 14-4 Pac-12 Conference) are now a No. 1 seed, following their 88-57 victory over the No. 12 Utah Runnin’ Utes in the Pac-12 NCAA Tournament final in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday.

Oregon Becomes No. 1 Seed Following 88-57 Win Over Utah: A Lesson To Learn From Duke

The Ducks will now play in the West bracket and travel to Spokane, Washington next week to play the winner of Holy Cross and Southern. If Oregon should win that game on Friday, they will surely go far.

Now, Oregon must learn a valuable lesson from last year’s national champions, the Duke Blue Devils. Former Duke point guard Quinn Cook, a senior last year, perhaps said it best: “Look, when you’re named a No. 1 seed it gives you some immediate confidence,” Cook said on Sunday. “You gain some respect and maybe that helps you as you enter the first round of the tournament, but what you have to know is that everything goes out the door once the tournament starts. None of that stuff matters.”

In other words, congrats to Oregon for becoming a top seed. They should feel ver good about it. However, they should not lose focus or get distracted by how everyone else is doing, but rather solely devote all of their attention to their next opponent, whoever that may be.

Cook played four seasons for Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. In 2014, Duke was a No. 3 seed and got upset by No. 14 Mercer. In 2012, the Blue Devils were a No. 2 seed and were upset by No. 15-seed Lehigh.

“‘One game at a time,’ was our anthem last year,” Cook added. “We never looked at anybody else. We never even watched ESPN.” “This tournament the greatest thing in sports, but the thing can humble you in an instant,” he also said.
The Ducks are an undeniably strong team. They may even be good enough to cut down the nets in Anaheim and advance to NRG Stadium in Houston for the opening game of the Final Four on April 2. The question is, however, can they understand both what it takes to make it to a Final Four and what that means, if they’ve never been sucker-punched by a No. 15 seed, or even been defeated by a future champion?

There is also no doubt that Oregon coach Dana Altman is an excellent game strategist. Coupled with the strength of players like Elgin Cook and Tyler Dorsey, the Ducks have much to be confident about.

Nevertheless, the spur-of-the-moment leadership and focus, even after setbacks seems to be what will ultimately lead Oregon to nonstop victory in this tournament. Sort of like the way guard Casey Benson led the Ducks to an overtime victory over Arizona in the conference tournament by offering words of confident encouragement. “We’re going to win this game,” said Benson.

Dorsey scored 23 points against the Utes on Saturday, and Dillon Brooks added 18 to lead the Ducks to their second Pac-12 Championship in four years. Oregon had 13 total steals and converted the Utes’ 20 turnovers into 28 points.

Oregon was just as good on offense, shooting 52 percent while making 11 of 22 from 3-point range in its eighth straight win. Chris Boucher had 15 points and tournament MVP Elgin Cook added 11 with six assists.

The Utes are the conference’s rising stars, led by one of the nation’s most unstoppable forces, 7-footer Jakob Poeltl.

Caption:LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 12: Dwayne Benjamin #0 of the Oregon Ducks drivs against Jordan Loveridge #21 of the Utah Utes during the championship game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament at MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 12, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oregon won 88-57. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Eastern Washington’s Vernon Adams is heading to Oregon and is currently the favorite to replace NFL prospect Marcus Mariota. Adams is an interesting case because he is an All-American junior from Eastern Washington, a team from the Big Sky Conference: this conference competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship, which was formerly known as NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship.

The QB in three years at Eastern Washington threw for 10,438 yards, 110 touchdowns and 31 interceptions: unfortunately, his biggest drawback is his size, he is only 6 feet tall and 190 pounds. Still, he is able to play for Oregon because he graduates from Eastern Washington this spring: as long as he is in the Ducks’ graduate program, he is eligible for the team.

So why is Oregon so keen on him? He is a two time Walter Payton Award Runner-Up and has performed exceptionally well against big time FBS opponents: in two starts against Pac-12 teams, he has 886 yards, eleven touchdowns and well over 100 rushing yards. And according to the Oregonian, both UCLA and Texas aggressively pursued him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yteSu4edehE

Still once he gets to Oregon, it is not a guarantee that he has the job: as it is a six player race to determine the Ducks’ next starting QB. Junior Jeff Lockie, who served as Mariota’s back up, is the ideal choice, as he has the most experience with the team. On top of this, freshman Morgan Mahalak, freshman Ty Griffin, freshman Taylor Alie and incoming class of 2015’s Travis Waller — who will probably be redshirted — all have an opportunity to compete.

Mark Helfrich was obviously preparing for the day Mariota left: even with six potential prospects, the future NFL star leaves a looming shadow over the organization. Only time will tell if the undersized Vernon Adams could step up and take that spot for himself. Though he played in a lower division, he certainly has more game time experience than Jeff Lockie.

It is official, Marcus Mariota has declared for the 2015 NFL Draft. The announcement was made via the Oregon Ducks’ website, where the QB released the following statement.

“After meeting with my family I have decided to forego my final year of eligibility and apply for the 2015 NFL Draft. My four years at the University of Oregon have been an awesome experience. I cannot thank Coach Kelly, Coach Helfrich, Coach Frost, the rest of the Oregon coaches and the support staff enough for molding me as a person, player and student-athlete. The support I received from the University, the city of Eugene and Duck fans has been tremendous. I will always remember the great times and support I received. Once a Duck always a Duck.

