Roundup: Football on Pac-12 Networks is here

Pac-12 Networks coverage of live football action begins with a Thursday night doubleheader, and we kick things off with Utah hosting North Dakota (4:30 p.m. PT/5:30 p.m. MT, Pac-12 Networks). Here’s a Utah-North Dakota preview courtesy of Pac-12 Networks.

The night ends in Tempe with Arizona State welcoming New Mexico State to Sun Devil Stadium (7:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. MT, Pac-12 Networks). Here’s an Arizona State-New Mexico State scouting report and prediction from Doug Haller, who has the Sun Devils winning this one by four touchdowns. You should also know that Arizona State unveiled a Pat Tillman statue at Sun Devil Stadium on Wednesday (also Doug Haller).

Arizona will unveil a Lute Olson statue in March, reports Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star. The statue project has an announced cost of $300,000. In 25 years as men’s basketball coach, Olson went 589-188 with four Final Four appearances and a national title in 1997.

After a snag over the weekend, multiple media outlets are reporting that Isaiah Thomas has finally been traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, with the Boston Celtics sending the Cavs a 2020 second-round pick to sweeten the deal (CBS Sports on the link; I believe Woj was first to the story). The issue was with Thomas’ hip injury, which was apparently worse than the Cavs were expecting.

Danny Moran features Oregon State linebacker Bright Ugwoegbu, a Houston-area native (he moved there from Nigeria when he was nine years-old) who has family dealing with Hurricane Harvey. His mom, brother and aunt had to leave their house because of flooding, and he is one of six Beavers on the roster who are from Houston or the surrounding area.

Joey Miller of the Los Angeles Daily News writes that USC quarterback Sam Darnold and UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen are taking the USC-UCLA rivalry to a new level. Nothing like having the potential top two picks in the upcoming NFL Draft to add fuel to the fire.

Theo Lawson features Washington State quarterback Luke Falk, detailing the slights that have motivated the under-recruited Falk and the school, Pac-12 and NCAA history he could make in 2017.

Ken Goe of The Oregonian/OregonLive believes that this is the most intriguing season for Oregon football in 40 years, and he explains why in the link.

Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that USC is ready to fulfill its big expectations as part of his Pac-12 notebook of blurbs about teams from around the Conference of Champions.

Brian Howell notes that Colorado football is focusing on itself as it readies for its season opener against Colorado State. Quarterback Steven Montez sounds confident that the Buffs will be able to light up the scoreboard Friday night.

Stanford linebacker Peter Kalambayi talks about playing in Australia with our Mike Yam, as his Cardinal thumped Rice 62-7 in its season opener Down Under. The full interview aired Wednesday night on Pac-12 Network.

Here’s your must-read longform story of the day – Mina Kimes’ feature on Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (ESPN). It’s a deep dive into pretty much everything Rodgers; great work from Kimes.