Roundup: USC football gets a new look?

Hey now, is USC football getting chrome helmets? Please tell me the tweeted picture in the link (credit Paul Lukas) will come to fruition this year.

Speaking of chrome helmets… the Bleacher Report gives us this article on how Nike and Oregon created college football’s greatest brand.

The NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League starts Friday, so this is as good a time as any to let you know that former Colorado (and Utah) guard Carlon Brown is playing for the Denver Nuggets at Summer League, and this link talks about how his time in Israel helped him land a Summer League gig. That’s what averaging 19.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game for Hapoel Tel Aviv will do for ya (side note: Brown was teammates with former Stanford forward Josh Owens in Israel. Owens will be playing for the Kings in Vegas).

On the subject of Sin City, three former Oregon State standouts begin play at Las Vegas Summer League Friday: Roberto Nelson (Charlotte), Eric Moreland (Sacramento) and Jared Cunningham (Sacramento).

Let’s learn a lil’ bit about the Arizona Fan Alliance Network (F.A.N.). As the good folks at Arizona point out, 25 fans were chosen by the university to serve on this alliance that will meet regularly with the athletic department. Also, the ESPN Pac-12 Blog and Sports Nation want you to vote for the best Arizona football video: Arizona Speed, Hard Edge, Hard Edge II or Arizona Fast #TheNewNormal. My vote is for Arizona Speed.

Kyle Bonagura thinks that Washington State defensive tackle Toni Pole is one of five Pac-12 football players you should root for. Great guy in the Pullman community.

Sounds like Utah football will face familiar faces in the season opener against Idaho State. Former Utes Steve Fifita and Spencer Toone are assistant coaches for the Bengals.

The Washington football freshmen are getting an early start in summer school. As Adam Jude reports, 23 of the 24 signees in Chris Petersen’s class are in summer school.

Here’s a CBS Sports report on the NCAA’s post-trial brief in the Ed O’Bannon-NCAA trial, courtesy of Jon Solomon. Lawyers for the O’Bannon plaintiffs think the NCAA’s post-trial brief is “a stunning admission of defeat.”

Thanks to this Sports Illustrated link, you now know that Vanderbilt is adding two Stanford football transfers to its team: tight end Davis Dudchock and wide receiver Chandler Dorrell (if you didn’t know already). There’s that Derek Mason connection for ya. Did Sports Illustrated post anything noteworthy on Friday? [Editor's note: Nope, not that we can think of.]

There is a documentary about the late Cal quarterback Joe Roth, and it had a screening at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley Wednesday night. It’s called “Don’t Quit: The Joe Roth Story” and was made by Cal grads.

House of Sparky wants to take a statistical look at the Arizona State football defense. What’s the returning production on the defensive side of the ball in 2014? Click to find out, yo.

And a list of the Pac-12 football players on the Jim Thorpe Award watch list (nation’s best DB) to wrap things up.