I will miss being with my teammates.  Being a part of this team was something special that I will always treasure.”

The Oregon QB was expected to leave the Ducks despite losing the national championship to Ohio State: of course, he is valued as a high first round pick after his Heisman winning 2014 season.

And he leaves college with plenty of Pac-12 records including total touchdowns (134), total yards (13,033), passing yards per attempt (9.3) and passer rating (171.8) — which the latter stat is 2^nd all time in NCAA history behind Sam Bradford. As for his 2014 Heisman season, he shined with nearly 4,500 passing yards, 42 touchdowns, four interceptions, a passer rating of 181.7, 770 rushing yards, and 15 rushing touchdowns.

As for his actual draft stock, plenty of analysts believe he will be the first overall QB selected in the draft: but his name is currently interchangeable with Florida State’s Jameis Winston — who Marcus and the Oregon Ducks defeated in the opening playoff round.

Now, the main question is where will the star quarterback go? uSports went in depth about the same subject when Jameis declared at the beginning of the month. To reiterate, there are as many as nine teams who could draft a QB: it is just a matter of the right position and time. Specifically, four teams in the top ten need one — Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans, New York Jets and St. Louis Rams — but will they be willing to give up such a high pick for Mariota or Winston? At least Marcus’ public image comes out of college unscathed, while Winston has had plenty of problems: and after the scandal heavy 2014 NFL season, Mariota has a real shot of going before the Florida State QB.

At the same time, it is still anyone’s guess. This is all speculation considering the season just ended and the two have not gone through the combine, pro days or team interviews. So stay tuned in the coming months to find out which quarterback will be drafted higher: the 2015 NFL Draft is set for April 30 in Chicago.

Just how big was this national championship for Ohio State? Well, they defeated a very strong Ducks team 42-20. The Oregon Ducks who averaged 45.2 points and 547 yards a game were the nation’s number one total offense: and the Buckeyes held them to 465 total yards and their season worst third down percentage and points total.

Best of all, the Ducks were held to the aforementioned season worst 20 points despite four turnovers by Ohio State. And lets not forget the fact that the Oregon defense, which gave up 23.6 points per game, was tarnished: giving up another season worst 42 points in last night’s championship.

In retrospect, this is a great win for Ohio State, who slimly made the college playoffs and would not have even been in the former BCS Championship: showing the flawed nature of the BCS system. At the same time, while Oregon almost came back in the third quarter — even closing the Buckeye’s lead to one point, 21-20 — they proceeded to shutout the Ducks in the fourth: a team that just destroyed the three seed Florida State 59-20 eleven days earlier.

First and foremost, the win is great for the struggling Big Ten, who minus Ohio State went 4-5 in this year’s bowl games: however, even with this record, there were some great conference victories over Auburn, Baylor and Boston College. Meanwhile, many assumed after Michigan State’s loss to Oregon and Ohio State’s loss to Virginia Tech that the Big Ten conference had no chance to actually be in the college playoffs, let alone win the national championship.

And it is only the fourth Big Ten football team in the last 43 years to win the national championship: with the last win coming in 2002 by the Buckeyes. Needless to say, this is not the biggest national championship drought for a conference, but in regards to the power five, the Big Ten really needed this: especially since before 2014, the SEC took the highest honors seven out of the last eight seasons. Is this the end of the SEC dominance: probably not, but it was great for Ohio and their conference to beat one before destroying Oregon.

Now, what does this mean for Urban Meyer’s legacy: well he has now matched Saban as being one of only two college coaches to ever win national championships at two different schools. Now, Saban still has four titles to his name — one with LSU and three with Alabama — but this third win for Meyer certainly puts his name in the conversation of greatest current coaches.

As for overall legacy, there is still Bear Bryant who had five with Alabama and Frank Leahy with four and a whole array of coaches with three — Bernie Bierman, John McKay, Barry Switzer and Bud Wilkinson. But Meyer has now turned around two ailing franchises: with Florida being in a rut before and after his tenure and Ohio State receiving sanctions prior to Urban taking the job.

And despite bowl ineligibility and losing scholarships, he obviously still built a championship caliber team: even posting three consecutive twelve win seasons in his short time with Ohio State. This brings his all time record to 141-26 (.844), putting him ninth on the highest winning percentage of all time list. And many people say this could just be the beginning: with many believing that this fairly young Buckeyes team has the ability to become a dynasty.

And if they do win, there will be no arguing about the greatest college football coach of all time: Urban Meyer will jump right to the top of the list. But that will only happen if he wins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ56h4zjq6k

Ohio State — a team who just snuck into the final four playoffs — defeated the Oregon Ducks 42-20: killing the Ducks’ hope for their first national championship.

And during the post-game celebrations, the current offensive coordinator of Ohio State Tom Herman, who will be leaving the school to coach the University of Houston in 2015, decided to celebrate with a Houston Football team hat.

Well it seems Herman, even in the victory, was always looking towards the inevitable future. And while this act could appear as playful, it did anger some Ohio State fans: with some taking to Twitter to express their opinions about what he did.

https://twitter.com/BranninWGL/status/555020616739614720

Either way, his act is not that harmful: he is now the University of Houston coach, a program which has struggled over the last few years: only one Top 25 finish in the last 25 years. So any  promotion he could get is warranted: and what better than the biggest stage in college football?