Roundup: ASJ wins the Mackey
Congratulations to Austin Seferian-Jenkins for winning the John Mackey Award, which goes to the nation’s top tight end in college football.
Utah men’s basketball hasn’t had a, shall we say, tough non-conference slate the past couple of years as Coach K tries to bring the Utes up to speed, but Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Trib tells us that the Utes are making a big scheduling move, nailing a date down with Kansas in Kansas City next year and a spot in the Puerto Rico tip-off tourney in 2015. Also good to note is that it sounds like the BYU-Utah series will go on without skipping a beat.
As Arizona looks to live up to its No. 1 ranking tonight against New Mexico State, the Wildcats face a tall order in needing to stop a 7-5 center. Sim Bhullar’s the name, blocked shots and soft touch with the rock’s the game.
With Cal beating Nevada 92-84 last night, Mike Montgomery equaled John Wooden’s win total with 664 all-time coaching victories, tied for 27th all-time in NCAA D-I history. That’s nice, but what’s even nicer was Deonte Burton’s throw-down on David Kravish in the first half last night. There is absolutely no shame in being dunked on (better to go up to contest than not), but man that was filthy.
Oregon has gotten off to an 8-0 start and a No. 15 ranking on the hardwood without a couple of key contributors, but the Ducks are ready to mix reinforcements Dominic Artis and Ben Carter into the rotation after Saturday’s game against Illinois in Portland. The two are serving a nine-game suspension for selling team-issued gear.
Having to postpone the Dec. 7 matchup between the two sides, Oregon State’s game with Arkansas-Pine Bluff has been rescheduled for Friday and is part of a hoops doubleheader at Gill with the men’s game taking place at 5 p.m. PT and the women’s bout with Hawai’i starting 30 minutes after the conclusion of the men’s contest.
No surprise here, but Jon Wilner says that Stanford earns an A+ for its Arizona State pounding.
Sounds like UCLA is taking a different approach to bowl preparation this time around after getting beaten badly by Baylor in last year’s Holiday Bowl.
The Trojans and Bulldogs meet in 10 days for the Las Vegas Bowl, and USC’s Cody Kessler and Fresno State’s Derek Carr share Bakersfield roots and are friends, writes Gary Klein.
There have been some trying times on the Palouse for the football upperclassmen, but now the Washington State seniors are reaping the rewards for their persistence, according to Jacob Thorpe.
Nice read on Ted Somerville experiencing ups and downs at Colorado (he currently suffers from Alzheimer’s). The former Buff played football at CU in the ‘60s and was on the field for the 1961 Sugar Bowl as well as a combined 6-24 record over his last three years.
The folks over at House of Sparky examine the success of the zone read at Arizona State and how Taylor Kelly became “the man.”