By Jay Jones, June 4, 2008

The Pac-10 Conference named Alexis Serna (Football) and Yuki Lamb (Gymnastics) as Oregon State University’s outstanding senior male and female athletes for 2007-2008.

Serna and Lamb will be honored at the State Farm Pride of the Pac-10 Luncheon held in Los Angeles in conjunction with the Pac-10 Men’s Basketball Tournament next March.

As an editorial note, honoring the 2007-2008 winners in 2009 seems a little odd to me.  Then again, numerous Pac-10 decisions strike me as strange.

Here’s the full press release.

By Jay Jones, June 3, 2008

Earlier today, The Oregonian’s John Canzano talked to former Oregon State University kicker Alexis Serna on The Bald Faced Truth.

Here’s the link to the audio.

Serna’s announcement that he signed with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers is right off the top.

By Jay Jones on June 3, 2008

Here’s Phil Steele’s 2008 Pac-10 Al Conference selections. You can take a look at the entire list here.

If you’re only interested in Oregon State players, here you go.

Phil Steele’s 2008 Pac-10 All Conference

1st Team Offense
W Sammie Stroughter, Oregon St
OG Jeremy Perry, Oregon St

2nd Team Offense
OT Andy Levitre, Oregon St

3rd Team Offense
None

4th Team Offense
None

1st Team Defense
PR Sammie Stroughter, Oregon St

2nd Team Defense
None

3rd Team Defense
CB Brandon Hughes, Oregon St
SS Al Afalava, Oregon St

4th Team Defense
DE Victor Butler
CB Keenan Lewis, Oregon St

Here’s how the numbers break down:
USC 23
Arizona 14
Oregon 12
ASU 11
Cal 10
Stanford 10
UCLA 9
OSU 8
UW 8
WSU 7

Bottom-line:
For the sake of this blog entry, let’s say that Phil Steele is the smartest man in the world, and can predict the future.

If these numbers are indicative of the talent on each of the Pac-10 teams, then Arizona’s Mike Stoops better win some games this year. Steele rates Tuitama as the second best in the conference. Just yesterday, the Sporting News’ Matt Hayes ranked Tuitama as the tenth best in the all of the BCS conferences.

And it looks like Stanford has some players, as well. Although, I don’t think the pressure is on Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh, in only his second year.

Is it any surprise that USC has the most talent? I don’t think so.

And it looks like Sammie Stroughter is the only player that’s listed on both sides of the ball…and on the first teams.

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Jay from One Click Sports News, here.

Matt Hayes at the Sporting News has concluded his two-week analysis of player rankings in each of the six BCS conferences with an overall player ranking for the BCS schools.

You can take a look at the entire list here.

And you can take a look at the Pac-10 rankings here.

Here’s how Pac-10 players ranked.

Quarterback
10. Willie Tuitama, Arizona
Jay: Best in the Pac-10?

Running back
5. Joe McKnight, USC
9. Keegan Herring, Arizona State

Wide receiver
6. Mike Thomas, Arizona

Jay: Stroughter is No. 5 in the Pac-10.

Tight end
8. Ed Dickson, Oregon

Jay: Croom’s No. 3 in the Pac-10.

Offensive line
5. Alex Mack, California
7. Max Unger, Oregon

Jay: There’s your 1 & 2 in the Pac-10.

Kicker
1. Thomas Weber, Arizona State
3. Kai Forbath, UCLA
10. David Buehler, USC

Jay: Thomas Weber is a stud. According to Hayes, the Pac-10 sports the best collection of kickers in the country.

Defensive line
1. Fili Moala, USC
7. Nick Reed, Oregon

Jay: There’s your 1 & 2 in the Pac-10.

Linebacker
2. Rey Maualuga, USC
5. Brian Cushing, USC
7. Reggie Carter, UCLA

Jay: USC is frakin’ stacked.

Defensive back
3. Taylor Mays, USC
7. Patrick Chung, Oregon
10. Kevin Ellison, USC

Jay: There’s your 1, 2, & 3 in the Pac-10.

Punter
4. Keenyn Crier, Arizona
5. Aaron Perez, UCLA

As a side note, Hayes notes that ASU is one of the most over-rated teams heading into the ‘08 season.

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Jay from One Click Sports News, here.

Yesterday, The Oregonian’s John Canzano talked to Oregon State baseball coach Pat Casey on his sports talk radio show, The Bald Faced Truth.

Here’s the link to the audio. It starts off pretty close to the start of the audio file.

Over the course of the interview, Coach Casey talks about the baseball season and addresses the issue of other schools contacting him regarding job vacancies.

