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Oregon dominates Pac-10 news

Feb. 11, 2009 8:16 a.m. • 13 comments

COUGARS

Though there isn’t a lot of links this morning, the ones out there are pretty darn interesting. They range from some Oregon football suspensions to the NIT … and beyond. Read on.

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• We’ll start with basketball, because it is basketball season. The Times’ Bud Withers doesn’t think it’s out of the question six Pac-10 teams could be invited to the NCAA tournament, though five looks to be the more rational number. Those fine folks at NIT-ology are in the five camp, with only one Pac-10 school (Arizona) for sure in the NIT and another (Stanford) as on the bubble but in. They have Washington State listed as a NIT bubble team but more likely a CBI participant. One note about the latter tournament. The CBI is run by the same group that ran the preseason tournament in Newark in which the Cougars faced Mississippi State and Pitt, so there is a history there. … Register Guard columnist George Schroeder states his belief Ernie Kent should be retained and given the opportunity to turn the Ducks around next year. … Staying in Oregon, the Oregonian has this piece on Tajuan Porter’s resurgence. … Buster Sports’ Nick Daschel has the Cougars rated seventh in the Pac-10 this week.

• Let’s move on to football. The Ducks have suspended two players indefinitely, including running back LeGarrette Blount, expected to carry the load next season. … Remaining with the Ducks, Daschel thinks coach Mike Bellotti will be back for another year. … Finally, the Mercury News’ Jon Wilner examines each of the Pac-10 teams’ nonconference schedules. He also buys into the Thursday-night-game-vs.-Stanford talk, but as I pointed out last night, though that may happen, it’s still up in the air.

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• That’s it for this morning. We will post our Thursday story this afternoon along with any other notes and links that come up. Till then …

13 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

BrandonHansen on February 11 at 10:14 a.m.
Wazzu needs this weekend against the Oregon schools in a big way. I hoping for two wins this weekend, I’ll keep my fingers cross and my Washington Huskies voodoo doll full of pins and needles.

Brandon Hansen
Just South of North
www.justsouthofnorth.com
TommyCoug on February 11 at 11:42 a.m.
Vince, speaking of Cougar football. Who is this guy named, Zach Tatman, identified on Cougfan.com. They indicate that he is a former Oregon All-State player (of a year or two ago) and is on campus and in school at WSU. He is a possible TE/DE apparently.

Can you shed some light on this fellow…why is he on campus…is he a walk-on…did he play elsewhere? The suggestion is he has been there awhile.
vinceg on February 11 at 12:00 p.m.
Tommy:

Tatman was a backup tight end last year who was injured most of the season and redshirted. When healthy, he was projected as an offensive tackle, hence the number 71 he wore at practice. As for his upside, at 6-5 and 251 pounds, the walk-on from Oregon (Salem’s Sprague High and Clackamas Community College, where he was a basketball player) is expected to contribute if he can stay healthy. Because he wasn’t last year, it’s hard for me to evaluate his potential. Another tight end that was hurt last year, freshman Andrei Lintz, is a player to watch. Lintz, who was injured in a summer high school all-star game, missed the entire season but works harder than just about anyone on the squad. If hard work and an athletic body (6-5, 231 pounds) count for anything, Lintz will be a player.
Leo_Z on February 11 at 12:26 p.m.
Wow. Looks like Wulff left a little mess at Eastern!

Is this gonna have implications for WSU other than embarrassment?
Tom_R on February 11 at 2:25 p.m.
My grading on WSU’s basketball performance so far:

Baynes: A
Rochestie: B+ (He was not that great earlier)
Thompson: B-
Forrest: B-
Capers: C-
Harmerling: C-
Nik: D
Casto: C+
Coach Bennett: C-
coug79 on February 11 at 5:23 p.m.
Tom R— Regarding your grades:

Agree—Baynes, Taylor, Nik, Coach Bennett, Klay—although I give Klay a B+ as a freshman and Forrest a straight B. Forrest gives 110% every game and ought to be an example to the entire team.
Disagree—Harms—D. His defense is solid but offensively he is killing us. It’s painful to watch every time he puts the ball in the air.
TommyCoug on February 12 at 12:55 p.m.
Vince, thanks for the update and info on Tatman and Lintz. I don’t recall knowing of either. Maybe Lintz? I will await your reports on both.