EUGENE — It was the clinch that appeared to be, then wasn’t, then was again.

In a reversal, the Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday that Oregon football (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) has in fact earned a spot in the conference’s championship game. According to multiple sources with knowledge of the discussion, Big Ten athletic directors met virtually Tuesday to discuss the conference’s tiebreakers, and whether Oregon had clinched.

While the conference previously claimed the Ducks needed Ohio State and Penn State to lose this coming weekend in order to secure their spot this week, it may have misinterpreted its own tiebreaking procedures. Oregon appears to have clinched a spot with Saturday’s win at Wisconsin.

“Following a comprehensive evaluation of all possible scenarios over the final two weeks of regular-season play across the conference’s 18 teams, there are no conditions whereby the Ducks do not finish No. 1 or No. 2,” the Big Ten said in a release.

The conference did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Prior to Saturday’s game against the Badgers, the conference told The Oregonian/OregonLive and officials from the Oregon athletic department that even a victory would not secure the Ducks a spot in the Dec. 7 game in Indianapolis. That was the operating assumption as recently as Monday, when The Oregonian/OregonLive reported a follow-up story based on the conference’s interpretation of its tiebreaking procedures.

The Oregonian’s original interpretation of the tiebreaker rules was that Oregon needed only to beat Wisconsin to clinch. That appears to have been true.

While the Ducks’ trip to Indianapolis is finally locked in, their opponent remains a mystery. Indiana, Ohio State and Penn State all still have a path to meet the Ducks at Lucas Oil Stadium.

— Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten Conference. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.

A local favorite is taking his show to a much bigger stage.

Rapper Post Malone is bring his “The Big Ass Stadium Tour” — his first-ever stadium tour — to Salt Lake City in 2025. The tour will visit 25 cities across the United States and Canada and kick off in April 2025.

After two April shows in California — the dates and location match with the Coachella Festival, though the event’s slate has yet to be announced — Post Malone’s stadium tour will launch in Salt Lake City at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.

A release announcing the tour from Live Nation “promises fans a concert experience filled with a mix of his biggest hits, fan favorites, and brand new songs from his sixth studio album, ‘F-1 Trillion’.” Malone’s latest album is his first step into the country music world, featuring a hit single with Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help,” which was just nominated for Best County Song at the Grammy Awards, alongside a nomination in the “Best Country Duo/Group” category.

Malone will perform alongside country artist Jelly Roll and American singer-songwriter Sierra Ferrell at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Malone kicked off his arena tour for his latest album in Utah earlier this year, with two shows at the Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre in September. Jelly Roll kicked off his arena tour in Utah at the Delta Center in August.

Though Malone recently moved to a new state, he’s become a local favorite both for his music and for living in Utah for some time. A Raising Cane’s franchise in Midvale has his mark all over it. Whenever he performs here, he’s welcomed home by Utahns.

This is the second stadium show to be announced at Rice-Eccles Stadium for 2025. Earlier this year, a Billy Joel and Sting show was announced for May 23.

Presale for the show for fans with a Citi card begins on Wednesday. Artist presale beings on Friday. Sign up for the presale at signup.ticketmaster.com/postmalone. General sale begins Tuesday, Nov. 26, at noon local time, at livenation.com.

Denzel Washington revealed to Esquire magazine as part of a new cover story that he got bitter after losing the best actor Oscar to Kevin Spacey in 2000. Washington was already a three-time Oscar nominee and one-time winner when his performance as Rubin Carter in “The Hurriance” landed him in the Oscar for best actor opposite Spacey (“American Beauty”), Russell Crowe (“The Insider”), Richard Farnsworth (“The Straight Story”) and Sean Penn (“Sweet and Lowdown”). Washington won a Golden Globe for his performance, but the Oscar went to Spacey.

“At the Oscars, they called Kevin Spacey’s name for ‘American Beauty,’” Washington said. “I have a memory of turning around and looking at him, and nobody was standing but the people around him. And everyone else was looking at me. Not that it was this way. Maybe that’s the way I perceived it. Maybe I felt like everybody was looking at me. Because why would everybody be looking at me? Thinking about it now, I don’t think they were.”

“I’m sure I went home and drank that night. I had to,” Washington said about his reaction to losing. “I don’t want to sound like, ‘Oh, he won my Oscar,’ or anything like that. It wasn’t like that. And you know, there was talk in the town about what was going on over there on that side of the street, and that’s between him and God. I ain’t got nothing to do with that. I pray for him. That’s between him and his maker.”

“The Hurricane” marked the second time Washington had found himself in the best actor race. He was previously nominated in the category for playing the title role in Spike Lee’s “Malcom X,” but the Oscar went to Al Pacino for “Scent of a Woman” instead. After losing best actor for a second time, Washington grew bitter and had his wife, Paulette, start voting in his place for the Academy Awards.

“I went through a time then when [my wife] Pauletta would watch all the Oscar movies—I told her, I don’t care about that. Hey: They don’t care about me? I don’t care,” Washington said. “You vote. You watch them. I ain’t watching that. I gave up. I got bitter. My pity party.”

Two years after losing best actor, Washington would finally win his first Academy Award for best actor thanks to “Training Day.” His victory made him only the was the second African-American performer to win the category, following Sidney Poitier for 1963’s “Lilies of the Field.” Washington has since gone on to earn four more Oscar nominations, most recently in 2022 for “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” He’s now back in the Oscar race in the supporting category field for “Gladiator 2.”

Head over to Esquire’s website to read Washington’s cover story in its entirety.