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[Update: Coach Casey confirmed contact by MSU, but is not interested in the position.  Here’s the link.]

Jay from One Click Sports News, here.

Well, there’s some news out of Starkville, Mississippi.

One newspaper in Mississippi is reporting that Mississippi State has contacted Oregon State’s Pat Casey about their coaching vacancy. Another newspaper profiles Coach Casey as a candidate for the job.

Here are the links to both articles.

Dogs contact Beavers’ Casey

Who is next at MSU?

So, why would Coach Casey head down to John Grisham country?

Mississippi State’s incoming Athletics Director is Greg Byrne, former Associate Athletic Director at OSU.

And here’s one more baseball connection.

Byrne is replacing Larry Templeton, Mississippi State’s current AD.

Mr. Templeton also happens to chair the NCAA baseball selection committee that decided not to invite OSU back to the NCAA tournament this year.

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Jay from One Click Sports News, here.

This is something I wrote for Duck Sports News. Even though it’s intended for a Duck audience, I thought OSU fans might find it interesting.

Enjoy.

Duck fans, the Oregon State baseball team should be in the NCAA tournament.

And you should be as mad as hell that they aren’t.

When University of Oregon baseball makes its return next year, who would you rather play? The last team in this year’s tournament? As a bubble team, they’ve won back-to-back national championships. Not bad. Or would you rather rekindle baseball’s Civil War playing a team not among the top 64 in the nation?

I’m taking that bubble team team, with a shot at another national championship, every time. And it’s not even close.

I might be in the minority on this one, but I’m a fan of my team first and the Pac-10 second. So, if my team isn’t playing another Pac-10 team, I’m rooting for the other Pac-10 teams.

And Duck fans should, too.

Because there are bigger villains out there than other Pac-10 teams, and they are just over the horizon for the Ducks.

Gazette-Times reporter Kevin Hampton makes a pretty straightforward case for the Beavers being the NCAA.

The Beavers struggled, finished 28-24 and were passed over. No big deal, right?

It is when you’re talking about the winner of the last two NCAA titles. While holding those two trophies wasn’t enough to get the Beavers in, maybe it should have been.

Consider that the Beavers had a winning record while playing the 23rd-toughest schedule in the country. They won two of four against tournament third-seed Arizona State, and two of three against eighth-seed Georgia, as well as tournament teams Arizona, UCLA and Pepperdine.

The Beavers could have padded their schedule and most likely ended up with 38 or so wins. And a tournament berth.

Actually, I’ve seen the Beavers schedule ranked as high as 7th. Either way, it doesn’t matter. The Beavers played a tough schedule.

Duck fans, this is where it gets interesting. One of the villains this year in OSU’s snub is an institution that Duck fans are very familiar with: the University of Oklahoma. What’s the deal with these guys and the State of Oregon?

Hampton continues:

Consider that Oklahoma got in despite a 9-17-1 record in the Big 12, finishing lower than Baylor and Kansas State, two teams not in the tournament.

The Sooners, who lost three of four to Washington State in Norman earlier in the season, clearly got the bid solely because of their run in the conference tournament, which ended with a loss to Texas in the title game.

A case could be made against the Sooners and the Beavers. However, a 64-team bracket had to be filled out. It’s hard to believe there wasn’t a space for the Beavers.

No one would have questioned an OSU in and Oklahoma out scenario. It was expected in most circles. College baseball analysts around the country had the Beavers projected to get a berth.

Even though making the Sooners out to be the villains in this case is fun for Duck fans, they are only representative of a larger bias across the national landscape in baseball. And it should be all too familiar to Oregon, OSU, and Pac-10 fans.

East Coast bias. Or in this case, South Eastern bias. With a healthy sprinkling of geographical bias, as well.

Hampton notes:

This year, the committee went for nine SEC teams (no surprise since Templeton is a Mississippi State man), six ACC teams and six Big 12 teams while giving out berths to five Pac-10 teams, none from the Pacific Northwest

(Larry Templeton is the Chairman of the Division I baseball committee.)

The argument could be made that there just weren’t any good teams out West this year. Right? Wrong. More than just bias, there’s actually an institutional bias built in to the system.

Dan Zeiger of the East Valley Tribune notes that limitations for West Coast teams are part of the NCAA tournament.

Due to the way this year’s bracket is constructed, a maximum of three West-coast schools can reach the College World Series. Four such teams — ASU, UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton and Oregon State — made it last year.

Arizona State coach Pat Murphy recognized the inequity of the situation.

