Roundup: Katie Ledecky named AP Female Athlete of the Year

Olympic gold medalist and Stanford swimmer Katie Ledecky was named AP Female Athlete of the Year, it was announced Tuesday.

A couple of bowl games in Pac-12ville the day after Christmas, and it starts with the Heart of Dallas Bowl with Utah and West Virginia (10:30 a.m. PT/11:30 a.m. MT, ESPN). Lynn Worthy tells us what we should keep our eyes on in his Utah-West Virginia viewing guide.

USC men’s basketball won the Diamond Head Classic on Christmas by defeating New Mexico State 77-72 in the finals, getting a late, deep 3-pointer from Bennie Boatwright.

Good stuff from the Trojans in Hawai’i this year, and Colorado men’s basketball will play at the Diamond Head Classic next season, Pat Rooney reports. St. Mary’s, TCU and UNLV will also be in the field.

Todd Graham and Arizona State have arrived in El Paso for the Sun Bowl, as The Arizona Republic lets us know in the preceding link. Graham will coach his final game for the Sun Devils Friday before the Herm Edwards Era begins in earnest.

At 6 p.m. PT, UCLA will kick off against Kansas State in the Cactus Bowl, and Ben Bolch writes that it’s tough to know which UCLA team will take the field against the Wildcats. Quarterback Josh Rosen is a game-time decision after suffering a concussion last month against Cal, while other seniors have injuries that will keep them out and, of course, there will be no Jim Mora and a couple of his assistants.

Sam Cooper of Yahoo Sports gives us a Holiday Bowl preview, as the Cougs will play Michigan State Thursday in San Diego.

Cooper also provides us with this Foster Farms Bowl preview, what with Arizona playing Purdue in Santa Clara Wednesday night and all.

Former Cal running back Billy McCrary III is transferring to Abilene Christian, an FCS program in Texas (California Golden Blogs on the link, Ben Ross on the tweet).

Oregon State men’s soccer forward Jordan Jones was invited to the 2018 MLS adidas Player Combine in Orlando (Jan. 11-17), it was announced last week.

Adam Jude details Washington quarterback Jake Browning’s involvement with coaches’ meetings and the offensive game plan for each game. His prep game is apparently on a whole other level.

Great story here about an Oregon season ticket holder undergoing cancer treatment getting his seats renewed by an anonymous benefactor. Rob Moseley of GoDucks.com has the story centering around Jay Trunnell, a lifelong Ducks fan who was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2015.