Well, folks, the playoffs are finally here.

After all that talk, college football’s new 12-team bracket makes its debut Friday night with No. 7 Notre Dame hosting No. 10 Indiana with the temperature expected to plunge below freezing.

Justin Myers and Tyson Alger preview the playoffs in this week’s Traffic Report. They also discuss the Heisman Trophy, Oregon’s advantage at attracting high-level quarterbacks and the shakeup out on the Palouse.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.i-5corridor.com/subscribe

Tyson survived his trip to Indy. Justin’s truck is back up and running.

There’s little that can stop them now. The two got together for this week’s Traffic Report, where Tyson gave Justin a behind-the-scenes look at how the Big Ten Championship felt before Justin dives into his grand plan to save the College Football Playoff.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

The I-5 Corridor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.i-5corridor.com/subscribe

Boy, did Justin Myers and I have a bit to catch up on.

Back from our one-week Thanksgiving hiatus, Justin and I caught up on the Washington game, Oregon’s 12-0 start, Dan Lanning smashing a Washington helmet in, the ridiculous notion of throwing the Big Ten Championship game, signing day and more.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

The I-5 Corridor is a reader-supported publication doing its best to provide quality sports stories throughout the state of Oregon. Every paid subscription is integral in producing the great sports stories Oregonians deserve. Thank you to the nearly 1,000 of you who have supported so far.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.i-5corridor.com/subscribe

Former Washington and current Oregon cornerback Jabbar Muhammad may consider Saturday’s Ducks vs. Huskies rivalry tilt to be “just another game,” but old man Christian Caple over On Montlake and I have been around too many years of this to know that’s not the case.

So this week, we decided to podcast about it. I filled in over on Caple’s Say Who, Say Pod this week, where we broke down what the latest iteration of what Ducks/Huskies means and where this rivalry goes from here.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

A Thanksgiving note: 1. For anyone listening to, reading or cursing The I-5 Corridor this holiday, thank you. This year has been the most rewarding and challenging one yet, and I’m incredibly grateful this Thanksgiving for every one of you who has encouraged and supported me along the way.

I was nominated for Oregon Sportswriter of the Year earlier this week, and I’m up against four great writers from publications that all date back to the 1800s. They have editors, expense budgets and paid time off. I have the occasional midnight text from Shane Hoffmann about typos and an audience that’s proven it values and appreciates storytelling. That right there is the win for me, and I thank you all for letting me do this job.

2. Now I have to sell a little bit. We’re running a Black Friday sale through Monday where first-time subscribers can get their first year of The I-5 Corridor for $25. For current subscribers, a $25 Corridor subscription might just be the gift you need for that awkward office White Elephant party.

I will be on-site for every Oregon event going forward and every sub sold over the next two months is going toward what I expect to be a pretty mega travel bill at the end of this Ducks run. I got my tickets booked for Indy and could really use the help toward whatever trip comes next.

There are going to be some truly great stories to tell.

Have a great Thanksgiving,

Tyson Alger

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.i-5corridor.com/subscribe

It’s been a week, folks.

Justin’s car broke down, JJ and I spent all of Thursday battling internet trolls and a JetSki would have been more proper for the drive back from Corvallis last night.

However:

Justin and I managed to get together on Thursday before hoops to share a bit of our misery before we turned our thoughts to the Washington game, Oregon clinching an appearance in the Big Ten championship and why Justin believes Dan Lanning is who he is.

“This is a dude who 10 years ago was coaching high school football and teaching elementary school PE,” Justin says. “His vision got him to be the No. 1 coach in the country, and now he’s going to stop? Now he’s going to start playing it safe?”

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

Bonus: I asked JJ to put together some of his favorite photos of the season so far. Enjoy.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.i-5corridor.com/subscribe

The Oregon Ducks are undefeated.

They haven’t lost since December and, frankly, haven’t even flirted with defeat in more than a month. They’re No. 1 in the country — and they’re the team whose last few wins are being skipped over in the national discussion and needled a bit locally.

Every week can’t be the Ohio State game, which is why in this week’s Traffic Report, Justin Myers and Tyson Alger dive into what Justin calls Oregon’s “Champagne Problem.”

Then we get into the important stuff: Whose jersey is worth buying this holiday season?

Speaking of the holiday season…did you know you can gift The I-5 Corridor?

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

Bonus: I never ran JJ Anderson’s photos from the Maryland game. Let’s fix that.

— Tyson Alger, I-5 Corridor

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.i-5corridor.com/subscribe

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to a new(ish) era of The I-5 Corridor’s Traffic Report.

For the rest of the football season, I’ll be joined by friend of the show Justin Myers, who will bring his Oregon football insight, history and much better broadcasting skills to this program weekly.

This week, we begin by talking about why that’s possible before getting into a discussion about this week’s Oregon game against Maryland and the start of the Portland Trail Blazers season.

And good news: Since Justin actually has a background in this, we’re making efforts to improve our audio quality. We’re still getting there with this week’s episode, but thanks to Justin we have some hardware reinforcements to set up for next week.

Appreciate all of you for reading and listening.

For paid subscribers: Shane Hoffmann is publishing a detailed piece on Oregon’s WR depth moving forward later this morning.

— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.i-5corridor.com/subscribe

For the last decade, even as Oregon reached a national championship game under Mark Helfrich and won a Rose Bowl under Mario Cristobal, it’s felt like the UO program had still been chasing the ghost of the Chip Kelly era. The coolness. The popularity. The branding. The dominance. But after Saturday’s win against Ohio State, that era is finally beginning to feel like a long time ago.

Justin Myers joined me on this week’s Traffic Report to dive in on the thought.

The I-5 Corridor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.i-5corridor.com/subscribe

This one has been in the works for a long time.

The Ohio State and Oregon home-and-home series was initially announced in October of 2012. The Ducks and Buckeyes would play in Eugene in 2020 and Columbus in 2021.

And of course, it didn’t happen that way. But now, as conference rivals, the No. 2 Buckeyes will finally make their trip out to Eugene for the first top-5, top-4, top-3 matchup in Autzen Stadium history.

Shane Hoffmann joined Tyson Alger on The I-5 Corridor’s Traffic Report this week to discuss a pretty notable game for the No. 3 Ducks.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

— The I-5 Corridor

The I-5 Corridor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.i-5corridor.com/subscribe

A lot has happened in Aidan Schneider’s life in the last year.

The former Oregon kicker has moved. He’s gotten married. And he’s lately found himself in the heart of Husky country as a new Seattle resident. After way too long of a layoff, Aidan rejoined the Traffic Report on Thursday to catch up, reminisce about playing in that Michigan State game from 10 years ago and talk about why he’s starting to change his mind on NIL.

For more, listen to this podcast in the player above or find us over on Apple or Spotify.

The I-5 Corridor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.i-5corridor.com/subscribe