“It’s disappointing that all of the West teams are paired together,” Murphy said. “Geographics plays a part in our region’s (tournament placement), but it doesn’t seem to be for a lot of other regions. I’d like to see that changed.”

And that motivated him to action. This year was Pat Murphy’s second year on the 10-person selection committee. Unfortunately, Coach Murphy wasn’t motivated to show up in Indianapolis for this year’s selection process. Instead, he decided to phone it in.

Arizona State coach Pat Murphy discovered that telecommuting is not the best way to serve on the Division I baseball committee, especially if one has NCAA tournament interests he would like to see served.

“As part of a committee, you are one of 10 voices, and sitting in Arizona, I think I might have been muted at times,” Murphy said on Monday, the day the 64-team field was unveiled. “There’s some things that didn’t happen the way I’d like, but I’m only one of 10. But the committee worked very hard.”

Muted? Coach Murphy got up to the plate twice, and fanned on both occasions.

Murphy, who Friday through Monday took part in tournament selection discussions via conference call, said that he went 0-for-2 in his goals: Getting two-time defending national champion Oregon State in and a more equitable distribution of West-coast schools around the bracket.

Like West Coast teams don’t have a difficult enough time as it is? And Coach Murphy decides to not show up? Why do sales people want to meet with you face-to-face? Because it’s more persuasive.

Coach Murphy bailed on his shot to sell West Coast and OSU baseball, and it probably cost OSU a shot at another national championship, and Oregon a shot at the champs.

And Coach Murphy isn’t planning a repeat no-show performance.

Next year, Murphy said, he will personally attend, even if it means missing an ASU game or two.

Duck fans, you might be thinking, “That won’t happen to us.” You might want to think again.

Oregon State has been passed over before, as Hampton points out.

There is a track record here. This isn’t the first time an NCAA baseball committee left out Oregon State when putting together a tournament bracket.

In 1994, the Beavers finished 35-16 and won the Pacific-10 North Division. Not good enough.

In 1998, the Beavers put together a 35-14-1 record. No bid.

Meanwhile, the committees were loading the brackets with teams from conferences such as the ACC and SEC.

Teams from the colder northern states seemed to be overlooked in favor of teams from sunnier climes.

Duck fans, Oregon is the new kid on the proverbial baseball block. Even though Oregon has history and a national championship coach, the Ducks are going to get about as much national respect as the New Kids On The Block Reunion Tour.

Oregon’s baseball history won’t be these Ducks’ history. That belongs to Mel Krause.

Oregon coach George Horton’s national championship isn’t Oregon’s. That belongs to Cal State-Fullerton.

But Oregon does belong to the Pac-10.

So, Duck fans,when you’re smiling on the inside at Oregon State’s failure to make the NCAA tournament, just remember: that smile might be turned upside down in the very near future.

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Jay from One Click Sports News, here.

OSU’s Spring Game is coming up this Saturday.

Are you going to go?  Are your friends?  How many fans do you think will be in attendance?

Well, if you’re curious about the attendance at other Spring Games across the country, here you go. These numbers come by way of Bob Condotta at the Seattle-Times and Dave Plati at Colorado.

