Roundup: Arizona and USC men's hoops crack preseason AP Top 10
USC men’s basketball is No. 10 in the Associated Press preseason top 25, and is joined in the rankings by No. 3 Arizona and No. 21 UCLA (Oregon received two voting points). Duke is No. 1.
Washington is No. 12 in the first College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings released Tuesday afternoon, and leads the way of five Pac-12 schools ranked – No. 17 USC, No. 21 Stanford, No. 22 Arizona and No. 25 Washington State are also in the mix. One thing left out in the otherwise expertly-written article by Kevin Danna linked above is that while No. 12 might seem a ways away from the top four, a team ranked 15th or lower in the opening CFP rankings has made the national semifinals in two of the first three years of its existence.
Stanford women’s soccer star midfielder Andi Sullivan was called up to the United States National Team camp, USWNT coach Jill Ellis announced Tuesday (GoStanford.com).
Danny Moran reports that Oregon State quarterback Jake Luton has begun throwing again, but it is still unclear on when he will return to game action.
It is being reported that the Denver Broncos will name Brock Osweiler as the team’s starting quarterback for their game this week against the Philadelphia Eagles (Sports Illustrated). The former Sun Devil had success in his first stint with the Broncos before struggling with the Houston Texans and getting released by the Cleveland Browns.
Some (quasi) bulletin-board material for Stanford fans – Washington State coach Mike Leach says Bryce Love isn’t the best running back in the Pac-12; that honor goes to Oregon State’s Ryan Nall, in his mind (San Francisco Chronicle). The Cougs welcome Stanford to the Palouse Saturday afternoon.
Nick Bromberg of Yahoo Sports breaks down the animosity between UCLA football coach Jim Mora and ESPN analyst Brock Huard. Man, Pac-12 football coaches really aren’t getting along with the Worldwide Leader this year.
Mike Waldner of the Los Angeles Daily News remembers when Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate was dominant in high school at Serra in the SoCal area. Tate returns to Southern California this weekend when the Wildcats take on USC in the Coliseum for first place in the Pac-12 South.
Jon Wilner grades Cal’s loss to Colorado, giving the Golden Bears a Failing grade. The Bears now need to win two of their final three to get to a bowl game (Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA are the remaining opponents, so it’s doable).
Brian Howell writes that Colorado football is “putting the fun back in defense” after having held the Golden Bears to just 61 rushing yards last weekend.
Listen to The Salt Lake Tribune’s latest Game of Throws podcast, as your hosts Lynn Worthy, Christopher Kamrani and Aaron Falk discuss the Utes’ four-game losing streak and the upcoming Friday nighter against UCLA.
We’ve heard plenty of talk about Willie Taggart’s name being considered for the Florida job, but Paul Myerberg of USA Today is also wondering if UCF can keep former Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost around as its head coach, or if he’ll get plucked away by a Power Five school. Frost has the Knights undefeated and ranked 18th in the first CFP rankings. It wasn’t too long ago that UCF went winless for an entire season.