Roundup: Utah and Washington hoping to smell roses in Santa Clara

It’s time for the Pac-12 Football Championship Game, y’all. Washington and Utah will duke it out Friday night for a chance to go to the Rose Bowl (5 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT, FOX), and you can take a look at the Huskies’ path to the Pac-12 championship game and Utah’s path to the Pac-12 championship game by clicking on the preceding links.

For the Utah perspective, here’s Kurt Kragthorpe setting the stakes for Utah football during Friday night’s conference championship game.

For the Washington perspective, Adam Jude tells us that the Pac-12 Football Championship Game will feature the league’s top two defenses. It’s the first time in the eight-year history of the conference championship game that the top two defenses in the Pac-12 will meet in the title game.

Don’t forget that the Pac-12 Football Championship Game isn’t the last game featuring Pac-12 teams before the bowl season begins, because we have the rescheduled Big Game set for a noon PT kickoff on Pac-12 Networks Saturday afternoon. As the Golden Bears look to defeat the Cardinal for the first time since 2009, Rusty Simmons tells us that Cal quarterback Chase Garbers is “growing into” his role as starting QB.

Just missing out on the Pac-12 title game, Washington State is making its case for a New Year’s Six bowl game, writes Brent Schrotenboer of USA TODAY. The Cougs were not happy being dropped behind a slew of three-loss teams in the latest CFP Top 25 rankings.

espnW Player of the Year Catarina Macario, who won the award for the second consecutive year (she’s just a sophomore, so she’s batting 1.000). There’s no question that Macario is one of the most gifted players in the game.

We are down to four teams in the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championships, and UCLA is off to the NCAA semifinals after defeating George Washington 18-6 Thursday afternoon at Stanford. The Bruins will play USC in one semifinal, while Stanford will greet UC San Diego in the other.

The NCAA women’s volleyball tournament began Thursday, and Oregon advanced to the second round by defeating New Mexico State in four sets. The Ducks will face Baylor Friday night at 7 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Network with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.

Pat Rooney takes a look at the early success Colorado men’s basketball is having on offense. The Buffs have scored at least 93 points in three of their first five games this season, as opposed to topping 90 points three times all of last season (and only once in regulation during the 2017-18 campaign).

Arizona men’s basketball blew past Georgia Southern Thursday night in Tucson, dusting the Eagles 100-70 (Pac-12 Networks recap).

Jeff Metcalfe gives us some historical perspective on Louisiana Tech women’s basketball as the Sun Devils get ready to play the Lady Techsters Saturday in Tempe. Louisiana Tech, making its first appearance at Arizona State, has made it to 10 Final Fours and won NCAA titles in 1982 and 1988.

College baseball season is still more than two months away, but Nick Daschel lets us know that Oregon State baseball will have 23 of its games televised by Pac-12 Networks (including 20 league contests). The defending national champs will first play on our airwaves March 10 vs. Coastal Carolina.

Take some time to read this USC football mailbag provided to us by Joey Kaufman.