Roundup: USC RB Buck Allen is officially in the Heisman race
Congrats to USC running back Buck Allen for being an official Heisman Trophy contender, as he received a letter from the award’s executive director saying he is a “potential candidate.” Props to Kyle Bonagura for the link.
It’s been fun watching him on offense, but Shaq Thompson is returning to starting linebacker for Washington when the Huskies play Arizona this weekend.
Time for a new College Football Playoff top 25 late Tuesday afternoon, and CBS Sports bowls expert Jerry Palm believes Oregon will be ranked third following the Ducks’ 24-point win over Utah and Auburn’s loss at home to Texas A&M. He also thinks Arizona State will be sixth, UCLA 13th, Arizona 15th and Utah 24th.
Jerry Palm does bracketology for CBS Sports as well, and he has Arizona men’s basketball as a No. 1 seed for the 2015 NCAA tournament. He also has Colorado in there as a No. 6, Utah as a No. 7 and Stanford as a 10.
Washington State quarterback Luke Falk was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week Monday, throwing for 471 yards and five scores in his first collegiate start.
Chris Foster of the Los Angeles Times believes that UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley is ready for the NFL.
Kevin Gemmell points out that Utah is entering a “critical stretch” of its season with games against Stanford and Arizona before the season finale against those deeply-reviled Buffs.
Arizona State head coach Todd Graham isn’t surprised by the success the Sun Devils are having this year. He has always had a championship vision in Tempe.
Cal doesn’t like thinking about last year’s loss to USC, a game in which it gave up three touchdowns off punt returns in a 62-28 loss, but a win Thursday night in Troy would make the Golden Bears bowl eligible (Jeff Faraudo of Bay Area News Group in the house).
Colorado coaches are concerned with quarterback Sefo Liufau’s recent uptick in turnovers, writes Tom Kensler of The Denver Post. Liufau threw two costly picks and fumbled twice against Arizona, with all four of those turnovers resulting in Wildcat touchdowns. His 14 picks are tops among Pac-12 QBs.
Stanford women’s soccer received a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament alongside defending champion UCLA, Florida State and Texas A&M. Nine Pac-12 women’s soccer teams are in the NCAA tournament overall – UCLA, Stanford, Washington, Washington State, USC, Cal, Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado.
When it hosts Southern Oregon Thursday night, Oregon State wrestling will have a chance to collect dual-meet victory No. 1,000 in program history and would become only the third program in the nation to do so (Oklahoma State and Iowa State). The Oregonian’s Scott Bernard Nelson sets the scene.