Roundup: ASU wide receiver, hopeful surgeon Kyle Williams interns at Mayo Clinic

In hopes of one day becoming a surgeon, Arizona State wide receiver Kyle Williams has spent his last two summers working as a research intern at Mayo Clinic, and the Associated Press gives us the deets on said internship.

Stanford women’s volleyball is ranked No. 1 in the AVCA preseason poll, it was announced Wednesday. The Cardinal won the 2016 NCAA title and made it to the Final Four in 2017. Other Pac-12 teams include No. 10 USC, No. 11 UCLA, No. 15 Colorado, No. 17 Washington, No. 18 Oregon and No. 19 Utah. Seven teams in the top 20 – not too shabby.

And here’s the USCTrojans.com writeup on USC women’s volleyball’s No. 10 preseason ranking. The Trojans made it to the NCAA regional finals in 2017 and welcome new head coach Brent Crouch into the fold.

Former Oregon softball star Nikki Udria was named the head softball coach at Biola University, The Register-Guard reports. Udria was a three-time All-Pac-12 performer and two-time All-American during her time in Eugene.

Take a look at this profile of Cal alumna and Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynthia Marshall (news.berkeley.edu). When she was hired earlier this year as Mavs CEO, she became the first African-American female CEO in the NBA. While she was at Cal, she was the first African-American cheerleader at Cal in the late 1980s. She’s also done some other pretty awesome stuff you’ll have to click on the link to find about.

CBS Sports college football prognosticator Jerry Palm predicts that Washington will play in the Rose Bowl against Wisconsin, while Stanford will make a Fiesta Bowl appearance and take on Boise State (yes, that means he thinks that the Pac-12 will be out of the College Football Playoff for a second consecutive year).

As cool as it was, Michael Lev writes that Khalil Tate being on the Sports Illustrated cover could have been an even bigger deal that it was. Lev gets some thoughts from ESPN sports business reporter Darren Rovell to round out some thoughts.

Nick Daschel of The Oregonian/OregonLive writes about the task ahead for Oregon State offensive line coach Jim Michalczik. He’s got an experienced group with four returning starters, but can he make it a vastly improved group?

Chip Kelly wants to bring Oregon-like rushing stats to UCLA, notes Thuc Nhi Nguyen. Of course, the Bruins haven’t exactly been known for their running game over the last couple of seasons.

Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham would like an offensive line rotation of eight players, Dirk Facer of the Deseret News notes. The Utes return four dudes up front from 2017.

The football player profiles continue for Brian Howell, and this time, he features Colorado safety Nick Fisher, a senior who was named a team captain for this season.

Here are Theo Lawson’s thoughts from Washington State football’s Wednesday practice. The Cougs found themselves practicing in 102-degree weather in Lewiston on Wednesday. Yikes.