Roundup: New AD in Boulder
By far the biggest news of Wednesday was Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano naming Rick George as the Buffs' director of athletics. George is currently the president of business ops for the Texas Rangers and was an assistant athletic director for football ops at Colorado from 1987-91. If there's one thing to know about the new AD, it's that Rick George brings plenty of passion to Colorado, writes Kyle Ringo.
It's all smiles in Seattle for this link, because Washington's Keith Price was named to the O'Brien National Quarterback Award watch list. The fifth-year senior is one of five Pac-12 quarterbacks on the O'Brien watch list, with Marcus Mariota, Brett Hundley, Kevin Hogan and Taylor Kelly being the others.
Pac-12 Networks is launching a new series entitled "Timelines" that debuts Thursday; 12 shows (one for each school) highlighting every school's accomplishments over the course of the 2012-13 season. Get a sneak peek of the "Timelines" series with this Oregon State preview.
Perhaps the best thing to come out of SEC Football Media Days thus far? Washington State's opener at Auburn will be televised on ESPNU -- Aug. 31 at 4 p.m. PT. Paul Finebaum probably spent 30 minutes discussing this announcement alone... probably.
Here's some good news: Tara VanDerveer and Stanford reached an agreement on a long-term deal to keep her on The Farm. She needs just six more wins to reach 900 for her career. One of the best to ever do it in women's college hoops, y'all.
Here's some unfortunate news: former Cal running back Jahvid Best was released by the Detroit Lions. Dude had an impressive rookie season in 2010, but injuries derailed his career and he hasn't played since 2011.
On what has become known as the slowest day in sports (day after the All-Star break; though with SEC Media Days and NBA Summer League going on, maybe that doesn't apply anymore), the UCLA men's athletic teams were recognized at the ESPYs for winning the Capital One Cup.
How 'bout this juicy Thanksgiving night matchup? Arizona State will face Creighton in the first round of the Wooden Legacy at 8 p.m. PT/9 p.m. MT on Turkey Day. The Blue Jays beat the Forks 87-73 last season -- time for some revenge for ASU.
Feel like you just absolutely HAVE to catch a game in Autzen Stadium? Act quickly, because single-game Oregon football tickets go on sale tonight at 10 p.m. PT. Get on it, yo.
So it turns out that Utah AD Chris Hill likes the Pac-12's globalization plan, as he's interested in potentially having the Utes' football squad play in China.
A day late on this bad boy, but Arizona IMG and Fox Sports 910 announced a partnership for the Phoenix-based radio station to carry all Arizona football and men's basketball games.
Since it was 43 days away from the first USC football game yesterday (the Trojans take on Hawai'i in the Aloha State Aug. 29), the Ripsit Blog honored the best No. 43 there has been at USC -- Troy Polamalu and his glorious hair.