Gary Payton II commits to attend Oregon State

Gary Payton II will be carrying on the family legacy at his father's alma mater.

Payton II has committed to play basketball for Oregon State next season. Payton II will be following his dad's footsteps, Gary Payton, and try to get the program back to the NCAA tournament, somewhere the team hasn't been to since the elder Payton left Corvallis.

Payton II will sign the letter of intent at the family home in Las Vegas.

 "I just felt like this was the best situation for me right now," Payton II said. "It's just a real business decision, too, knowing it's the same alma mater as my dad." 

Payton II, known as "The Mitten" will have two years of eligibility left when he arrives.

FCS teams aren't pushovers anymore

Towson over Connecticut. North Dakota State over Kansas State. Eastern Washington over Oregon State and McNeese State over South Florida.  

Those games were scheduled as "gimmies" for teams in the FBS Subdivision. Instead they were ambushed by their FCS opponents.

Not to say all FCS are bad teams because some of them are champions or playoff contenders in their classification. But the FBS teams are supposed to be head and shoulders, at least talentwise, above teams in the FCS. Maybe that's not the case anymore as we should've learned when Appalachian State stunned a Michigan team thought to be a contender for the national championship. If that wasn't enough two weeks later James Madison walked into Blacksburg, Virginia and beat 13th ranked Virginia Tech.    

FBS teams shouldn't be looking ahead when they schedule the FCS schools anymore. Most of the time the FBS teams will win but in some cases there will be some stunners. The biggest this week was Eastern Washington beating 25th ranked Oregon State. FCS champion North Dakota State beat a highly regarded Kansas State team coming off a BCS bowl berth. McNeese State ran roughshod over South Florida, 53-21. I know South Florida isn't a powerhouse but still.

I guess this falls into the let this be a lesson to you category. FCS teams aren't the pushovers we thought they were.