ALABAMA ……………………… 78,200
ARIZONA STATE ……………… 5,000
ARKANSAS………………………. 40,200
AUBURN………………… 35,000
BOISE STATE……………… 7,500
BRIGHAM YOUNG…………… 16,700
CINCINNATI…………………… 10,142
CLEMSON ……………………… 25,000
COLORADO……………………. 17,800
COLORADO STATE ………….. 6,100
EAST CAROLINA…………. 5,053
FLORIDA ……………………… 61,000
FLORIDA STATE ……………… 30,000
FRESNO STATE……………….. 2,600
GEORGIA………………………… 19,874
GEORGIA TECH………………. 8,500
HAWAII…………………………. 9,300
HOUSTON……………………… 3,500
IDAHO………………………….. 5,100
ILLINOIS…………………………. 12,531
IOWA……………………………. 15,352
IOWA STATE…………………… 8,000
KANSAS ………………………… 10,000
KANSAS STATE…………… 15,523
KENTUCKY…………………….. 8,500
LOUISIANA STATE …………… 33,624
LOUISIANA TECH ……………. 5,103
LOUISVILLE……………………. 17,200
MARSHALL………………… 6,701
MARYLAND……………………. 10,221
MIAMI-FLA……………………. 11,000
MICHIGAN STATE …………….. 27,000
MINNESOTA…………………… 7,200
MISSISSIPPI…………… 28,311
MISSISSIPPI STATE…… 10,000
MISSOURI…………………. 26,322
NAVY ……………………………. 2,497
NEBRASKA…………….. 80,149
NORTH CAROLINA STATE…… 15,273
NORTH TEXAS………………… 3,169
NOTRE DAME………… 30,286
OHIO STATE……………… 76,346
OKLAHOMA…………………….. 23,306
OKLAHOMA STATE………….. 20,000
OREGON ……………………….. 14,107
OREGON STATE ……………….. MAY 3
PENN STATE…………………… 73,000
PITTSBURGH ………………….. 7,549
PURDUE………………………… 9,500
RUTGERS………………….. 14,501
SOUTH CAROLINA ………….. 31,125
SOUTHERN MISS…. 11,126
STANFORD …………………….. 2,000
SYRACUSE ……………………… 3,428
TENNESSEE ……………………… 28,898
TEXAS …………………………… 43,000
TEXAS A & M…………… 32,000
TEXAS TECH …………………… 11,250
UCLA…………………………….. 15,052
USC……………………… 22,000
UTAH ……………………………. 4,500
VIRGINIA……………………….. 5,000
VIRGINIA TECH ………………. 30,000
WAKE FOREST…………………. 4,100
WASHINGTON ………………… 9,000
WASHINGTON STATE……….. 900
WEST VIRGINIA………….. 18,000
WESTERN KENTUCKY……….. 2,000
WESTERN MICHIGAN……….. 1,305
WISCONSIN ……………………. 22,000
WYOMING……………………… 1,700
ANONYMOUS …………………. 6,000
NATIONAL AVERAGE (all)…………. 14,331
MEDIAN …………………………………. 8,000

For the latest OSU sports news, keep on checking back at Beaver Sports News for the freshest headlines.

Jay from One Click Sports News, here.

In case you’re curious, here are all of the the Pac-10 players draft in the 2008 NFL Draft.

Round, Overall Draft Position, Name, Position, School.

Arizona
None

Atlanta
1 (21) Sam Baker, ot, Southern California
3 (98) Thomas DeCoud, db, California
5 (138) Robert James, lb, Arizona State
7 (212) Wilrey Fontenot, db, Arizona

Baltimore
None

Buffalo
None

Carolina
1 (13) Jonathan Stewart, rb, Oregon
7 (241) Geoff Schwartz, ot, Oregon

Chicago
7 (243) Joey LaRocque, lb, Oregon State

Cincinnati
1 (9) Keith Rivers, lb, Southern California

Cleveland
None

Dallas
None

Denver
5 (139) Ryan Torain, rb, Arizona State
6 (183) Spencer Larsen, lb, Arizona
7 (220) Josh Barrett, db, Arizona State

Detroit
None

Green Bay
None

Houston
7 (223) Alex Brink, qb, Washington State

Indianapolis
2 (59) Mike Pollak, g, Arizona State

Jacksonville
5 (155) Thomas Williams, lb, Southern California
7 (213) Chauncey Washington, rb, Southern California

Kansas City
None

Miami
7 (245) Lionel Dotson, nt, Arizona

Minnesota
5 (137) John David Booty, qb, Southern California

New England
5 (153) Matt Slater, wr, UCLA

New Orleans
1 (7) Sedrick Ellis, dt, Southern California

New York Giants
2 (63) Terrell Thomas, db, Southern California.

New York Jets
None

Oakland
None

Philadelphia
2 (49) DeSean Jackson, wr, California
6 (184) Mike Gibson, g, California

Pittsburgh
3 (88) Bruce Davis, lb, UCLA
5 (156) Dennis Dixon, qb, Oregon

St. Louis
5 (157) Roy Schuening, g, Oregon State

San Diego
1 (27) Antoine Cason, db, Arizona

San Francisco
2 (39) Chilo Rachal, g, Southern California

Seattle
1 (28) Lawrence Jackson, de, Southern California
7 (233) Justin Forsett, rb, California

Tampa Bay
None

Tennessee
3 (85) Craig Stevens, te, California
4 (126) Lavelle Hawkins, wr, California

Washington
2 (48) Fred Davis, te, Southern California
4 (124) Justin Tryon, db, Arizona State
7 (249) Chris Horton, db, UCLA

Jay from One Click Sports News, here.

Here’s an interesting take on your typical football recruiting database: an interactive Google map with all of the Pac-10 recruits as pinpoints.

Just click on the map to take a look.

For the latest recruiting news, keep on checking back at Beaver Sports News for the freshest headlines.