B1G Dawg/Pussycat of the week

Credit: Al Case via Flickr

Each week I will bring you the Dawg/Pussycat of the week from the Big 10. This could be a player, coach, or school who had an outstanding performance, a great recruiting week, or just an amazing week in general. Opposite of that will be the pussycat of the week. This will be the player, coach, or school who failed to get the job done from the prior week. The only rule is it must be an event that has happened inside the B1G from the previous week.

It's time to name the awards for the week of August 7-13, 2023

the B1G Dawg of the week is Oregon Ducks head coach, Dan Lanning.

With rumors swirling that USC didn’t want Oregon to join the Big 10, for apparently no other reason than concern over Oregon’s ability to win recruiting battles with some of the top athletes from across the West Coast. The Ducks took less than a week after joining the Big 10 to prove USC had every right to be concerned.

The Ducks did so by flying in and persuading Dakoda Fields to take his talents to Eugene. Coach Lanning didn’t just take a West Coast 4-star, top-100 prospect that was already committed to USC since June. Lanning was able to walk right into USC’s backyard and take him.

Fields plays for Junipero Serra High School located in Gardena CA, just 11.4 miles from USC. Lanning was able to convince Fields to instead travel the 867.2 miles to Eugene to play for the Ducks. Before USC fans talk about dominating the Big 10, maybe they should first worry about just winning the recruiting battles in their own backyard.

The B1G pussycat of the week is University of Northwestern Coaches and staff who showed up with those shirts

This past week, a few Northwestern coaches and staff members decided to show up with 'Number 51 Cats against the World' shirts. The 51 just happens to be Pat Fitzgerald's jersey number. The former head coach was fired after an independent investigation into alleged hazing allegations inside the football program.

The bottom line: if Fitzgerald knew, or didn’t, is irrelevant. He is the CEO of the program and should know everything going on, so not knowing is just as bad as knowing. We live in a day and age where just the word 'hazing' stops administrators in their tracks.

Athletic Director Derrick Gragg called the shirts “inappropriate, offensive, and tone deaf.” Maybe the coaches and staff members who showed up with those shirts on should first let the lawsuit that was filed against the university, Pat Fitzgerald, and other officials play out before taking any stance.