Well, the final day of the 2022-23 college football season shined some attention on the Oregon Ducks.
Watching Georgia dominate TCU 65-7 in Monday’s College Football Playoff championship game, Ducks fans could feel empathy for Horned Frogs followers as the final game of this season played out a lot like the first in which the Bulldogs bludgeoned the Ducks 49-3.
The Ducks also came up at halftime. TCU trailed by 31 points, so commentators naturally brought up Oregon’s loss — to TCU, of course — in the 2016 Alamo Bowl. Oregon led that game 31-0 at halftime but lost in overtime. An injury to Oregon QB Vernon Adams Jr. was a key part of that turnaround. There was no such luck for the Horned Frogs on Monday.
• The exciting news for the Oregon program Monday was that LaMichael James has been elected to the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023. While guys named Tim Tebow and Reggie Bush will get more pub, James is very deserving of this honor.
James is the sixth Duck player to enter college football's hall of fame, joining quarterback Norm Van Brocklin (Class of 1966), running back John Kitamiller (1969), tackle John Beckett (1972), running back Mel Renfro (1986) and running back Ahmad Rashad (2007).
James played three seasons (2009-11) during which Oregon won three Pac-12 titles, played in three BCS bowl games and the 2011 BCS National Championship game.
It’s a deserved honor for one of the more exciting players to tote the rock in college football. The induction ceremony for the class of 18 players and four coaches takes place Dec. 5 at Las Vegas. James now owns and operates Killer Burger outlets in Beaverton and Lake Oswego.
• Final football rankings: Oregon is ranked 15th in the final Associated Press poll of the college football season. The Ducks are No. 16 in the ACFA Coaches’ Poll.
Oregon State is ranked 17th in both polls.
Both teams finished 10-3 in 2022 and won their bowl game.
Washington, at No. 8 in both polls, is the highest ranked Pac-12 team. Utah is 10th in the AP poll and 11th in the coaches poll. USC is 12th in the AP rankings and 13th in the coaches poll. UCLA finished 21st in both polls.
Trail Blazers back home: Losers of three in a row (and their last seven road games), the Blazers have fallen below .500 (19-20) and badly need to take advantage of a playing 10 of their 11 remaining January games at home beginning with Tuesday’s 7 p.m. visit from Orlando (ROOT SPORTS PLUS TV).
• Welcome back Terry Porter: Former standout Trail Blazers guard Terry Porter is joining the organization in the role of alumni ambassador, joining Brian Grant and Bobby Gross as former players who work to connect other alumni with the organization. In his role, Porter will appear on televised Blazer games and be involved with community events and sponsors.
NWSL announces sanctions: The National Women’s Soccer League on Monday announced lifetime bans and fines stemming from its investigation, along with the NWSL Players Association, into abuses by coaches. Former Portland Thorns coach Paul Riley is banned for life from the league. He isn’t alone. also receiving lifetime bans were former coaches Rory Dames (Chicago Red Stars), Christy Holly (Sky Blue/Gotham and Louisville) and Richie Burke (Washington Spirit). An additional eight former coaches/administrators also received suspensions though could return under certain conditions.
The Thorns were among the teams fined. Merritt Paulson’s previously pledged $1 million to support the establishment of a NWSL Player Safety Office counts as that fine. The league also will require Paulson to follow through on selling the Thorns.
Seahawks chances: The 49ers opened as 10-point favorites over Seattle in the wild-card round game between the NFC West rivals scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Santa Clara, California (TV on FOX).
Let’s face it, the Seahawks are playing with house money while the Niners are all-in for a Super Bowl run. Still, it’s tough to beat the same team three times in a season, right?
Maybe it’s hard for the 12s to be optimistic after the Hawks made them suffer through overtime drama against a beat-up Rams team on Sunday. But we can think of two things Seattle has going for it: the more experienced quarterback and the fact that all the pressure will be on the 49ers who expect to challenge for a championship.
The Hawks have no pressure. They have impressive young players at several key positions and currently hold nine picks in this spring’s draft, including the fifth overall pick from the Russell Wilson trade to Denver.
Not saying a playoff win over the rival Niners wouldn’t be sweet for Seattle. But the Seahawks are well positioned for sustained success well beyond Saturday.
College women’s basketball: Oregon State’s Raegan Beers was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the third time this season after averaging 19.5 points and 11 rebounds as the Beavers lost a close game at Arizona and won at Arizona State.
• Oregon fell three spots to No. 21 in the AP women’s poll after Sunday’s 79-71 loss at Arizona, which climbed one slot to No. 14.
The Ducks and Beavers welcome the Washington schools Friday and Sunday, with the Huskies in Eugene and the Cougars in Corvallis on Friday.
WHL trade deadline: Tuesday at 2 p.m. PT is the deadlines for trades in the Western Hockey League. The Portland Winterhawks have been quiet during an active trade season so far highlighted by Kamloops, which is hosting this year’s Memorial Cup, sending four players and 10 (10!) draft picks to Everett for 19-year-old defenseman Olen Zellweger and 20-year-old forward Ryan Hofer. Zellweger was a member of Canada’s gold medal team at the recent World Junior Championships. A prospect of the Anaheim Ducks, he was the WHL Defenseman of the Year last season.
Pac-12 football: The final season of the Pac-12 as we know it certainly will be the Conference of QBs. Utah’s Cam Rising is the latest proven quarterback to announce his intention to play one more season of college football.
The roster of decorated QBs expected to play in the Pac-12 in 2023 include Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams at USC, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr., Oregon’s Bo Nix and Oregon State’s DJ Uiagalelei (former Clemson starter). In fact, every program not in the Bay Area will have a proven signal caller, including Cameron Ward at Washington State, Jayden de Laura at Arizona, Kent State transfer Collin Schee at UCLA, former Notre Dame QB Drew Payne at Arizona State and Deion Sanders’ son Shedeur at Colorado.
Kraken good hockey: Seattle blanked host Montreal 4-0 on Monday for its fifth win in a row. Martin Jones backstopped the win with a 21-save shutout. Matty Beniers, Eeli Tolvanen and Vince Dunn each had a goal and an assist. Seattle is 4-0 on a seven-game road trip that continues Tuesday at Buffalo (4 p.m., ROOT SPORTS NW) and Thursday at Boston.