Roundup: Pac-12 kickers are the best in the country

Tight – Utah punter Tom Hackett won the Ray Guy Award for the nation’s top punter for the second straight year. In his words, he’s just a fat guy who doesn’t like to run very far.

UCLA kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn won the Lou Groza Award for the best kicker in college football. Pac-12 football – Special Teams R Us (“R” backwards).

While Christian McCaffrey looks to take home the Heisman on Saturday, Stanford guard Joshua Garnett won the Outland Trophy (best interior lineman in the country).

It’s official now – Cal agreed to a two-year contract extension with Sonny Dykes that will keep him in Berkeley through 2019, and he also gets a raise right away from $2 million to $2.825 million. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – anytime someone wants to give me an $825,000 raise, I’m all ears.

Arizona State has named Chip Lindsey its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Lindsey replaces new Memphis head coach Mike Norvell and comes to Tempe by way of Southern Mississippi, where he was also the OC.

North Texas has hired Graham Harrell as its offensive coordinator, Jacob Thorpe notes. Harrell was the receivers coach at Wazzu.

Chip Patterson of CBS Sports says it looks like Oregon is the front-runner to land Dakota Prukop, the Montana State quarterback who is looking to be the next big FCS-to-FBS transfer.

Pat Rooney of BuffZone.com examines why Colorado men’s basketball is shooting free throws so well. Through eight games, the Buffs are shooting about 75 percent from the line, which is a really good number for a college basketball team.

Oregon State men’s basketball is preparing for Kansas, writes Jesse Sowa of the Corvallis Gazette-Times. The Beavers play the Jayhawks Saturday night in Kansas City in a big non-con clash.

Washington women’s volleyball plays Ohio State in the Sweet 16 Friday night in Lexington, Ky. The winner of this game plays the winner of Nebraska-BYU for a spot in the Final Four. USC and UCLA are also in the Sweet 16.

As the Women of Troy get ready for Creighton in the Sweet 16, you should know that USC women’s volleyball signee Khalia Lanier was named National Gatorade Player of the Year Thursday. The outside hitter posted a cool .438 hitting percentage while racking up 496 kills and 324 digs as a senior in high school.

Chantel Jennings whips up this 2015 Arizona football season review. She thinks that safety Will Parks is the team MVP.