Roundup: Oregon 3, Stanford 4 in USA Today preseason poll
Coaches will tell you preseason rankings mean nothing, but I’m sure Duck fans like the fact that Oregon is No. 3 in the USA Today preseason coaches’ poll. The Ducks are one of five Conference of Champions schools in the top 25, with Stanford (No. 4), UCLA (No. 21), USC (No. 24) and Oregon State (No. 25) being the others. Alabama and THE Ohio State University (or tOSU for the best abbreviation in college sports) start off 1-2.
Today is the official start of the 2013 season for the Cougs, so here are five story lines as Washington State begins fall camp in Lewiston.
The Pac-12 Networks unveiled a new docu-series entitled “The Drive,” which will follow around the Arizona State and Cal football teams throughout the course of the 2013 season with 14 episodes to air on your all of your seven favorite TV channels. Begins Sept. 11, y’all.
Juventus was in the Bay for a game Wednesday night in San Francisco, and the team worked out on The Farm in preparation for its match against Everton. While there, Juventus fútbol met Stanford football, and Italian soccer stars Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea Pirlo tossed around the pigskin and did their best Jordan Williamson impersonations. Here’s Juventus’ video of it, to contrast what The Cardinal Channel came up with.
Bucky Brooks of NFL.com asks a legit question: Is USC’s Marqise Lee the best player in college football? I’m sure there are more than a few people in the Los Angeles area who would answer in the affirmative. And one more USC link for the weekend… USC is using the latest technology to capture action on the football field -- GoPro cameras attached to a remote-controlled helicopter.
Exciting news around Arizona State’s campus: USA Basketball has made its move to Tempe official. The Arizona Republic reported on this a while back, but now it’s the real deal Holyfield.
The new Oregon football facility is pretty tight (OK, amazingly awesome), but Arizona’s Lowell-Stevens football facility is epic, even costing $6 million more than Oregon’s, according to this Arizona Daily Star article.
When the Associated Press does a story on one of the good guys, we’re there, and this is the case with Beavers coach Mike Riley prepping for fall camp.
Kevin Gemmell believes defensive back Stefan McClure is Cal’s under-the-radar player who could really shine in 2013.
With David Bakhtiari off to the NFL and Alex Lewis off to Nebraska, health will be key for Colorado’s offensive line.
If I had any football smarts, I’d try to work under Jim Mora because the salary pool for UCLA assistants reached a new high after Mora successfully campaigned to get raises for his staff.
Services are set for the Utah football player who died in a car crash earlier this week. The funeral services for Ute Gaius "Keio" Vaenuku, Texas A&M Aggie Polo Manukainiu, and Lolo Uhatafe, the younger brother of Ute frosh Salesi Uhatafe, all of whom died in the crash, will be held Saturday in Texas.
It being August and all now (already?), Washington is doing a feature on its website entitled “Retake Montlake: 30 Features in 30 Days”, where the school spends an article a day on a facet of the new Husky Stadium. For Aug. 1, Husky Stadium’s “cryogenic” turf field is sew nice (get it?).