Roundup: Dawgs and Buffs to battle for conference title
The Pac-12 Football Championship Game is set for Friday night with the Dawgs and Buffs coming to Santa Clara. The rise of Colorado football is probably the best story in college football this year, but Kyle Bonagura notes that Colorado isn’t satisfied with its regular season success. They’re in it to win it.
Washington punched its ticket to Levi’s Stadium by way of thumping Wazzu in the Apple Cup, and Matt Calkins of The Seattle Times writes that Washington deserves a College Football Playoff spot if it wins the Pac-12 title. The Pac-12 champ will be in limbo for a semifinal spot as a result of Ohio State beating Michigan and the one-loss Buckeyes not playing for the Big Ten championship. Does a two-loss Big Ten champ get in? What about Oklahoma or Oklahoma State? Anyone who isn’t an ACC fan is rooting for Virginia Tech to beat Clemson.
Washington State women’s volleyball earned its first NCAA tournament berth since 2009 and will face Marquette in the first round. Winner will most likely get Wisconsin, the No. 3 seed. The Cougars are one of eight Pac-12 teams to make the NCAA tournament, alongside Arizona, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Utah and Washington.
Stanford men’s soccer is on to the NCAA quarterfinals after outlasting Virginia 1-0 in double overtime on a controversial finish (did Thomas Hilliard-Arce knock down UVA keeper Jeff Caldwell? The Cavs certainly thought so). The Cardinal will next square off against No. 4 seed Louisville on Saturday.
So far, so good for UCLA men’s basketball after defeating Texas A&M 74-67 to win the Wooden Legacy championship game to improve to 7-0 on the season. Lonzo Ball was named tournament MVP after going for 16 points and 10 assists against the Aggies.
In a bit off a shocker, Stevie Mussie is no longer the Arizona State women’s volleyball coach after just one season (Jeff Metcalfe, The Arizona Republic). No reason was given by Arizona State officials.
Oregon State is certainly on the road to relevancy in the Pac-12 again, winning three conference games this season and finishing 4-8 after taking down Oregon 34-24 in the Civil War. Ken Goe opines that Gary Andersen and the Beavers bludgeoned Mark Helfrich and the Ducks.
Ryan Thorburn of The Register-Guard reports that Mark Helfrich will meet with AD Rob Mullens midweek about the future of the Oregon football program. Helfrich called Mullens Sunday to get clarification on his status as head coach, and apparently that clarification will come after Mullens returns from Dallas, where he will be meeting up with the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Bigtime congrats to former USC interim head coach Ed Orgeron, who was named head coach at LSU after the Tigers defeated Texas A&M. LSU went 5-2 under Orgeron after Les Miles was fired.
Steve Luhm of The Salt Lake Tribune writes that Utah men’s basketball faces its first big test of the season Monday night when it takes on Butler. The undefeated Bulldogs have already defeated Arizona, Vanderbilt and Northwestern this year.
Here’s the Pac-12 Networks recap of Cal men’s basketball beat Southeastern Louisiana 67-55 behind Ivan Rabb’s double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) and 22 points from Charlie Moore.
Greg Hansen of the Arizona Daily Star takes a look at the state of the Arizona football program after the Wildcats defeated Arizona State 56-35 in the Territorial Cup.